diff --git a/nerve.yaml b/nerve.yaml
index eed6ef4..b534ad2 100644
--- a/nerve.yaml
+++ b/nerve.yaml
@@ -1,24 +1,14 @@
 # nerve.yaml — Nerve workspace configuration
 senses:
-  cpu-usage:
-    group: system
-    throttle: 5s
-    timeout: 10s
-    grace_period: null
   linux-system-health:
     group: system
     throttle: 10s
     timeout: 15s
     grace_period: null
-  linux-tcp-socket-stats:
+  hermes-gateway-health:
     group: system
-    throttle: 15s
-    timeout: 10s
-    grace_period: null
-  disk-usage-mounts:
-    group: system
-    throttle: 10s
-    timeout: 15s
+    throttle: 30s
+    timeout: 30s
     grace_period: null
 
 workflows:
@@ -27,15 +17,9 @@ workflows:
     overflow: drop
 
 reflexes:
-  - kind: sense
-    sense: cpu-usage
-    interval: 10s
   - kind: sense
     sense: linux-system-health
     interval: 30s
   - kind: sense
-    sense: linux-tcp-socket-stats
-    interval: 1m
-  - kind: sense
-    sense: disk-usage-mounts
-    interval: 1m
+    sense: hermes-gateway-health
+    interval: 2m
diff --git a/senses/cpu-usage/index.js b/senses/cpu-usage/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 175df04..0000000
--- a/senses/cpu-usage/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import { cpus } from "node:os";
-
-export async function compute() {
-  const cpuList = cpus();
-
-  let totalIdle = 0;
-  let totalTick = 0;
-  for (const cpu of cpuList) {
-    for (const [, time] of Object.entries(cpu.times)) {
-      totalTick += time;
-    }
-    totalIdle += cpu.times.idle;
-  }
-
-  const loadPercent = totalTick === 0 ? 0 : ((totalTick - totalIdle) / totalTick) * 100;
-
-  return {
-    model: cpuList[0]?.model ?? "unknown",
-    loadPercent: Math.round(loadPercent * 100) / 100,
-    ts: Date.now(),
-  };
-}
diff --git a/senses/cpu-usage/migrations/0001_init.sql b/senses/cpu-usage/migrations/0001_init.sql
deleted file mode 100644
index e8a064c..0000000
--- a/senses/cpu-usage/migrations/0001_init.sql
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS cpu_usage (
-  id          INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
-  ts          INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  model       TEXT    NOT NULL,
-  load_percent REAL   NOT NULL
-);
diff --git a/senses/cpu-usage/schema.ts b/senses/cpu-usage/schema.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index c0a405a..0000000
--- a/senses/cpu-usage/schema.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-import { integer, real, sqliteTable, text } from "drizzle-orm/sqlite-core";
-
-export const cpuUsage = sqliteTable("cpu_usage", {
-  id: integer("id").primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
-  ts: integer("ts").notNull(),
-  model: text("model").notNull(),
-  loadPercent: real("load_percent").notNull(),
-});
diff --git a/senses/disk-usage-mounts/index.js b/senses/disk-usage-mounts/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 9dfacc8..0000000
--- a/senses/disk-usage-mounts/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,131 +0,0 @@
-import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
-import { diskUsageMounts } from "./schema.ts";
-
-const DF_CMD =
-  "df -B1 --output=source,target,fstype,size,used,avail,pcent";
-
-/** fstype-based exclusions to avoid pseudo / volatile filesystem noise */
-const EXCLUDED_FSTYPES = new Set([
-  "tmpfs",
-  "devtmpfs",
-  "proc",
-  "sysfs",
-  "cgroup2",
-  "cgroup",
-]);
-
-function round2(n) {
-  return Math.round(n * 100) / 100;
-}
-
-function parseUIntField(s) {
-  if (s === "-") return null;
-  const n = Number.parseInt(String(s), 10);
-  if (!Number.isFinite(n) || n < 0) return null;
-  return n;
-}
-
-function parsePcent(tok) {
-  if (!tok || typeof tok !== "string") return null;
-  const t = tok.trim();
-  if (!/^[\d.]+%$/.test(t)) return null;
-  const raw = Number.parseFloat(t.replace("%", ""));
-  return Number.isFinite(raw) ? round2(raw) : null;
-}
-
-/**
- * Parse one `df --output=source,target,fstype,size,used,avail,pcent` data line.
- * Mount may contain spaces; last five logical columns are fixed.
