diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/mcp/server.ts b/apps/desktop/src/mcp/server.ts
index 75cac527..3a81e651 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/mcp/server.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/mcp/server.ts
@@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ const TOOLS: ToolDef[] = [
     schema: {
       name: 'list_tasks',
       description:
-        'Return every task (markdown checkbox) in live notes with parsed metadata: due date, priority, @waiting, tags. Filter by status, priority, date range, tag, or folder.',
+        'Return every task (markdown checkbox) in live notes with parsed metadata: due date, priority, @waiting, tags, and status, the column a Kanban board grouped by status shows it in (a task note’s `status:`, a line’s `@status:`, or the frontmatter `status:` of its note). Filter by state, priority, date range, tag, or folder.',
       inputSchema: {
         type: 'object',
         properties: {
@@ -679,7 +679,7 @@ const TOOLS: ToolDef[] = [
             type: 'string',
             enum: ['open', 'done', 'waiting', 'all'],
             description:
-              'open = not done, cancelled or waiting (default). done = checked. waiting = has @waiting. all = everything.'
+              'The task’s state, not its status column. open = not done, cancelled or waiting (default). done = checked. waiting = has @waiting. all = everything.'
           },
           priority: {
             type: 'string',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.test.ts
index c168efca..a6e4f18f 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.test.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
   toggleTaskInBody
 } from './vault-ops'
 import { TASK_LINE_RE as SHARED_TASK_LINE_RE } from '@shared/tasklists'
+import { parseTasksFromBody as parseAppTasks } from '@shared/tasks'
 
 // Every note-shaped MCP result carries `link`, the zennotes:// deep link a
 // model renders as a markdown link so the user can click from chat straight
@@ -113,6 +114,27 @@ describe('mcp task states', () => {
     expect(tasks.find((t) => t.content === 'deeply quoted')?.inProgress).toBe(true)
   })
 
+  // An assistant sees which column of a status board a task is in, as the app
+  // and `zn mcp` report it, while this grammar keeps the token in the content
+  // (ZenNotes/zennotes#941).
+  it('reports each task’s status column the way the app reads it', async () => {
+    await writeFile(path.join(root, 'inbox', 'Ship it.md'), '---\ntags: [task]\nstatus: Ready\n---\nBuild it.\n')
+    await writeFile(path.join(root, 'inbox', 'Bare task.md'), '---\ntags: [task]\n---\nNo status yet.\n')
+    const sprint = '---\nstatus: backlog\n---\n- [ ] inherits\n- [ ] overrides @status:Review @status:later\n- [x] done here\n'
+    await writeFile(path.join(root, 'inbox', 'Sprint.md'), sprint)
+    const tasks = await scanAllTasks(root)
+    const statusOf = (content: string): string | undefined => tasks.find((t) => t.content === content)?.status
+    expect(statusOf('Ship it')).toBe('ready')
+    expect(statusOf('Bare task')).toBe('open')
+    expect(statusOf('inherits')).toBe('backlog')
+    expect(statusOf('overrides @status:Review @status:later')).toBe('review')
+    expect(statusOf('done here')).toBe('backlog')
+    expect(statusOf('actually do it')).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(tasks.find((t) => t.content === 'actually do it')))).not.toHaveProperty('status')
+    const app = parseAppTasks(sprint, { path: 'inbox/Sprint.md', title: 'Sprint', folder: 'inbox' })
+    expect(tasks.filter((t) => t.sourcePath === 'inbox/Sprint.md').map((t) => t.status)).toEqual(app.map((t) => t.status))
+  })
+
   it('toggles an ordered or quoted task in place', () => {
     const body = '1. [ ] first\n> - [ ] quoted\n'
     expect(toggleTaskInBody(body, 0)).toBe('1. [x] first\n> - [ ] quoted\n')
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.ts b/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.ts
index 31373780..e7e3092f 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/mcp/vault-ops.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import { retitleLeadingHeading } from '@shared/note-heading-sync'
