diff --git a/src/commands/autopilot.ts b/src/commands/autopilot.ts
index 390305cbc..3f27cb21f 100644
--- a/src/commands/autopilot.ts
+++ b/src/commands/autopilot.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import type { BrainEngine } from '../core/engine.ts';
 import { loadPreferences } from '../core/preferences.ts';
 import { loadConfig, loadConfigFileOnly, saveConfig, gbrainPath as gbrainHomePath } from '../core/config.ts';
+import {
+  classifyAutopilotLockHolder,
+  type AutopilotLockProbeDeps,
+  isPidAlive,
+} from '../core/autopilot-lock.ts';
 import { ChildWorkerSupervisor } from '../core/minions/child-worker-supervisor.ts';
 import { VERSION } from '../version.ts';
 import {
@@ -249,19 +254,22 @@ export function shouldSpawnAutopilotWorker(args: string[]): boolean {
   return !args.includes('--no-worker');
 }
 
-export function isPidAlive(pid: number): boolean {
-  if (!Number.isFinite(pid) || pid <= 0) return false;
+export { isPidAlive };
+
+export const AUTOPILOT_FOREIGN_PID_TAKEOVER_GRACE_MS = 10 * 60 * 1000;
+
+function autopilotLockAgeMs(lockPath: string): number | null {
   try {
-    process.kill(pid, 0);
-    return true;
-  } catch (error: unknown) {
-    return (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'EPERM';
+    return Date.now() - statSync(lockPath).mtimeMs;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
   }
 }
 
 export function decideLockAcquisition(
   lockPath: string,
   currentPid: number,
+  deps: AutopilotLockProbeDeps = {},
 ): { action: 'acquire' } | { action: 'exit'; holderPid: number } | { action: 'takeover'; reason: string } {
   if (!existsSync(lockPath)) return { action: 'acquire' };
 
@@ -273,10 +281,21 @@ export function decideLockAcquisition(
   }
 
   const holderPid = Number.parseInt(raw, 10);
-  const sameProcess = Number.isFinite(holderPid) && holderPid === currentPid;
-  const alive = !sameProcess && isPidAlive(holderPid);
+  const holder = classifyAutopilotLockHolder(holderPid, currentPid, deps);
 
-  if (alive) return { action: 'exit', holderPid };
+  if (holder.state === 'alive-autopilot' || holder.state === 'alive-unknown') {
+    return { action: 'exit', holderPid };
+  }
+  if (holder.state === 'alive-foreign') {
+    const lockAgeMs = autopilotLockAgeMs(lockPath);
+    if (lockAgeMs !== null && lockAgeMs >= AUTOPILOT_FOREIGN_PID_TAKEOVER_GRACE_MS) {
+      return { action: 'takeover', reason: `foreign pid ${raw || '<empty>'} with stale lock` };
+    }
+    return { action: 'exit', holderPid };
+  }
+  if (holder.state === 'self') {
+    return { action: 'takeover', reason: `own pid ${raw || '<empty>'}` };
+  }
   return { action: 'takeover', reason: `dead pid ${raw || '<empty>'}` };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/status.ts b/src/commands/status.ts
index de223cf16..cb17ef4f4 100644
--- a/src/commands/status.ts
+++ b/src/commands/status.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  *   - Workers    — supervisor health from the audit JSONL
  *   - Queue      — live minion_jobs counts BY status (NO time window —
  *                  old stuck jobs are exactly what status surfaces)
- *   - Autopilot  — daemon PID liveness via kill -0 probe
+ *   - Autopilot  — daemon PID liveness plus gbrain-autopilot identity probe
  *
  * Exit codes (kubectl-style):
  *   0  snapshot produced successfully (even if it carries warnings)
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { gbrainPath, loadConfig, isThinClient } from '../core/config.ts';
 import { callRemoteTool, unpackToolResult } from '../core/mcp-client.ts';
 import { VERSION } from '../version.ts';
+import {
+  classifyAutopilotLockHolder,
+  type AutopilotLockProbeDeps,
+} from '../core/autopilot-lock.ts';
 import {
   buildSyncStatusReport,
   type SyncStatusReport,
@@ -297,8 +301,10 @@ function buildWorkerSummary(): WorkerSummary {
   return { crashes_24h, clean_exits_24h, by_cause, last_event_ts };
 }
 