- */
-function parseDfLine(line) {
-  const parts = line.trim().split(/\s+/);
-  if (parts.length < 7) return null;
-
-  const pcentTok = parts[parts.length - 1];
-  const availBytes = parseUIntField(parts[parts.length - 2]);
-  const usedBytes = parseUIntField(parts[parts.length - 3]);
-  const totalBytes = parseUIntField(parts[parts.length - 4]);
-  const fstype = parts[parts.length - 5];
-  const device = parts[0];
-  const mount = parts.slice(1, parts.length - 5).join(" ");
-
-  if (!device || !mount || !fstype) return null;
-  if (totalBytes === null || usedBytes === null || availBytes === null)
-    return null;
-
-  const pcentFromDf = parsePcent(pcentTok);
-  const computed =
-    totalBytes > 0 ? round2((usedBytes / totalBytes) * 100) : 0;
-  let usedPercent = computed;
-  if (pcentFromDf !== null) {
-    const diff = Math.abs(computed - pcentFromDf);
-    usedPercent = diff > 1 ? computed : pcentFromDf;
-  }
-
-  return {
-    device,
-    mount,
-    fstype,
-    totalBytes,
-    usedBytes,
-    availBytes,
-    usedPercent,
-  };
-}
-
-function parseDfOutput(text) {
-  const rows = [];
-  const lines = text.split("\n");
-  for (const line of lines) {
-    const trimmed = line.trim();
-    if (!trimmed) continue;
-    if (/^Filesystem\s+/.test(trimmed) || trimmed.startsWith("Filesystem"))
-      continue;
-    const row = parseDfLine(line);
-    if (row && !EXCLUDED_FSTYPES.has(row.fstype)) rows.push(row);
-  }
-  return rows;
-}
-
-export async function compute(db, _peers) {
-  const ts = Date.now();
-  let mounts = [];
-
-  try {
-    const out = execSync(DF_CMD, {
-      encoding: "utf-8",
-      maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024,
-    });
-    mounts = parseDfOutput(out);
-  } catch {
-    mounts = [];
-  }
-
-  if (mounts.length > 0) {
-    await db.insert(diskUsageMounts).values(
-      mounts.map((m) => ({
-        ts,
-        device: m.device,
-        mount: m.mount,
-        fstype: m.fstype,
-        totalBytes: m.totalBytes,
-        usedBytes: m.usedBytes,
-        availBytes: m.availBytes,
-        usedPercent: m.usedPercent,
-      })),
-    );
-  }
-
-  return {
-    ts,
-    mounts: mounts.map((m) => ({
-      device: m.device,
-      mount: m.mount,
-      fstype: m.fstype,
-      totalBytes: m.totalBytes,
-      usedBytes: m.usedBytes,
-      availBytes: m.availBytes,
-      usedPercent: m.usedPercent,
-    })),
-  };
-}
diff --git a/senses/disk-usage-mounts/migrations/0001_init.sql b/senses/disk-usage-mounts/migrations/0001_init.sql
deleted file mode 100644
index b853f99..0000000
--- a/senses/disk-usage-mounts/migrations/0001_init.sql
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
--- Migration: 0001_init
--- Creates the disk_usage_mounts table for disk-usage-mounts sense.
-
-CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS disk_usage_mounts (
-  id            INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
-  ts            INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  device        TEXT    NOT NULL,
-  mount         TEXT    NOT NULL,
-  fstype        TEXT    NOT NULL,
-  total_bytes   INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  used_bytes    INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  avail_bytes   INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  used_percent  REAL    NOT NULL
-);
diff --git a/senses/disk-usage-mounts/schema.ts b/senses/disk-usage-mounts/schema.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 177a545..0000000
--- a/senses/disk-usage-mounts/schema.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-import { integer, real, sqliteTable, text } from "drizzle-orm/sqlite-core";
-
-export const diskUsageMounts = sqliteTable("disk_usage_mounts", {
-  id: integer("id").primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
-  ts: integer("ts").notNull(),
-  device: text("device").notNull(),
-  mount: text("mount").notNull(),
-  fstype: text("fstype").notNull(),
-  totalBytes: integer("total_bytes").notNull(),
-  usedBytes: integer("used_bytes").notNull(),
-  availBytes: integer("avail_bytes").notNull(),
-  usedPercent: real("used_percent").notNull(),
-});
diff --git a/senses/hermes-gateway-health/index.js b/senses/hermes-gateway-health/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dde4bb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/senses/hermes-gateway-health/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,321 @@
+import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
+import { hermesGatewayHealth } from "./schema.ts";
+
+/** Keep subprocess deadlines slightly under typical sense timeout (30s). */
+const EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS = 25_000;
+
+/**
+ * When `ps` lacks `etimes` (wall-clock seconds since start), parse `etime`
+ * ([[dd-]hh:]mm:ss) into seconds. See ps(1) `etime` field description.
