diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-engine-checks.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-engine-checks.ts
index 8b74dcac4..e7fc57540 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-engine-checks.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-engine-checks.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,20 @@ export async function checkEngineHealth(
   issues: DoctorIssue[],
   fixesApplied: string[],
 ): Promise<void> {
+  const dbPath = join(basePath, ".gsd", "gsd.db");
+
+  if (!isDbAvailable() && existsSync(dbPath)) {
+    issues.push({
+      severity: "warning",
+      code: "db_unavailable",
+      scope: "project",
+      unitId: "project",
+      message: "Database unavailable — using filesystem state derivation (degraded mode). State queries may be slower and less reliable.",
+      file: ".gsd/gsd.db",
+      fixable: false,
+    });
+  }
+
   // ── DB constraint violation detection (full doctor only, not pre-dispatch per D-10) ──
   try {
     if (isDbAvailable()) {
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-format.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-format.ts
index 841f7ee13..a22d64e97 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-format.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-format.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import type { DoctorIssue, DoctorIssueCode, DoctorReport, DoctorSummary } from "
 
 function matchesScope(unitId: string, scope?: string): boolean {
   if (!scope) return true;
+  if (unitId === "project" || unitId === "environment") return true;
   return unitId === scope || unitId.startsWith(`${scope}/`) || unitId.startsWith(`${scope}`);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-types.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-types.ts
index 8c804b3b8..309848048 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-types.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/doctor-types.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ export type DoctorIssueCode =
   | "db_orphaned_slice"
   | "db_done_task_no_summary"
   | "db_duplicate_id"
+  | "db_unavailable"
   | "projection_drift";
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/doctor-scope-db-unavailable.test.ts b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/doctor-scope-db-unavailable.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..caeb403b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/gsd/tests/doctor-scope-db-unavailable.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { afterEach, test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { closeDatabase } from "../gsd-db.ts";
+import { mkdtempSync, mkdirSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { filterDoctorIssues } from "../doctor-format.ts";
+import { checkEngineHealth } from "../doctor-engine-checks.ts";
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  closeDatabase();
+});
+
+test("filterDoctorIssues keeps project and environment issues in scoped reports", () => {
+  const issues = [
+    { severity: "error", code: "env_dependencies", scope: "project", unitId: "environment", message: "node_modules missing", fixable: false },
+    { severity: "warning", code: "db_unavailable", scope: "project", unitId: "project", message: "DB unavailable", fixable: false },
+    { severity: "warning", code: "state_file_missing", scope: "slice", unitId: "M016/S01", message: "slice warning", fixable: false },
+  ] as const;
+
+  const filtered = filterDoctorIssues([...issues], { scope: "M016", includeWarnings: true });
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    filtered.map((issue) => issue.unitId),
+    ["environment", "project", "M016/S01"],
+  );
+});
+
+test("checkEngineHealth reports db_unavailable when gsd.db exists but the DB is closed", async (t) => {
+  const base = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "gsd-doctor-db-unavailable-"));
+  t.after(() => rmSync(base, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+  const gsdDir = join(base, ".gsd");
+  mkdirSync(gsdDir, { recursive: true });
+  writeFileSync(join(gsdDir, "gsd.db"), "");
+
+  const issues: any[] = [];
+  await checkEngineHealth(base, issues, []);
+
+  const dbIssue = issues.find((issue) => issue.code === "db_unavailable");
+  assert.ok(dbIssue, "doctor should surface degraded DB mode when a DB file exists");
+  assert.equal(dbIssue.unitId, "project");
+  assert.equal(dbIssue.file, ".gsd/gsd.db");
+});