diff --git a/EVENT_QUEUE_DESIGN.md b/EVENT_QUEUE_DESIGN.md
index 070208f..fc50552 100644
--- a/EVENT_QUEUE_DESIGN.md
+++ b/EVENT_QUEUE_DESIGN.md
@@ -218,7 +218,8 @@ const stats = queue.getStats();
 //   total: 42,           // Total events in queue
 //   pending: 10,         // Awaiting processing
 //   processing: 2,       // Currently being handled
-//   processed: 30,       // Successfully handled
+//   retrying: 3,         // Failed with retries remaining
+//   processed: 27,       // Successfully handled
 //   failed: 0,           // Exhausted retries
 //   oldestEventAge: 1500 // ms since oldest event enqueued
 // }
@@ -320,6 +321,7 @@ const stats = propagator.getQueueStats();
 
 const isHealthy =
   stats.processing <= 1 &&         // Not backed up
+  stats.retrying === 0 &&          // No retry backlog
   stats.failed === 0 &&            // No exhausted retries
   stats.oldestEventAge < 60_000;   // No old events (< 60s)
 
diff --git a/EVENT_QUEUE_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md b/EVENT_QUEUE_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md
index 4d2fd91..b1e2429 100644
--- a/EVENT_QUEUE_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md
+++ b/EVENT_QUEUE_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md
@@ -200,7 +200,9 @@ stmt.run(event.id, JSON.stringify(event), "pending", 0, Date.now());
 **Verification**:
 - Test: `reports accurate queue statistics` ✅
   - Enqueue 5 events in different states
-  - Verify stats: total=5, pending=3, processing=1, processed=1
+  - Verify stats: total=5, pending=3, retrying=1, processed=1, processing=0
+
+- Test: `separates retrying failures from processing and exhausted failed events` ✅
 