+ */
+function etimeToSeconds(etime) {
+  let s = String(etime).trim();
+  if (!s) return 0;
+  let days = 0;
+  if (s.includes("-")) {
+    const idx = s.indexOf("-");
+    const d = Number.parseInt(s.slice(0, idx), 10);
+    days = Number.isFinite(d) ? d : 0;
+    s = s.slice(idx + 1);
+  }
+  const parts = s.split(":").map((x) => Number.parseInt(String(x).trim(), 10));
+  if (parts.some((n) => !Number.isFinite(n))) return 0;
+  if (parts.length === 3) {
+    return Math.trunc(days * 86_400 + parts[0] * 3600 + parts[1] * 60 + parts[2]);
+  }
+  if (parts.length === 2) {
+    return Math.trunc(days * 86_400 + parts[0] * 60 + parts[1]);
+  }
+  if (parts.length === 1) {
+    return Math.trunc(days * 86_400 + parts[0]);
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+function execFileUtf8(file, args, opts = {}) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    execFile(
+      file,
+      args,
+      {
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        maxBuffer: 8 * 1024 * 1024,
+        timeout: EXEC_TIMEOUT_MS,
+        ...opts,
+      },
+      (err, stdout, stderr) => {
+        const exitCode =
+          err && typeof err.status === "number" ? err.status : err ? -1 : 0;
+        resolve({
+          exitCode,
+          errCode: err?.code,
+          stdout: String(stdout ?? ""),
+          stderr: String(stderr ?? ""),
+        });
+      },
+    );
+  });
+}
+
+function parseMainPidFromStatus(text) {
+  const m = text.match(/Main PID:\s*(\d+)/i);
+  return m ? Math.trunc(Number.parseInt(m[1], 10)) || 0 : 0;
+}
+
+function parseActiveLineFromStatus(text) {
+  for (const line of text.split("\n")) {
+    if (/^\s*Active:/i.test(line)) {
+      const m = line.match(/Active:\s*(\S+)\s*\(([^)]*)\)/i);
+      if (m) {
+        return {
+          active: m[1].toLowerCase() === "active",
+          subRunning: m[2].toLowerCase().includes("running"),
+        };
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return { active: false, subRunning: false };
+}
+
+function parseSystemctlShow(text) {
+  let mainPid = 0;
+  let active = false;
+  let subRunning = false;
+  for (const line of text.split("\n")) {
+    const t = line.trim();
+    if (t.startsWith("MainPID=")) {
+      mainPid = Math.trunc(Number.parseInt(t.slice("MainPID=".length), 10)) || 0;
+    } else if (t.startsWith("ActiveState=")) {
+      active = t.slice("ActiveState=".length).trim().toLowerCase() === "active";
+    } else if (t.startsWith("SubState=")) {
+      subRunning = t.slice("SubState=".length).trim().toLowerCase() === "running";
+    }
+  }
+  return { mainPid, active, subRunning };
+}
+
+async function readSystemdState() {
+  const status = await execFileUtf8("systemctl", [
+    "--user",
+    "--no-pager",
+    "status",
+    "hermes-gateway",
+  ]);
+  const combined = `${status.stdout}\n${status.stderr}`.trim();
+  let mainPid = parseMainPidFromStatus(combined);
+  let { active, subRunning } = parseActiveLineFromStatus(combined);
+
+  const needShow =
+    mainPid <= 0 || !active || !subRunning;
+
+  if (needShow) {
+    const show = await execFileUtf8("systemctl", [
+      "--user",
+      "--no-pager",
+      "show",
+      "hermes-gateway",
+      "-p",
+      "MainPID",
+      "-p",
+      "ActiveState",
+      "-p",
+      "SubState",
+    ]);
+    const showText = `${show.stdout}\n${show.stderr}`;
+    const s = parseSystemctlShow(showText);
+    if (mainPid <= 0 && s.mainPid > 0) mainPid = s.mainPid;
+    if (!active) active = s.active;
+    if (!subRunning) subRunning = s.subRunning;
+  }
+
+  return { mainPid, systemdActiveRunning: active && subRunning };
+}
+
+async function processExists(mainPid) {
+  if (mainPid <= 0) return false;
+  const r = await execFileUtf8("ps", ["-p", String(mainPid), "-o", "pid="]);
+  if (r.errCode === "ENOENT") return false;
+  return r.stdout.trim().length > 0;
+}
+
+async function readPsMetrics(mainPid) {
+  if (mainPid <= 0) {
+    return { rssBytes: 0, cpuPercent: 0, uptimeSec: 0 };
+  }
+  let r = await execFileUtf8("ps", [
+    "-p",
+    String(mainPid),
+    "-o",
+    "rss=,%cpu=,etimes=",
+  ]);
+  let line = r.stdout.trim().replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+  if (r.errCode === "ENOENT" || !line) {
+    return { rssBytes: 0, cpuPercent: 0, uptimeSec: 0 };
+  }
+  let parts = line.split(" ").filter(Boolean);
+  if (parts.length < 3) {
+    r = await execFileUtf8("ps", [
+      "-p",
+      String(mainPid),
+      "-o",
+      "rss=,%cpu=,etime=",
+    ]);
