diff --git a/.changeset/23859-client-runtime-status-type.md b/.changeset/23859-client-runtime-status-type.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..368f0b3256d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/23859-client-runtime-status-type.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/client': patch
+---
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+fix(client): `client.automation.getRuntimeStatus()` types its rows as the declared contract `FlowRuntimeState` (#23859)
+
+**What was wrong.** The method declared its answer as `{ flows: Array<{ name, enabled, bound }>; total }`. `GET /automation/_status` serves the automation engine's `getFlowRuntimeStates()` rows unchanged, and each row is the contract `FlowRuntimeState` from `@objectstack/spec/contracts`. The SDK's type therefore hid five optional fields the wire already carries: `status`, `triggerType`, `object`, `reason` (one sentence saying why an enabled, triggered flow is not armed) and `unboundCause` (which of the closed `FLOW_UNBOUND_CAUSES` that sentence describes). A caller that read `row.reason` or `row.unboundCause` got a type error and either cast past it or concluded the field did not exist.
+
+**What changes.** The return type is now `Promise<{ flows: FlowRuntimeState[]; total: number }>`. `name`, `enabled` and `bound` stay required, so existing callers compile unchanged. Read `row.unboundCause` to classify an unarmed flow, and render `row.reason` without parsing it. The request, the route and the values on the wire are unchanged.
diff --git a/packages/client/src/index.ts b/packages/client/src/index.ts
index 6fcd25dbf4d..9e5f5301958 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/client/src/index.ts
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ import type {
   AudienceBindingSuggestionSync,
   AutomationResult,
   DelegableScope,
+  FlowRuntimeState,
   ImportObjectResult,
   ObjectDraft,
   RecordShare,
@@ -5664,8 +5665,13 @@ export class ObjectStackClient {
       /**
        * Runtime enable/bound state for every flow — engine state, not
        * persisted metadata (backs the Studio's Automations status badges).
+       *
+       * [#23859] Each row is the declared contract `FlowRuntimeState`: the
+       * route serves `getFlowRuntimeStates()` rows unchanged, so the optional
+       * `status` / `triggerType` / `object` / `reason` / `unboundCause` reach
+       * the caller. A hand-typed `{ name, enabled, bound }` hid them.
        */
-      getRuntimeStatus: async (): Promise<{ flows: Array<{ name: string; enabled: boolean; bound: boolean }>; total: number }> => {
+      getRuntimeStatus: async (): Promise<{ flows: FlowRuntimeState[]; total: number }> => {
           const route = this.getRoute('automation');
           const res = await this.fetch(`${this.baseUrl}${route}/_status`);
           return this.unwrapResponse(res);
diff --git a/packages/client/src/return-type-precision.test.ts b/packages/client/src/return-type-precision.test.ts
index a7eec8aef45..dae16a6812b 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/return-type-precision.test.ts
+++ b/packages/client/src/return-type-precision.test.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ import type {
     AnalyticsResult,
     AutomationResult,
     DelegableScope,
+    FlowRuntimeState,
+    FlowUnboundCause,
     ImportObjectResult,
     RecordShare,
     RemoteTable,
@@ -1418,6 +1420,45 @@ export function metaResetResponseDeclaresTheWireReceipt(): void {
     void metaResetBody.projectionApplied;
 }
 
+/**
+ * [#23859] `automation.getRuntimeStatus()` hand-typed its rows as
+ * `{ name, enabled, bound }`. `GET /automation/_status` serves the engine's
+ * `getFlowRuntimeStates()` rows unchanged (that pass-through is pinned in
+ * `packages/runtime/src/domain-handler-registry.test.ts`), and those rows are
+ * the declared contract `FlowRuntimeState`. The narrower annotation hid
+ * `status`, `triggerType`, `object`, `reason` and `unboundCause` from every SDK
+ * caller, who then cast past it or concluded the fields did not exist.
+ *
+ * Type-level for the reason this file's header gives: the runtime pin in
+ * `meta-automation-descriptors.test.ts` is green against either annotation.
+ */
+type RuntimeStatusRow = Awaited<ReturnType<ObjectStackClient['automation']['getRuntimeStatus']>>['flows'][number];
+
+export async function returnTypePrecisionPins23859(): Promise<void> {
+    // ── the answer IS the contract, envelope and element ──────────────────
+    // RED BEFORE: the hand-typed element is not `FlowRuntimeState`.
+    expectTypeOf(await client.automation.getRuntimeStatus()).toEqualTypeOf<{
+        flows: FlowRuntimeState[];
+        total: number;
+    }>();
+
+    // ── the optional fields a caller can now read, with the contract's own
+    //    optionality and vocabulary ──────────────────────────────────────
+    // RED BEFORE: each indexed access is TS2339 on the hand-typed row.
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['reason']>().toEqualTypeOf<string | undefined>();
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['unboundCause']>().toEqualTypeOf<FlowUnboundCause | undefined>();
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['status']>().toEqualTypeOf<string | undefined>();
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['triggerType']>().toEqualTypeOf<string | undefined>();
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['object']>().toEqualTypeOf<string | undefined>();
+
+    // ⚠️ GREEN IN BOTH STATES, a compatibility guard rather than evidence: the
+    // three fields the old annotation named stay REQUIRED, so a caller that
+    // read them still compiles.
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['name']>().toEqualTypeOf<string>();
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['enabled']>().toEqualTypeOf<boolean>();
+    expectTypeOf<RuntimeStatusRow['bound']>().toEqualTypeOf<boolean>();
+}
+
 describe('client SDK return-type precision (#8140)', () => {
     it('exposes the type-level pins to tsc without executing a request', () => {
         // The assertions above are evaluated by `tsc` under
@@ -1439,6 +1480,7 @@ describe('client SDK return-type precision (#8140)', () => {
         expect(typeof returnTypePrecisionPins13023).toBe('function');
         expect(typeof deleteDataResponseIsNotTheMetaResetShape).toBe('function');
         expect(typeof metaResetResponseDeclaresTheWireReceipt).toBe('function');
+        expect(typeof returnTypePrecisionPins23859).toBe('function');
         expect(typeof commitRollbackResponseIsNotTheVersionRollbackShape).toBe('function');
         // `environmentIsNotTheCloudWireRow` left with its subject (#16325): the
         // guard is now the `@ts-expect-error`'d import at the top of the file.