-function buildAutopilotStatus(): AutopilotStatus {
-  const lockPath = gbrainPath('autopilot.lock');
+export function buildAutopilotStatus(
+  lockPath: string = gbrainPath('autopilot.lock'),
+  deps: AutopilotLockProbeDeps = {},
+): AutopilotStatus {
   const lockfile_present = existsSync(lockPath);
   let pid: number | null = null;
   let running = false;
@@ -308,16 +314,8 @@ function buildAutopilotStatus(): AutopilotStatus {
       const parsed = parseInt(raw, 10);
       if (Number.isFinite(parsed) && parsed > 0) {
         pid = parsed;
-        try {
-          // kill -0 probes liveness without sending a real signal. Throws ESRCH
-          // if the PID is gone, EPERM if alive but owned by another user (which
-          // still tells us "something with that PID exists").
-          process.kill(parsed, 0);
-          running = true;
-        } catch (err) {
-          const code = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
-          running = code === 'EPERM';
-        }
+        const holder = classifyAutopilotLockHolder(parsed, process.pid, deps);
+        running = holder.state === 'alive-autopilot' || holder.state === 'alive-unknown';
       }
     } catch {
       /* unreadable lockfile, leave pid=null/running=false */
@@ -592,7 +590,7 @@ function renderHuman(report: StatusReport): string {
       if (a.running) {
         lines.push(`  running (PID ${a.pid})`);
       } else if (a.lockfile_present) {
-        lines.push(`  stale lockfile (PID ${a.pid ?? '?'} not alive). Run \`gbrain autopilot --install\` to restart.`);
+        lines.push(`  stale lockfile (PID ${a.pid ?? '?'} is not a live autopilot process). Run \`gbrain autopilot --install\` to restart.`);
       } else {
         lines.push('  not running. Install with `gbrain autopilot --install`.');
       }
diff --git a/src/core/autopilot-lock.ts b/src/core/autopilot-lock.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab5268277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/autopilot-lock.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
+
+export type AutopilotLockHolder =
+  | { state: 'dead' }
+  | { state: 'self' }
+  | { state: 'alive-autopilot' }
+  | { state: 'alive-foreign' }
+  | { state: 'alive-unknown' };
+
+export interface AutopilotLockProbeDeps {
+  isPidAlive?: (pid: number) => boolean;
+  readProcessCommand?: (pid: number) => string | null;
+}
+
+export function isPidAlive(pid: number): boolean {
+  if (!Number.isFinite(pid) || pid <= 0) return false;
+  try {
+    process.kill(pid, 0);
+    return true;
+  } catch (error: unknown) {
+    return (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'EPERM';
+  }
+}
+
+export function readProcessCommand(pid: number): string | null {
+  if (!Number.isFinite(pid) || pid <= 0) return null;
+  try {
+    const out = execFileSync('ps', ['-p', String(pid), '-o', 'args='], {
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
+      timeout: 1000,
+    }).trim();
+    return out.length > 0 ? out : null;
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+export function looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand(command: string): boolean {
+  const normalized = command.replace(/\\/g, '/').trim();
+  if (!/(^|\s)autopilot(\s|$)/i.test(normalized)) return false;
+  if (/(^|[\/\s])gbrain(?:\.exe)?(\s|$)/i.test(normalized)) return true;
+  return /(^|\s)(?:\S+\/)?(?:\.{1,2}\/)?(?:src\/)?cli\.(?:ts|js|mjs)(\s|$)/i.test(normalized)
+    || /(^|\s)\S*\/src\/cli\.(?:ts|js|mjs)(\s|$)/i.test(normalized);
+}
+
+export function classifyAutopilotLockHolder(
+  pid: number,
+  currentPid: number = process.pid,
+  deps: AutopilotLockProbeDeps = {},
+): AutopilotLockHolder {
+  if (!Number.isFinite(pid) || pid <= 0) return { state: 'dead' };
+  if (pid === currentPid) return { state: 'self' };
+
+  const probeAlive = deps.isPidAlive ?? isPidAlive;
+  if (!probeAlive(pid)) return { state: 'dead' };
+
+  const probeCommand = deps.readProcessCommand ?? readProcessCommand;
+  const command = probeCommand(pid);
+  if (command === null) return { state: 'alive-unknown' };
+  return looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand(command)
+    ? { state: 'alive-autopilot' }
+    : { state: 'alive-foreign' };
+}
diff --git a/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts b/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts
index f3795ec5a..a48efeb92 100644
--- a/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts
+++ b/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 import { describe, test, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'bun:test';
-import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, utimesSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { tmpdir } from 'os';
-import { decideLockAcquisition, isPidAlive } from '../src/commands/autopilot.ts';
+import {
+  AUTOPILOT_FOREIGN_PID_TAKEOVER_GRACE_MS,
+  decideLockAcquisition,
+  isPidAlive,
+} from '../src/commands/autopilot.ts';
+import { looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand } from '../src/core/autopilot-lock.ts';
 