+    line = r.stdout.trim().replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+    parts = line.split(" ").filter(Boolean);
+    if (parts.length < 3) {
+      return { rssBytes: 0, cpuPercent: 0, uptimeSec: 0 };
+    }
+    const rssKiB = Number(parts[0]);
+    const cpu = Number(parts[1]);
+    const uptimeSec = etimeToSeconds(parts.slice(2).join(" "));
+    const rssBytes = Number.isFinite(rssKiB)
+      ? Math.trunc(rssKiB * 1024)
+      : 0;
+    const cpuPercent = Number.isFinite(cpu)
+      ? Math.round(cpu * 100) / 100
+      : 0;
+    return { rssBytes, cpuPercent, uptimeSec };
+  }
+  const rssKiB = Number(parts[0]);
+  const cpu = Number(parts[1]);
+  const etimes = Number(parts[2]);
+  const rssBytes = Number.isFinite(rssKiB) ? Math.trunc(rssKiB * 1024) : 0;
+  const cpuPercent = Number.isFinite(cpu) ? Math.round(cpu * 100) / 100 : 0;
+  const uptimeSec = Number.isFinite(etimes)
+    ? Math.trunc(etimes)
+    : 0;
+  return { rssBytes, cpuPercent, uptimeSec };
+}
+
+function parseActiveSessionsFromHermesStats(text) {
+  const src = String(text);
+  const patterns = [
+    /^\s*Active\s+sessions?:\s*(\d+)/gim,
+    /^\s*active\s+sessions?:\s*(\d+)/gim,
+    /^\s*Total\s+sessions?:\s*(\d+)/gim,
+  ];
+  for (const re of patterns) {
+    re.lastIndex = 0;
+    const m = re.exec(src);
+    if (m) {
+      const n = Math.trunc(Number.parseInt(m[1], 10));
+      return Number.isFinite(n) ? n : 0;
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+async function readActiveSessions() {
+  try {
+    const r = await execFileUtf8("hermes", ["sessions", "stats"]);
+    if (r.errCode === "ENOENT") return 0;
+    return parseActiveSessionsFromHermesStats(`${r.stdout}\n${r.stderr}`);
+  } catch {
+    return 0;
+  }
+}
+
+async function countDirectChildren(mainPid) {
+  if (mainPid <= 0) return 0;
+  try {
+    const r = await execFileUtf8("ps", [
+      "--no-headers",
+      "-o",
+      "pid",
+      "--ppid",
+      String(mainPid),
+    ]);
+    if (r.errCode === "ENOENT") return 0;
+    const lines = r.stdout
+      .split("\n")
+      .map((l) => l.trim())
+      .filter(Boolean);
+    return lines.length;
+  } catch {
+    return 0;
+  }
+}
+
+export async function compute(db, _peers) {
+  const ts = Date.now();
+
+  let mainPid = 0;
+  let systemdActiveRunning = false;
+
+  try {
+    const st = await readSystemdState();
+    mainPid = st.mainPid;
+    systemdActiveRunning = st.systemdActiveRunning;
+  } catch {
+    mainPid = 0;
+    systemdActiveRunning = false;
+  }
+
+  let psOk = false;
+  try {
+    psOk = await processExists(mainPid);
+  } catch {
+    psOk = false;
+  }
+
+  let rssBytes = 0;
+  let cpuPercent = 0;
+  let uptimeSec = 0;
+  if (psOk) {
+    try {
+      const m = await readPsMetrics(mainPid);
+      rssBytes = m.rssBytes;
+      cpuPercent = m.cpuPercent;
+      uptimeSec = m.uptimeSec;
+    } catch {
+      rssBytes = 0;
+      cpuPercent = 0;
+      uptimeSec = 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const alive =
+    systemdActiveRunning && mainPid > 0 && psOk ? 1 : 0;
+
+  let activeSessions = 0;
+  try {
+    activeSessions = await readActiveSessions();
+  } catch {
+    activeSessions = 0;
+  }
+
+  let childProcessCount = 0;
+  if (alive && mainPid > 0) {
+    try {
+      childProcessCount = await countDirectChildren(mainPid);
+    } catch {
+      childProcessCount = 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const storedMainPid = mainPid > 0 ? mainPid : 0;
+
+  const row = {
+    ts,
+    alive,
+    mainPid: storedMainPid,
+    rssBytes: alive ? rssBytes : 0,
+    cpuPercent: alive ? cpuPercent : 0,
+    uptimeSec: alive ? uptimeSec : 0,
+    activeSessions,
+    childProcessCount: alive ? childProcessCount : 0,
+  };
+
+  await db.insert(hermesGatewayHealth).values(row);
+
+  return {
+    ts: row.ts,
+    alive: row.alive,
+    mainPid: row.mainPid,
+    rssBytes: row.rssBytes,
+    cpuPercent: row.cpuPercent,
+    uptimeSec: row.uptimeSec,
+    activeSessions: row.activeSessions,
+    childProcessCount: row.childProcessCount,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/senses/hermes-gateway-health/migrations/0001_init.sql b/senses/hermes-gateway-health/migrations/0001_init.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51ce31d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/senses/hermes-gateway-health/migrations/0001_init.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+-- Migration: 0001_init
+-- Creates the hermes_gateway_health table for hermes-gateway-health sense.