 import { normalizeNoteComments } from '@shared/note-comments'
 import type { NoteComment, NoteCommentInput } from '@shared/ipc'
 export type { NoteComment, NoteCommentInput }
-import { noteTasksMode, type NoteTasksMode } from '@shared/tasks'
+import { inlineTaskField, noteTasksMode, type NoteTasksMode } from '@shared/tasks'
 import {
   isPathExcludedFromTasks,
   normalizeTasksExcludedFolders
@@ -283,6 +283,13 @@ export interface VaultTask {
   due?: string
   priority?: 'high' | 'med' | 'low'
   waiting: boolean
+  /** The column the task sits in on a Kanban board grouped by status, read as
+   *  the app reads it: a task note's frontmatter `status:` (`open` when it has
+   *  none), a checkbox line's `@status:`, or else the frontmatter `status:` of
+   *  the note the line is in. Lower-cased; absent when a line has none. The
+   *  `@status:` token stays in `content`, as every field does in this grammar
+   *  (ZenNotes/zennotes#941). */
+  status?: string
   tags: string[]
   /** How this task is stored. `'file'` is a whole-note task (TaskNotes-style: a
    *  `.md` file tagged `task`, metadata in frontmatter); `'inline'` (the default
@@ -1356,11 +1363,17 @@ function normalizeDueDate(raw: string | undefined): string | undefined {
 function parseNoteDefaults(body: string): {
   due?: string
   priority?: 'high' | 'med' | 'low'
+  status?: string
   tasksMode: NoteTasksMode
 } {
   const m = body.match(FRONTMATTER_RE)
   if (!m) return { tasksMode: 'all' }
-  const out: { due?: string; priority?: 'high' | 'med' | 'low'; tasksMode: NoteTasksMode } = {
+  const out: {
+    due?: string
+    priority?: 'high' | 'med' | 'low'
+    status?: string
+    tasksMode: NoteTasksMode
+  } = {
     tasksMode: 'all'
   }
   for (const rawLine of m[1].split('\n')) {
@@ -1377,6 +1390,8 @@ function parseNoteDefaults(body: string): {
     else if (key === 'priority') {
       const p = normalizePriority(value)
       if (p) out.priority = p
+    } else if (key === 'status') {
+      if (value) out.status = value.toLowerCase()
     } else if (key === 'tasks') out.tasksMode = noteTasksMode(value)
   }
   return out
@@ -1478,6 +1493,7 @@ function parseTasksFromBody(
       due: due ?? defaults.due,
       priority: priority ?? defaults.priority,
       waiting,
+      status: inlineTaskField(tail, 'status') ?? defaults.status,
       tags
     })
     taskIndex += 1
@@ -1603,6 +1619,7 @@ function parseTaskFile(
     due: normalizeDueDate(firstScalar(fm.due)),
     priority: normalizePriority(firstScalar(fm.priority)),
     waiting: status === 'waiting',
+    status,
     tags: tags.filter((t) => t !== TASK_FILE_TAG),
     kind: 'file',
     scheduled: normalizeDueDate(firstScalar(fm.scheduled)),
diff --git a/packages/shared-domain/src/tasks.ts b/packages/shared-domain/src/tasks.ts
index 2f17bb6e..5e83416e 100644
--- a/packages/shared-domain/src/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-domain/src/tasks.ts
@@ -135,6 +135,20 @@ const INLINE_WAITING_RE = /(?:^|\s)@waiting\b/i
 // Kanban group-by; `status` is simply the default one. Global so a line can
 // carry several fields. (#354)
 const INLINE_FIELD_RE = /(?:^|\s)@([a-z][a-z0-9_-]*):([\p{L}\d][\p{L}\d/_-]*)/giu
+
+/** The first `@<key>:<value>` that `text` carries for `key`, lower-cased: the
+ *  value the parser below keeps in `fields[key]`. For the grammars that leave
+ *  the fields in a task's text, as the MCP server and `zn` do, so they still
+ *  report the status the app shows (ZenNotes/zennotes#941). */
+export function inlineTaskField(text: string, key: string): string | undefined {
+  const wanted = key.toLowerCase()
+  INLINE_FIELD_RE.lastIndex = 0
+  for (const match of text.matchAll(INLINE_FIELD_RE)) {
+    if (match[1].toLowerCase() === wanted) return match[2].toLowerCase()
+  }
+  return undefined
+}
+
 // Match #tag-like tokens but only when preceded by start-of-string/whitespace.
 // Letters in any script (Cyrillic/CJK/…) plus digits, `_`, `-`, `/` (#205).
 const INLINE_TAG_RE = /(?:^|\s)#([\p{L}\d][\p{L}\d/_-]*)/gu