 let tmp: string;
 let lockPath: string;
@@ -41,11 +46,49 @@ describe('decideLockAcquisition', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  test('keeps a lock whose holder is alive regardless of age', () => {
-    writeFileSync(lockPath, String(process.pid));
-    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid + 100_000)).toEqual({
+  test('keeps a lock whose holder is a live gbrain autopilot process', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, '1234');
+    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid, {
+      isPidAlive: (pid) => pid === 1234,
+      readProcessCommand: () => 'gbrain autopilot --repo repo',
+    })).toEqual({
       action: 'exit',
-      holderPid: process.pid,
+      holderPid: 1234,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('keeps a fresh lock when the live PID command is unrecognized', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, '1234');
+    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid, {
+      isPidAlive: (pid) => pid === 1234,
+      readProcessCommand: () => '/sbin/launchd',
+    })).toEqual({
+      action: 'exit',
+      holderPid: 1234,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('takes over a stale lock when the PID was reused by a foreign process', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, '1234');
+    const stale = new Date(Date.now() - AUTOPILOT_FOREIGN_PID_TAKEOVER_GRACE_MS - 1000);
+    utimesSync(lockPath, stale, stale);
+    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid, {
+      isPidAlive: (pid) => pid === 1234,
+      readProcessCommand: () => '/sbin/launchd',
+    })).toEqual({
+      action: 'takeover',
+      reason: 'foreign pid 1234 with stale lock',
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('keeps a live lock when process identity cannot be inspected', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, '1234');
+    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid, {
+      isPidAlive: (pid) => pid === 1234,
+      readProcessCommand: () => null,
+    })).toEqual({
+      action: 'exit',
+      holderPid: 1234,
     });
   });
 
@@ -56,3 +99,16 @@ describe('decideLockAcquisition', () => {
     expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid).action).toBe('takeover');
   });
 });
+
+describe('looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand', () => {
+  test('matches packaged and source-tree autopilot invocations', () => {
+    expect(looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand('gbrain autopilot --repo repo')).toBe(true);
+    expect(looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand('./gbrain/src/cli.ts autopilot')).toBe(true);
+    expect(looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand('bun src/cli.ts autopilot --repo repo')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('rejects unrelated live processes', () => {
+    expect(looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand('/sbin/launchd')).toBe(false);
+    expect(looksLikeGbrainAutopilotCommand('/usr/bin/python worker.py')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/status-autopilot-lock.test.ts b/test/status-autopilot-lock.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23da7ad22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/status-autopilot-lock.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { describe, test, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'bun:test';
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { buildAutopilotStatus } from '../src/commands/status.ts';
+
+let tmp: string;
+let lockPath: string;
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  tmp = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'gbrain-status-autopilot-lock-'));
+  lockPath = join(tmp, 'autopilot.lock');
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+});
+
+describe('buildAutopilotStatus', () => {
+  test('reports a reused foreign PID lock as stale, not running', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, '1234');
+    const status = buildAutopilotStatus(lockPath, {
+      isPidAlive: (pid) => pid === 1234,
+      readProcessCommand: () => '/sbin/launchd',
+    });
+
+    expect(status).toEqual({
+      installed: true,
+      lockfile_present: true,
+      pid: 1234,
+      running: false,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('reports a live gbrain autopilot process as running', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, '1234');
+    const status = buildAutopilotStatus(lockPath, {
+      isPidAlive: (pid) => pid === 1234,
+      readProcessCommand: () => 'gbrain autopilot --repo repo',
+    });
+
+    expect(status.running).toBe(true);
+    expect(status.pid).toBe(1234);
+  });
+});