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS hermes_gateway_health (
+  id                    INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+  ts                    INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  alive                 INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  main_pid              INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  rss_bytes             INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  cpu_percent           REAL    NOT NULL,
+  uptime_sec            INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  active_sessions       INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  child_process_count   INTEGER NOT NULL
+);
diff --git a/senses/hermes-gateway-health/schema.ts b/senses/hermes-gateway-health/schema.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66469f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/senses/hermes-gateway-health/schema.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { integer, real, sqliteTable } from "drizzle-orm/sqlite-core";
+
+export const hermesGatewayHealth = sqliteTable("hermes_gateway_health", {
+  id: integer("id").primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
+  ts: integer("ts").notNull(),
+  alive: integer("alive").notNull(),
+  mainPid: integer("main_pid").notNull(),
+  rssBytes: integer("rss_bytes").notNull(),
+  cpuPercent: real("cpu_percent").notNull(),
+  uptimeSec: integer("uptime_sec").notNull(),
+  activeSessions: integer("active_sessions").notNull(),
+  childProcessCount: integer("child_process_count").notNull(),
+});
diff --git a/senses/linux-system-health/index.js b/senses/linux-system-health/index.js
index f96fdb0..69de1a0 100644
--- a/senses/linux-system-health/index.js
+++ b/senses/linux-system-health/index.js
@@ -1,7 +1,38 @@
 import { loadavg, totalmem, freemem, uptime } from "node:os";
 import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { snapshots } from "./schema.ts";
 
+const SOCKSTAT_PATH = "/proc/net/sockstat";
+
+function parseSockstat(content) {
+  let socketsUsed = 0, tcpInuse = 0, tcpOrphan = 0, tcpTw = 0, tcpAlloc = 0, tcpMemPages = 0;
+
+  for (const line of content.split("\n")) {
+    const trimmed = line.trim();
+    if (trimmed.startsWith("sockets:")) {
+      const parts = trimmed.split(/\s+/);
+      const idx = parts.indexOf("used");
+      if (idx !== -1 && idx + 1 < parts.length) {
+        socketsUsed = Number.parseInt(parts[idx + 1], 10) || 0;
+      }
+    } else if (trimmed.startsWith("TCP:")) {
+      const parts = trimmed.split(/\s+/);
+      const map = {};
+      for (let i = 1; i + 1 < parts.length; i += 2) {
+        map[parts[i]] = Number.parseInt(parts[i + 1], 10) || 0;
+      }
+      tcpInuse = map.inuse ?? 0;
+      tcpOrphan = map.orphan ?? 0;
+      tcpTw = map.tw ?? 0;
+      tcpAlloc = map.alloc ?? 0;
+      tcpMemPages = map.mem ?? 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return { socketsUsed, tcpInuse, tcpOrphan, tcpTw, tcpAlloc, tcpMemPages };
+}
+
 export async function compute(db, _peers) {
   const [load1, load5, load15] = loadavg();
 
@@ -23,6 +54,13 @@ export async function compute(db, _peers) {
     diskUsedPct = total > 0 ? Math.round((used / total) * 10000) / 100 : 0;
   } catch {}
 
+  // TCP socket stats
+  let tcp = { socketsUsed: 0, tcpInuse: 0, tcpOrphan: 0, tcpTw: 0, tcpAlloc: 0, tcpMemPages: 0 };
+  try {
+    const content = await readFile(SOCKSTAT_PATH, "utf8");
+    tcp = parseSockstat(content);
+  } catch {}
+
   const ts = Date.now();
   const uptimeSec = Math.round(uptime());
 
@@ -31,12 +69,19 @@ export async function compute(db, _peers) {
     memTotalMB, memUsedMB, memUsedPct,
     diskTotalGB, diskUsedGB, diskUsedPct,
     uptimeSec,
+    socketsUsed: tcp.socketsUsed,
+    tcpInuse: tcp.tcpInuse,
+    tcpOrphan: tcp.tcpOrphan,
+    tcpTw: tcp.tcpTw,
+    tcpAlloc: tcp.tcpAlloc,
+    tcpMemPages: tcp.tcpMemPages,
   });
 
   return {
     cpu: { load1m: load1, load5m: load5, load15m: load15 },
     memory: { totalMB: memTotalMB, usedMB: memUsedMB, usedPct: memUsedPct },
     disk: { totalGB: diskTotalGB, usedGB: diskUsedGB, usedPct: diskUsedPct },
