diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb b/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
index 4bd9852..4329d3b 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ module Vmpooler
       content_type :json
 
       result = {
+        pools: {},
         status: {
           ok: true,
           message: 'Battle station fully armed and operational.'
@@ -136,7 +137,21 @@ module Vmpooler
 
       # Check for empty pools
       pools.each do |pool|
-        if backend.scard('vmpooler__ready__' + pool['name']).to_i == 0
+        # REMIND: move this out of the API and into the back-end
+        ready   = backend.scard('vmpooler__ready__' + pool['name']).to_i
+        running = backend.scard('vmpooler__running__' + pool['name']).to_i
+        pending = backend.scard('vmpooler__pending__' + pool['name']).to_i
+        max     = pool['size']
+
+        result[:pools][pool['name']] = {
+          ready:   ready,
+          running: running,
+          pending: pending,
+          max:     max
+        }
+
+        # for backwards compatibility, include separate "empty" stats in "status" block
+        if ready == 0
           result[:status][:empty] ||= []
           result[:status][:empty].push(pool['name'])
 
diff --git a/spec/helpers.rb b/spec/helpers.rb
index 292b9f4..712cdab 100644
--- a/spec/helpers.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers.rb
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ end
 def create_ready_vm(template, name, token = nil)
   create_vm(name, token)
   redis.sadd("vmpooler__ready__#{template}", name)
-  # REMIND: should be __vm__?
-  redis.hset("vmpooler_vm_#{name}", "template", template)
+  redis.hset("vmpooler__vm__#{name}", "template", template)
 end
 
 def create_running_vm(template, name, token = nil)
@@ -45,6 +44,12 @@ def create_running_vm(template, name, token = nil)
   redis.hset("vmpooler__vm__#{name}", "template", template)
 end
 
+def create_pending_vm(template, name, token = nil)
+  create_vm(name, token)
+  redis.sadd("vmpooler__pending__#{template}", name)
+  redis.hset("vmpooler__vm__#{name}", "template", template)
+end
+
 def create_vm(name, token = nil)
   redis.hset("vmpooler__vm__#{name}", 'checkout', Time.now)
   if token
diff --git a/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/status_spec.rb b/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/status_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6abe942
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/status_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+require 'rack/test'
+
+module Vmpooler
+  class API
+    module Helpers
+      def authenticate(auth, username_str, password_str)
+        username_str == 'admin' and password_str == 's3cr3t'
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+def has_set_tag?(vm, tag, value)
+  value == redis.hget("vmpooler__vm__#{vm}", "tag:#{tag}")
+end
+
+describe Vmpooler::API::V1 do
+  include Rack::Test::Methods
+
+  def app()
+    Vmpooler::API
+  end
+
+  describe '/status' do
+    let(:prefix) { '/api/v1' }
+
+    let(:config) {
+      {
+        config: {
+          'site_name' => 'test pooler',
+          'vm_lifetime_auth' => 2,
+        },
+        pools: [
+          {'name' => 'pool1', 'size' => 5},
+          {'name' => 'pool2', 'size' => 10}
+        ],
+        alias: { 'poolone' => 'pool1' },
+      }
+    }
+
+    let(:current_time) { Time.now }
+
+    before(:each) do
+      redis.flushdb
+
+      app.settings.set :config, config
+      app.settings.set :redis, redis
+      app.settings.set :config, auth: false
+      create_token('abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345', 'jdoe', current_time)
+    end
+
+    describe 'GET /status' do
+      it 'returns the configured maximum size for each pool' do
+        get "#{prefix}/status/"
+
+        # of course /status doesn't conform to the weird standard everything else uses...
+        expect(last_response.header['Content-Type']).to eq('application/json')
+        result = JSON.parse(last_response.body)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool1"]["max"]).to be(5)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool2"]["max"]).to be(10)
+      end
+
+      it 'returns the number of ready vms for each pool' do
+        3.times {|i| create_ready_vm("pool1", "vm-#{i}") }
+        get "#{prefix}/status/"
+
+        # of course /status doesn't conform to the weird standard everything else uses...
+        expect(last_response.header['Content-Type']).to eq('application/json')
+        result = JSON.parse(last_response.body)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool1"]["ready"]).to be(3)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool2"]["ready"]).to be(0)
+      end
+
+      it 'returns the number of running vms for each pool' do
+        3.times {|i| create_running_vm("pool1", "vm-#{i}") }
+        4.times {|i| create_running_vm("pool2", "vm-#{i}") }
+
+        get "#{prefix}/status/"
+
+        # of course /status doesn't conform to the weird standard everything else uses...
+        expect(last_response.header['Content-Type']).to eq('application/json')
+        result = JSON.parse(last_response.body)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool1"]["running"]).to be(3)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool2"]["running"]).to be(4)
+      end
+
+      it 'returns the number of pending vms for each pool' do
+        3.times {|i| create_pending_vm("pool1", "vm-#{i}") }
+        4.times {|i| create_pending_vm("pool2", "vm-#{i}") }
+
+        get "#{prefix}/status/"
+
+        # of course /status doesn't conform to the weird standard everything else uses...
+        expect(last_response.header['Content-Type']).to eq('application/json')
+        result = JSON.parse(last_response.body)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool1"]["pending"]).to be(3)
+        expect(result["pools"]["pool2"]["pending"]).to be(4)
+      end
+
+      it '(for v1 backwards compatibility) lists any empty pools in the status section' do
+        get "#{prefix}/status/"
+
+        # of course /status doesn't conform to the weird standard everything else uses...
+        expect(last_response.header['Content-Type']).to eq('application/json')
+        result = JSON.parse(last_response.body)
+        expect(result["status"]["empty"].sort).to eq(["pool1", "pool2"])
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end