 - Test: `calculates oldest event age` ✅
   - Enqueue event
@@ -219,8 +221,9 @@ return {
   total: sum of all counts,
   pending: WHERE status = 'pending',
   processing: WHERE status = 'processing',
+  retrying: WHERE status = 'failed' AND attempts < maxRetries,
   processed: WHERE status = 'processed',
-  failed: WHERE status = 'failed',
+  failed: WHERE status = 'failed' AND attempts >= maxRetries,
   oldestEventAge: Date.now() - earliest enqueueTime
 };
 ```
@@ -353,6 +356,7 @@ EventQueue
     ✓ does not recover processed events
   Queue Statistics
     ✓ reports accurate queue statistics
+    ✓ separates retrying failures from processing and exhausted failed events
     ✓ calculates oldest event age
   Cleanup
     ✓ removes old processed events
diff --git a/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/event-queue.test.ts b/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/event-queue.test.ts
index e6d3551..532da4b 100644
--- a/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/event-queue.test.ts
+++ b/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/event-queue.test.ts
@@ -257,8 +257,37 @@ describe("EventQueue", () => {
       expect(stats.total).toBe(5);
       expect(stats.processed).toBe(1);
       expect(stats.pending).toBe(3);
-      expect(stats.processing).toBe(1); // evt-2 is still in processing state
-      expect(stats.failed).toBe(0); // evt-2 was retried as pending, not failed
+      expect(stats.processing).toBe(0);
+      expect(stats.retrying).toBe(1); // evt-2 failed with retries remaining
+      expect(stats.failed).toBe(0);
+
+      cleanupTestQueue(queue, path);
+    });
+
+    it("separates retrying failures from processing and exhausted failed events", () => {
+      const { queue, path } = createTestQueue();
+
+      queue.enqueue(createTestEvent("evt-exhausted", "test"));
+      for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+        expect(queue.dequeue()).not.toBeNull();
+        queue.markFailed("evt-exhausted", new Error(`attempt ${i + 1}`));
+      }
+
+      queue.enqueue(createTestEvent("evt-processing", "test"));
+      expect(queue.dequeue()!.id).toBe("evt-processing");
+
+      queue.enqueue(createTestEvent("evt-retrying", "test"));
+      expect(queue.dequeue()!.id).toBe("evt-retrying");
+      queue.markFailed("evt-retrying", new Error("transient"));
+
+      const stats = queue.getStats();
+
+      expect(stats.total).toBe(3);
+      expect(stats.processing).toBe(1);
+      expect(stats.retrying).toBe(1);
+      expect(stats.failed).toBe(1);
+      expect(stats.pending).toBe(0);
+      expect(stats.processed).toBe(0);
 
       cleanupTestQueue(queue, path);
     });
diff --git a/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/heartbeat.test.ts b/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/heartbeat.test.ts
index 2365795..ac8c37e 100644
--- a/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/heartbeat.test.ts
+++ b/engine-bridge/src/__tests__/heartbeat.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,26 @@ describe("HeartbeatMonitor", () => {
     propagator.stop();
   });
 
+  it("surfaces retrying queue stats separately from processing", async () => {
+    rpc.call = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({});
+
+    monitor.start();
+    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 10));
+
+    const pulse = logSpy.mock.calls.find(
+      (call) => typeof call[1] === "string" && call[1].includes("eventQueue")
+    );
+    expect(pulse).toBeDefined();
+    const report = JSON.parse(pulse![1] as string);
+    expect(report.eventQueue).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        processing: 0,
+        retrying: 0,
+        failed: 0,
+      })
+    );
+  });
+
   it("logs at intervals", async () => {
     rpc.call = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({});
 
diff --git a/engine-bridge/src/event-propagator.ts b/engine-bridge/src/event-propagator.ts
index debaa02..c9eb21b 100644
--- a/engine-bridge/src/event-propagator.ts
+++ b/engine-bridge/src/event-propagator.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  */
 
 import { RpcClient } from "./rpc-client";
-import { EventQueue } from "./event-queue";
+import { EventQueue, type QueueStats } from "./event-queue";
 import { logger } from "./logger";
 
 export interface EngineEvent {
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ export class EventPropagator {
     }
   }
 
-  /** Get queue statistics. */
-  getQueueStats() {
+  /** Get queue statistics, including the retrying backlog. */
+  getQueueStats(): QueueStats {
     return this.queue.getStats();
   }
 
diff --git a/engine-bridge/src/event-queue.ts b/engine-bridge/src/event-queue.ts
index be15429..0873eae 100644
--- a/engine-bridge/src/event-queue.ts
+++ b/engine-bridge/src/event-queue.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,27 @@ export interface QueuedEvent {
   nextAttempt?: number;
 }
 
+export interface QueueStats {
+  total: number;
+  pending: number;
+  processing: number;
+  /** Failed events that still have retries remaining — not healthy in-flight work. */
+  retrying: number;
+  processed: number;
+  failed: number;
+  oldestEventAge: number | null;
+}
+
+const EMPTY_STATS: QueueStats = {
+  total: 0,
+  pending: 0,
+  processing: 0,
+  retrying: 0,
+  processed: 0,
+  failed: 0,
+  oldestEventAge: null,
+};
+
 export class EventQueue {
   private db: Database.Database;
   private readonly dbPath: string;
@@ -239,15 +260,12 @@ export class EventQueue {
 
   /**
    * Get queue statistics (size, oldest event, error rate).
+   *
+   * Failed events that still have retries remaining are reported as
+   * `retrying`, not `processing`, so an outage-driven retry backlog is
+   * visible instead of looking like healthy in-flight work.
    */
-  getStats(): {
-    total: number;
-    pending: number;
-    processing: number;
-    processed: number;
-    failed: number;
-    oldestEventAge: number | null;
-  } {
+  getStats(): QueueStats {
     try {
       const allStmt = this.db.prepare("SELECT status, attempts FROM events");
       const rows = allStmt.all() as any[];
@@ -256,6 +274,7 @@ export class EventQueue {
         total: rows.length,
         pending: 0,
         processing: 0,
+        retrying: 0,
         processed: 0,
         failed: 0,
       };
@@ -269,7 +288,7 @@ export class EventQueue {
           stats.processing++;
         } else if (row.status === "failed") {
           if (row.attempts < this.maxRetries) {
-            stats.processing++;
+            stats.retrying++;
           } else {
             stats.failed++;
           }
@@ -286,14 +305,7 @@ export class EventQueue {
       };
     } catch (err) {
       logger.error("[EventQueue] Get stats failed:", err);
-      return {
-        total: 0,
-        pending: 0,
-        processing: 0,
-        processed: 0,
-        failed: 0,
-        oldestEventAge: null,
-      };
+      return { ...EMPTY_STATS };
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/engine-bridge/src/heartbeat-monitor.ts b/engine-bridge/src/heartbeat-monitor.ts
index d31dce8..f72fb29 100644
--- a/engine-bridge/src/heartbeat-monitor.ts
+++ b/engine-bridge/src/heartbeat-monitor.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ export class HeartbeatMonitor {
         running: this.propagator.isRunning(),
         cursor:  this.propagator.getCursor() ?? "none",
       },
+      eventQueue: this.propagator.getQueueStats(),
       system: {
         memoryRssMb: Math.round(process.memoryUsage().rss / 1024 / 1024),
         uptimeSec:   Math.round(process.uptime()),
diff --git a/engine-bridge/src/index.ts b/engine-bridge/src/index.ts
index 414b745..3e87093 100644
--- a/engine-bridge/src/index.ts
+++ b/engine-bridge/src/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+export { EventQueue } from "./event-queue";
+export type { QueuedEvent, QueueStats } from "./event-queue";
 export { RpcClient } from "./rpc-client";
 export { NonceManager } from "./nonce-manager";
 export { EventPropagator } from "./event-propagator";