+    tcp: { socketsUsed: tcp.socketsUsed, inuse: tcp.tcpInuse, orphan: tcp.tcpOrphan, tw: tcp.tcpTw, alloc: tcp.tcpAlloc, memPages: tcp.tcpMemPages },
     uptimeSec,
   };
 }
diff --git a/senses/linux-system-health/migrations/0002_add_tcp_stats.sql b/senses/linux-system-health/migrations/0002_add_tcp_stats.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5efd2d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/senses/linux-system-health/migrations/0002_add_tcp_stats.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+ALTER TABLE snapshots ADD COLUMN sockets_used INTEGER;
+ALTER TABLE snapshots ADD COLUMN tcp_inuse INTEGER;
+ALTER TABLE snapshots ADD COLUMN tcp_orphan INTEGER;
+ALTER TABLE snapshots ADD COLUMN tcp_tw INTEGER;
+ALTER TABLE snapshots ADD COLUMN tcp_alloc INTEGER;
+ALTER TABLE snapshots ADD COLUMN tcp_mem_pages INTEGER;
diff --git a/senses/linux-system-health/schema.ts b/senses/linux-system-health/schema.ts
index 470102e..de382a2 100644
--- a/senses/linux-system-health/schema.ts
+++ b/senses/linux-system-health/schema.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { integer, real, sqliteTable } from "drizzle-orm/sqlite-core";
+import { integer, real, sqliteTable, text } from "drizzle-orm/sqlite-core";
 
 export const snapshots = sqliteTable("snapshots", {
   ts: integer("ts").primaryKey(),
@@ -12,4 +12,11 @@ export const snapshots = sqliteTable("snapshots", {
   diskUsedGB: real("disk_used_gb").notNull(),
   diskUsedPct: real("disk_used_pct").notNull(),
   uptimeSec: integer("uptime_sec").notNull(),
+  // TCP socket stats (merged from linux-tcp-socket-stats)
+  socketsUsed: integer("sockets_used"),
+  tcpInuse: integer("tcp_inuse"),
+  tcpOrphan: integer("tcp_orphan"),
+  tcpTw: integer("tcp_tw"),
+  tcpAlloc: integer("tcp_alloc"),
+  tcpMemPages: integer("tcp_mem_pages"),
 });
diff --git a/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/index.js b/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index b51091c..0000000
--- a/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,120 +0,0 @@
-import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
-import { linuxTcpSocketStats } from "./schema.ts";
-
-const SOCKSTAT_PATH = "/proc/net/sockstat";
-const RAW_MAX = 4096;
-
-function parseInt10(s) {
-  const n = Number.parseInt(String(s), 10);
-  return Number.isFinite(n) ? Math.trunc(n) : NaN;
-}
-
-function parseSockstat(content) {
-  let socketsUsed = 0;
-  let tcpInuse = 0;
-  let tcpOrphan = 0;
-  let tcpTw = 0;
-  let tcpAlloc = 0;
-  let tcpMemPages = 0;
-  let parseOk = 1;
-
-  let socketsOk = false;
-  let tcpOk = false;
-
-  for (const line of content.split("\n")) {
-    const trimmed = line.trim();
-    if (trimmed.startsWith("sockets:")) {
-      const parts = trimmed.split(/\s+/);
-      const usedIdx = parts.indexOf("used");
-      if (usedIdx !== -1 && usedIdx + 1 < parts.length) {
-        const v = parseInt10(parts[usedIdx + 1]);
-        if (Number.isFinite(v)) {
-          socketsUsed = v;
-          socketsOk = true;
-        }
-      }
-    } else if (trimmed.startsWith("TCP:")) {
-      const parts = trimmed.split(/\s+/);
-      const map = {};
-      for (let i = 1; i + 1 < parts.length; i += 2) {
-        map[parts[i]] = parseInt10(parts[i + 1]);
-      }
-      const keys = ["inuse", "orphan", "tw", "alloc", "mem"];
-      if (keys.every((k) => Number.isFinite(map[k]))) {
-        tcpInuse = map.inuse;
-        tcpOrphan = map.orphan;
-        tcpTw = map.tw;
-        tcpAlloc = map.alloc;
-        tcpMemPages = map.mem;
-        tcpOk = true;
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  if (!socketsOk || !tcpOk) {
-    parseOk = 0;
-    socketsUsed = 0;
-    tcpInuse = 0;
-    tcpOrphan = 0;
-    tcpTw = 0;
-    tcpAlloc = 0;
-    tcpMemPages = 0;
-  }
-
-  return {
-    socketsUsed,
-    tcpInuse,
-    tcpOrphan,
-    tcpTw,
-    tcpAlloc,
-    tcpMemPages,
-    parseOk,
-  };
-}
-
-export async function compute(db, _peers) {
-  const ts = Date.now();
-  let rawSockstat = "";
-  let row = {
-    socketsUsed: 0,
-    tcpInuse: 0,
-    tcpOrphan: 0,
-    tcpTw: 0,
-    tcpAlloc: 0,
-    tcpMemPages: 0,
-    parseOk: 0,
-  };
-
-  try {
-    const content = await readFile(SOCKSTAT_PATH, "utf8");
-    rawSockstat =
-      content.length > RAW_MAX ? content.slice(0, RAW_MAX) : content;
