diff --git a/app/api/cluster/control/route.ts b/app/api/cluster/control/route.ts
index b9b23aa..6991edf 100644
--- a/app/api/cluster/control/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/cluster/control/route.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server'
 import { exec } from 'child_process'
 import { promisify } from 'util'
 import path from 'path'
+import sqlite3 from 'sqlite3'
+import { open } from 'sqlite'
 
 const execAsync = promisify(exec)
 
@@ -33,9 +35,19 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
       
       // Reset any stale "running" chunks to "pending" (orphaned from crashed coordinator)
       console.log('🔧 Checking for stale database chunks...')
-      const resetCmd = `sqlite3 ${dbPath} "UPDATE chunks SET status='pending', assigned_worker=NULL, started_at=NULL WHERE status='running';"`
-      await execAsync(resetCmd)
-      console.log('✅ Database cleanup complete')
+      try {
+        const db = await open({
+          filename: dbPath,
+          driver: sqlite3.Database
+        })
+        await db.run(`UPDATE chunks SET status='pending', assigned_worker=NULL, started_at=NULL WHERE status='running'`)
+        const { changes } = await db.run('SELECT changes() as changes')
+        await db.close()
+        console.log(`✅ Database cleanup complete - ${changes || 0} chunks reset`)
+      } catch (dbErr) {
+        console.error('⚠️ Database cleanup failed:', dbErr)
+        // Continue anyway - don't block start if database issue
+      }
       
       // Start the coordinator
       const startCmd = 'cd /home/icke/traderv4/cluster && nohup python3 distributed_coordinator.py > coordinator.log 2>&1 &'
@@ -69,38 +81,56 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
         isRunning: true
       })
     } else if (action === 'stop') {
-      // ENHANCED (Dec 1, 2025): Reset database state when stopping cluster
-      // Prevents stale "running" chunks after stop
+      // CRITICAL FIX (Dec 1, 2025): ALWAYS reset database state when stopping
+      // Issue: Coordinator may have already exited but left chunks in "running" state
+      // Solution: Reset database FIRST, then attempt to kill any remaining processes
       
       console.log('🛑 Stopping cluster...')
       
-      // Stop coordinator and workers
+      // CRITICAL: Reset database state FIRST (even if coordinator already gone)
+      const dbPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'cluster', 'exploration.db')
+      console.log('🔧 Resetting database chunks to pending...')
+      try {
+        const db = await open({
+          filename: dbPath,
+          driver: sqlite3.Database
+        })
+        const result = await db.run(`UPDATE chunks SET status='pending', assigned_worker=NULL, started_at=NULL WHERE status='running'`)
+        const pendingCount = await db.get(`SELECT COUNT(*) as count FROM chunks WHERE status='pending'`)
+        await db.close()
+        console.log(`✅ Database cleanup complete - ${result.changes || 0} chunks reset to pending (total pending: ${pendingCount?.count || 0})`)
+      } catch (dbErr) {
+        console.error('❌ Database reset failed:', dbErr)
+        return NextResponse.json({
+          success: false,
+          error: 'Failed to reset database state',
+          details: dbErr instanceof Error ? dbErr.message : 'Unknown error'
+        }, { status: 500 })
+      }
+      
+      // THEN try to stop any running processes (may already be stopped)
       const stopCmd = 'pkill -9 -f distributed_coordinator; pkill -9 -f distributed_worker'
       try {
         await execAsync(stopCmd)
+        console.log('✅ Killed coordinator and worker processes')
       } catch (err) {
         // pkill returns error code if no processes found - this is OK
         console.log('📝 No processes to kill (already stopped)')
       }
       
-      // Wait a moment
+      // Wait a moment for cleanup
       await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000))
       
-      // Reset any running chunks to pending (cleanup orphaned state)
-      const dbPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'cluster', 'exploration.db')
-      const resetCmd = `sqlite3 ${dbPath} "UPDATE chunks SET status='pending', assigned_worker=NULL, started_at=NULL WHERE status='running';"`
-      await execAsync(resetCmd)
-      console.log('✅ Database cleanup complete')
-      
-      // Verify it's stopped
+      // Verify everything is stopped
       const checkCmd = 'ps aux | grep -E "(distributed_coordinator|distributed_worker)" | grep -v grep | wc -l'
       const { stdout } = await execAsync(checkCmd)
       const processCount = parseInt(stdout.trim())
       
       return NextResponse.json({
         success: true,
-        message: processCount === 0 ? 'Cluster stopped and database cleaned' : 'Stop signal sent',
-        isRunning: processCount > 0
+        message: 'Cluster stopped and database reset to pending',
+        isRunning: processCount > 0,
+        note: processCount === 0 ? 'All processes stopped, chunks reset' : 'Some processes may still be cleaning up'
       })
     } else if (action === 'status') {
       // Check if coordinator is running
diff --git a/app/cluster/page.tsx b/app/cluster/page.tsx
index 40743dc..ef9cb4e 100644
--- a/app/cluster/page.tsx
+++ b/app/cluster/page.tsx
@@ -254,6 +254,9 @@ export default function ClusterPage() {
                 {status.exploration.chunks.running > 0 && (
                   <span className="text-yellow-400 ml-2">({status.exploration.chunks.running} running)</span>
                 )}
+                {status.exploration.chunks.pending > 0 && status.exploration.chunks.running === 0 && (
+                  <span className="text-gray-400 ml-2">({status.exploration.chunks.pending} pending)</span>
+                )}
               </div>
             </div>
             <div>
@@ -263,8 +266,10 @@ export default function ClusterPage() {
                   <span className="text-yellow-400">⚡ Processing</span>
                 ) : status.exploration.chunks.pending > 0 ? (
                   <span className="text-blue-400">⏳ Pending</span>
-                ) : (
+                ) : status.exploration.chunks.completed === status.exploration.chunks.total && status.exploration.chunks.total > 0 ? (
                   <span className="text-green-400">✅ Complete</span>
+                ) : (
+                  <span className="text-gray-400">⏸️ Idle</span>
                 )}
               </div>
             </div>
@@ -277,6 +282,9 @@ export default function ClusterPage() {
           </div>
           <div className="text-right text-sm text-gray-400 mt-1">
             {status.exploration.progress.toFixed(2)}% complete
+            {status.exploration.testedCombinations > 0 && (
+              <span className="ml-3">({status.exploration.testedCombinations.toLocaleString()} strategies tested)</span>
+            )}
           </div>
         </div>