diff --git a/deploy/test-api.sh b/deploy/test-api.sh
index 7e09019..9cd422d 100644
--- a/deploy/test-api.sh
+++ b/deploy/test-api.sh
@@ -88,43 +88,43 @@ fi
 
 # ── Auth ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Auth"
-check_status "GET /auth/me"                                "/api/v1/auth/me"            200
-check_body   "GET /auth/me returns username"              "/api/v1/auth/me"            '"username"'
-check_post   "POST /auth/login (missing body → 400)"      "/api/v1/auth/login"  '{}'   400
+check_status "GET /auth/me"                               "/api/v1/auth/me"            200
+check_body   "GET /auth/me returns username"             "/api/v1/auth/me"            '"username"'
+check_post   "POST /auth/login (missing body → 400)"     "/api/v1/auth/login"  '{}'   400
 
 # ── Assets ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Assets"
-check_status "GET /assets"                                "/api/v1/assets"             200
-check_body   "GET /assets returns assets key"            "/api/v1/assets"             '"assets"'
-check_status "GET /assets bogus id → 404"                "/api/v1/assets/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" 404
+check_status "GET /assets"                               "/api/v1/assets"             200
+check_body   "GET /assets returns assets key"           "/api/v1/assets"             '"assets"'
+check_status "GET /assets bogus id → 404"               "/api/v1/assets/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" 404
 
 # ── Projects ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Projects"
-check_status "GET /projects"                             "/api/v1/projects"           200
-check_body   "GET /projects returns array"              "/api/v1/projects"           '['
+check_status "GET /projects"                            "/api/v1/projects"           200
+check_body   "GET /projects returns array"             "/api/v1/projects"           '['
 
 # ── Jobs ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Jobs"
-check_status "GET /jobs"                                 "/api/v1/jobs"               200
-check_body   "GET /jobs returns array"                  "/api/v1/jobs"               '['
+check_status "GET /jobs"                                "/api/v1/jobs"               200
+check_body   "GET /jobs returns array"                 "/api/v1/jobs"               '['
 
 # ── Recorders ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Recorders"
-check_status "GET /recorders"                           "/api/v1/recorders"          200
+check_status "GET /recorders"                          "/api/v1/recorders"          200
 
 # ── Sequences (requires project_id param) ────────────────────────────────────
 header "Sequences"
-check_status "GET /sequences (no project_id → 400)"    "/api/v1/sequences"          400
-check_status "GET /sequences bogus project_id → 200"   "/api/v1/sequences?project_id=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" 200
+check_status "GET /sequences (no project_id → 400)"   "/api/v1/sequences"          400
+check_status "GET /sequences bogus project_id → 200"  "/api/v1/sequences?project_id=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" 200
 
 # ── Settings ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Settings"
-check_status "GET /settings/ampp"                      "/api/v1/settings/ampp"      200
+check_status "GET /settings/ampp"                     "/api/v1/settings/ampp"      200
 
 # ── Cluster ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Cluster"
-check_status "GET /cluster"                            "/api/v1/cluster"            200
-check_body   "GET /cluster returns array"             "/api/v1/cluster"            '['
+check_status "GET /cluster"                           "/api/v1/cluster"            200
+check_body   "GET /cluster returns array"            "/api/v1/cluster"            '['
 
 # Heartbeat: register a temporary smoke-test node, verify it appears, remove it
 TEST_HOST="smoke-test-$(date +%s)"
@@ -132,7 +132,6 @@ check_post "POST /cluster/heartbeat" "/api/v1/cluster/heartbeat" \
   "{\"hostname\":\"$TEST_HOST\",\"role\":\"smoketest\",\"cpu_usage\":0,\"mem_used_mb\":512,\"mem_total_mb\":4096}" \
   200
 
-# Find the node we just registered (grab first UUID from array)
 NODE_ID=$(curl -s "${AUTH_ARGS[@]}" "$BASE/api/v1/cluster" 2>/dev/null \
   | grep -o '"id":"[^"]*"' | head -1 | grep -o '[0-9a-f-]\{36\}' || true)
 
@@ -148,25 +147,30 @@ fi
 
 # ── System / Containers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "System"
-check_status "GET /system/containers"                  "/api/v1/system/containers"  200
-check_body   "Containers returns array"               "/api/v1/system/containers"  '['
+check_status "GET /system/containers"                 "/api/v1/system/containers"  200
+check_body   "Containers returns array"              "/api/v1/system/containers"  '['
 
-# ── Capture (proxies to capture service — 500 if container is down) ───────────
+# ── Capture (proxies to capture service) ─────────────────────────────────────
 header "Capture"
+# 200 = capture active and responding
+# 404 = capture in sidecar/idle mode (no active recorder — expected in dev)
+# 5xx = capture container unreachable
 CAPTURE_CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "${AUTH_ARGS[@]}" \
   "$BASE/api/v1/capture/status" 2>/dev/null)
 if [[ "$CAPTURE_CODE" == "200" ]]; then
-  pass "GET /capture/status  [HTTP 200]"
+  pass "GET /capture/status  [HTTP 200 — capture active]"
+elif [[ "$CAPTURE_CODE" == "404" ]]; then
+  skip "GET /capture/status  [HTTP 404]" "capture in idle/sidecar mode (normal when not recording)"
 elif [[ "$CAPTURE_CODE" =~ ^5 ]]; then
-  skip "GET /capture/status  [HTTP $CAPTURE_CODE]" "capture service proxy error (container down?)"
+  skip "GET /capture/status  [HTTP $CAPTURE_CODE]" "capture container unreachable"
 else
-  fail "GET /capture/status  [HTTP $CAPTURE_CODE]" "expected 200 or 5xx"
+  fail "GET /capture/status  [HTTP $CAPTURE_CODE]" "unexpected status"
 fi
 
 # ── Users / Tokens ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 header "Users / Tokens"
-check_status "GET /users"                              "/api/v1/users"              200
-check_status "GET /tokens"                             "/api/v1/tokens"             200
+check_status "GET /users"                             "/api/v1/users"              200
+check_status "GET /tokens"                            "/api/v1/tokens"             200
 
 # ── Summary ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 TOTAL=$((PASS + FAIL + SKIP))