-    row = parseSockstat(content);
-  } catch {
-    rawSockstat = "";
-  }
-
-  await db.insert(linuxTcpSocketStats).values({
-    ts,
-    socketsUsed: row.socketsUsed,
-    tcpInuse: row.tcpInuse,
-    tcpOrphan: row.tcpOrphan,
-    tcpTw: row.tcpTw,
-    tcpAlloc: row.tcpAlloc,
-    tcpMemPages: row.tcpMemPages,
-    parseOk: row.parseOk,
-    rawSockstat,
-  });
-
-  return {
-    ts,
-    socketsUsed: row.socketsUsed,
-    tcpInuse: row.tcpInuse,
-    tcpOrphan: row.tcpOrphan,
-    tcpTw: row.tcpTw,
-    tcpAlloc: row.tcpAlloc,
-    tcpMemPages: row.tcpMemPages,
-    parseOk: row.parseOk,
-    rawSockstat,
-  };
-}
diff --git a/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/migrations/0001_init.sql b/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/migrations/0001_init.sql
deleted file mode 100644
index 524c32f..0000000
--- a/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/migrations/0001_init.sql
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
--- Migration: 0001_init
--- Creates the linux_tcp_socket_stats table for linux-tcp-socket-stats sense.
-
-CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS linux_tcp_socket_stats (
-  ts               INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
-  sockets_used     INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  tcp_inuse        INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  tcp_orphan       INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  tcp_tw           INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  tcp_alloc        INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  tcp_mem_pages    INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  parse_ok         INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  raw_sockstat     TEXT    NOT NULL
-);
diff --git a/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/schema.ts b/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/schema.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ba71561..0000000
--- a/senses/linux-tcp-socket-stats/schema.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-import { integer, sqliteTable, text } from "drizzle-orm/sqlite-core";
-
-export const linuxTcpSocketStats = sqliteTable("linux_tcp_socket_stats", {
-  ts: integer("ts").primaryKey(),
-  socketsUsed: integer("sockets_used").notNull(),
-  tcpInuse: integer("tcp_inuse").notNull(),
-  tcpOrphan: integer("tcp_orphan").notNull(),
-  tcpTw: integer("tcp_tw").notNull(),
-  tcpAlloc: integer("tcp_alloc").notNull(),
-  tcpMemPages: integer("tcp_mem_pages").notNull(),
-  parseOk: integer("parse_ok").notNull(),
-  rawSockstat: text("raw_sockstat").notNull(),
-});
diff --git a/workflows/sense-generator/index.ts b/workflows/sense-generator/index.ts
index 3b92166..78381b7 100644
--- a/workflows/sense-generator/index.ts
+++ b/workflows/sense-generator/index.ts
@@ -3,26 +3,89 @@ import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { readFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 
-const NERVE_ROOT = join(process.env.HOME ?? "/home/azureuser", ".uncaged-nerve");
+const HOME = process.env.HOME ?? "/home/azureuser";
+const NERVE_ROOT = join(HOME, ".uncaged-nerve");
 const SENSES_DIR = join(NERVE_ROOT, "senses");
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Helpers
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+function nerveCommandEnv(): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
+  const pnpmHome = join(HOME, ".local/share/pnpm");
+  const npmUserBin = join(HOME, ".local/share/npm/bin");
+  return {
+    ...process.env,
+    PNPM_HOME: pnpmHome,
+    PATH: `${npmUserBin}:${pnpmHome}:${process.env.PATH ?? ""}`,
+  };
+}
+
 function run(cmd: string, cwd?: string): string {
   return execSync(cmd, {
     encoding: "utf-8",
     cwd: cwd ?? NERVE_ROOT,
     timeout: 300_000,
-    env: {
-      ...process.env,
-      PNPM_HOME: join(process.env.HOME ?? "/home/azureuser", ".local/share/pnpm"),
-      PATH: `${join(process.env.HOME ?? "/home/azureuser", ".local/share/pnpm")}:${process.env.PATH}`,
-    },
+    env: nerveCommandEnv(),
   }).trim();
 }
 
+/**
+ * Run the same checks the workflow used to ask Hermes to perform, but locally.
