diff --git a/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeForwarder.swift b/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeForwarder.swift
index 1e9119c62..26988cbe4 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeForwarder.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeForwarder.swift
@@ -12,6 +12,20 @@ struct VoiceWakeForwardConfig: Sendable {
 enum VoiceWakeForwarder {
     private static let logger = Logger(subsystem: "com.steipete.clawdis", category: "voicewake.forward")
 
+    enum VoiceWakeForwardError: LocalizedError, Equatable {
+        case invalidTarget
+        case launchFailed(String)
+        case nonZeroExit(Int32)
+
+        var errorDescription: String? {
+            switch self {
+            case .invalidTarget: "Missing or invalid SSH target"
+            case let .launchFailed(message): "ssh failed to start: \(message)"
+            case let .nonZeroExit(code): "ssh exited with code \(code)"
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     static func forward(transcript: String, config: VoiceWakeForwardConfig) async {
         guard config.enabled else { return }
         let destination = config.target.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
@@ -60,6 +74,42 @@ enum VoiceWakeForwarder {
         await self.wait(process, timeout: config.timeout)
     }
 
+    static func checkConnection(config: VoiceWakeForwardConfig) async -> Result<Void, VoiceWakeForwardError> {
+        let destination = config.target.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
+        guard let parsed = self.parse(target: destination) else {
+            return .failure(.invalidTarget)
+        }
+
+        let userHost = parsed.user.map { "\($0)@\(parsed.host)" } ?? parsed.host
+
+        var args: [String] = [
+            "-o", "BatchMode=yes",
+            "-o", "IdentitiesOnly=yes",
+            "-o", "ConnectTimeout=4",
+        ]
+        if parsed.port > 0 { args.append(contentsOf: ["-p", String(parsed.port)]) }
+        if !config.identityPath.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).isEmpty {
+            args.append(contentsOf: ["-i", config.identityPath])
+        }
+        args.append(contentsOf: [userHost, "true"])
+
+        let process = Process()
+        process.executableURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: "/usr/bin/ssh")
+        process.arguments = args
+
+        do {
+            try process.run()
+        } catch {
+            return .failure(.launchFailed(error.localizedDescription))
+        }
+
+        await self.wait(process, timeout: 6)
+        if process.terminationStatus == 0 {
+            return .success(())
+        }
+        return .failure(.nonZeroExit(process.terminationStatus))
+    }
+
     static func renderedCommand(template: String, transcript: String) -> String {
         let escaped = Self.shellEscape(transcript)
         if template.contains("${text}") {
diff --git a/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeSettings.swift b/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeSettings.swift
index 202bf73ce..2f71128b3 100644
--- a/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeSettings.swift
+++ b/apps/macos/Sources/Clawdis/VoiceWakeSettings.swift
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ enum VoiceWakeTestState: Equatable {
     case failed(String)
 }
 
+private enum ForwardStatus: Equatable {
+    case idle
+    case checking
+    case ok
+    case failed(String)
+}
+
 private struct AudioInputDevice: Identifiable, Equatable {
     let uid: String
     let name: String
@@ -253,6 +260,7 @@ struct VoiceWakeSettings: View {
     private let meter = MicLevelMonitor()
     @State private var availableLocales: [Locale] = []
     @State private var showForwardAdvanced = false
+    @State private var forwardStatus: ForwardStatus = .idle
 
     private struct IndexedWord: Identifiable {
         let id: Int
@@ -686,8 +694,11 @@ struct VoiceWakeSettings: View {
                         TextField("steipete@peters-mac-studio-1", text: self.$state.voiceWakeForwardTarget)
                             .textFieldStyle(.roundedBorder)
                             .frame(width: 280)
+                            .onChange(of: self.state.voiceWakeForwardTarget) { _, _ in self.forwardStatus = .idle }
                     }
 
+                    self.forwardStatusRow
+
                     DisclosureGroup(isExpanded: self.$showForwardAdvanced) {
                         VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 10) {
                             LabeledContent("Identity file") {
@@ -696,6 +707,9 @@ struct VoiceWakeSettings: View {
                                     text: self.$state.voiceWakeForwardIdentity)
                                     .textFieldStyle(.roundedBorder)
                                     .frame(width: 320)
+                                    .onChange(of: self.state.voiceWakeForwardIdentity) { _, _ in
+                                        self.forwardStatus = .idle
+                                    }
                             }
 
                             VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 4) {
@@ -706,6 +720,9 @@ struct VoiceWakeSettings: View {
                                     text: self.$state.voiceWakeForwardCommand,
                                     axis: .vertical)
                                     .textFieldStyle(.roundedBorder)
+                                    .onChange(of: self.state.voiceWakeForwardCommand) { _, _ in
+                                        self.forwardStatus = .idle
+                                    }
                                 Text(
                                     "${text} is replaced with the transcript."
                                         + "\nIt is also piped to stdin if you prefer $(cat).")
@@ -725,11 +742,54 @@ struct VoiceWakeSettings: View {
         }
     }
 
+    private var forwardStatusRow: some View {
+        HStack(spacing: 10) {
+            switch self.forwardStatus {
+            case .idle:
+                Image(systemName: "circle.dashed")
+                    .foregroundStyle(.secondary)
+            case .checking:
+                ProgressView().controlSize(.small)
+            case .ok:
+                Image(systemName: "checkmark.circle.fill").foregroundStyle(.green)
+            case let .failed(message):
+                Image(systemName: "exclamationmark.triangle.fill").foregroundStyle(.yellow)
+                    .help(message)
+            }
+
+            Button("Check connection") {
+                Task { await self.checkForwardConnection() }
+            }
+            .disabled(self.state.voiceWakeForwardTarget.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).isEmpty)
+
+            if case let .failed(message) = self.forwardStatus {
+                Text(message)
+                    .font(.caption)
+                    .foregroundStyle(.secondary)
+                    .lineLimit(5)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     private var levelLabel: String {
         let db = (meterLevel * 50) - 50
         return String(format: "%.0f dB", db)
     }
 
+    private func checkForwardConnection() async {
+        self.forwardStatus = .checking
+        let config = AppStateStore.shared.voiceWakeForwardConfig
+        let result = await VoiceWakeForwarder.checkConnection(config: config)
+        await MainActor.run {
+            switch result {
+            case .success:
+                self.forwardStatus = .ok
+            case let .failure(error):
+                self.forwardStatus = .failed(error.localizedDescription)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     @MainActor
     private func restartMeter() async {
         self.meterError = nil