+ * Hermes chat often returns UI prose instead of shell output, which caused false failures.
+ */
+function runSenseSmokeTest(senseName: string): { ok: boolean; log: string; reason: string } {
+  const logParts: string[] = [];
+  try {
+    const status = run("nerve status");
+    logParts.push("=== nerve status ===\n" + status);
+    if (!status.includes(senseName)) {
+      return {
+        ok: false,
+        log: logParts.join("\n\n"),
+        reason: `Sense "${senseName}" not listed in \`nerve status\` output`,
+      };
+    }
+
+    const triggerOut = run(`nerve sense trigger ${senseName}`);
+    logParts.push("=== nerve sense trigger ===\n" + triggerOut);
+
+    let lastQuery = "";
+    for (let i = 0; i < 25; i++) {
+      run("sleep 1");
+      try {
+        lastQuery = run(`nerve sense query ${senseName}`);
+      } catch (e) {
+        logParts.push(`=== nerve sense query (attempt ${i + 1}) ===\nERROR: ${String(e)}`);
+        continue;
+      }
+      logParts.push(`=== nerve sense query (attempt ${i + 1}) ===\n${lastQuery}`);
+      if (!lastQuery.includes("(0 rows)")) {
+        return {
+          ok: true,
+          log: logParts.join("\n\n"),
+          reason: "Trigger succeeded and query returned at least one row",
+        };
+      }
+    }
+
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      log: logParts.join("\n\n"),
+      reason: lastQuery.includes("(0 rows)")
+        ? "Query still returned 0 rows after trigger (compute error, throttle drop, or DB not written)"
+        : "Timed out waiting for successful sense query",
+    };
+  } catch (e) {
+    const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      log: logParts.join("\n\n"),
+      reason: `Smoke test command failed: ${msg}`,
+    };
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Call a cheap LLM with tool_choice to extract structured metadata from text.
  * Uses DashScope (Alibaba Cloud, OpenAI-compatible) with qwen-plus.
@@ -61,13 +124,6 @@ function cursorAgent(prompt: string, mode: "plan" | "ask" | "default", cwd: stri
   );
 }
 
-function hermesRun(prompt: string): string {
-  const escaped = prompt.replace(/'/g, "'\\''");
-  return run(
-    `hermes chat -q '${escaped}' --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4 -t terminal --yolo 2>&1 || true`,
-  );
-}
-
 // Build context string with existing sense examples
 function buildSenseExamples(): string {
   const examples: string[] = [];
@@ -263,50 +319,18 @@ Create all files now.`;
           };
         }
 
-        // Reload daemon to pick up new sense, then trigger it
-        const testPrompt = `You need to test a newly created Nerve sense called "${senseName}".
+        const smoke = runSenseSmokeTest(senseName);
+        ctx.log(`tester: smoke — ok=${smoke.ok}, reason="${smoke.reason}"`);
+        ctx.log(`tester: log head — ${smoke.log.substring(0, 400)}`);
 
-Steps:
-1. Restart the nerve daemon: run "nerve stop && nerve start" (make sure PNPM_HOME and PATH are set)
-2. Wait 2 seconds
-3. Check status: run "nerve status" and verify "${senseName}" appears in senses list
-4. Trigger the sense: run "nerve sense trigger ${senseName}"
-5. Check the result: run "nerve sense query ${senseName} --limit 1"
-
-Report whether the sense works. If there are errors, include the full error output.
-The nerve binary is at ~/.local/share/pnpm/nerve.
-
-Reply with either:
-- "PASS: <summary>" if the sense works
-- "FAIL: <error details>" if it doesn't`;
-
-        const result = hermesRun(testPrompt);
-        ctx.log(`tester: raw result — ${result.substring(0, 300)}`);
-
-        // Use LLM to judge pass/fail instead of fragile string matching
-        const verdict = llmExtract<{ passed: boolean; reason: string }>(
-          `Test output for sense "${senseName}":\n\n${result.substring(0, 4000)}`,
-          "judge_test_result",
-          "Determine whether the test passed or failed based on the output",
-          {
-            type: "object",
-            properties: {
-              passed: { type: "boolean", description: "true if the sense was successfully triggered and returned valid data" },
-              reason: { type: "string", description: "Brief explanation of why it passed or failed" },
-            },
-            required: ["passed", "reason"],
-          },
-        );
-        ctx.log(`tester: verdict — passed=${verdict.passed}, reason="${verdict.reason}"`);
-
-        if (verdict.passed) {
-          return { type: "test_passed", senseName, result: verdict.reason };
+        if (smoke.ok) {
+          return { type: "test_passed", senseName, result: smoke.reason };
         }
 
         return {
           type: "test_failed",
           senseName,
-          reason: verdict.reason,
+          reason: `${smoke.reason}\n\n--- smoke log ---\n${smoke.log}`,
           attempt,
         };
       },