diff --git a/services/protocols/cmd/lambdamail-protocols/main.go b/services/protocols/cmd/lambdamail-protocols/main.go
index 1e61461..de4215f 100644
--- a/services/protocols/cmd/lambdamail-protocols/main.go
+++ b/services/protocols/cmd/lambdamail-protocols/main.go
@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@ func run(cfg config) {
 	// like this: the auth service answered it by re-reading the stored status,
 	// because the resolver and the record spec both live here.
 	if cfg.CloudflareToken != "" || cfg.PublicIPv4 != "" {
+		// Verification writes down what it found, so the badge in the domain
+		// list stops disagreeing with the page next to it.
+		router.SetDnsStatusWriter(postgres.NewDomainRepository(pool))
 		router.SetAdminDnsAPI(
 			&dnsSpecSource{cfg: cfg, dkim: dkimRepo},
 			netdns.NewPublicVerifier(),
diff --git a/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_repository.go b/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_repository.go
index b19e4f8..d9166c5 100644
--- a/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_repository.go
+++ b/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_repository.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package postgres
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgxpool"
 )
@@ -40,3 +41,39 @@ func (r *DomainRepository) ActiveDomainNames(ctx context.Context) ([]string, err
 	}
 	return out, rows.Err()
 }
+
+// SaveDnsStatus files the outcome of a verification against the domain.
+//
+// The console reads its badge from this column, and nothing ever wrote to it
+// after onboarding: a domain whose records were all published and resolving
+// was still listed as PENDING, last checked "never".
+func (r *DomainRepository) SaveDnsStatus(ctx context.Context, domain, status string) error {
+	_, err := r.pool.Exec(ctx, `
+		UPDATE domains
+		   SET dns_status = $2, dns_last_checked_at = now()
+		 WHERE lower(name) = lower($1)
+	`, domain, columnStatus(status))
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("save dns status for %s: %w", domain, err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// columnStatus maps the verifier's vocabulary onto the one the column accepts.
+//
+// dns_status is constrained to PENDING, VERIFIED, PARTIAL, DRIFT and ERROR,
+// while verification also reports MISSING and UNKNOWN. Writing either of those
+// violates the check constraint, so the update fails and the badge silently
+// stays stale - the exact symptom this was meant to fix.
+func columnStatus(status string) string {
+	switch strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(status)) {
+	case "VERIFIED", "PARTIAL", "DRIFT", "ERROR", "PENDING":
+		return strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(status))
+	case "MISSING":
+		// Nothing resolved: the zone is not serving what it should.
+		return "ERROR"
+	default:
+		// UNKNOWN, and anything new the verifier learns to say.
+		return "PENDING"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_status_test.go b/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_status_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9957047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/protocols/internal/infrastructure/postgres/domain_status_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package postgres
+
+import "testing"
+
+// dns_status is constrained by the schema to a fixed set. The verifier answers
+// with a wider vocabulary, and writing one of the extra words fails the check
+// constraint - the update is rejected and the console goes on showing the
+// stale badge this was written to fix.
+func TestColumnStatus_OnlyEverProducesAcceptedValues(t *testing.T) {
+	allowed := map[string]bool{
+		"PENDING": true, "VERIFIED": true, "PARTIAL": true, "DRIFT": true, "ERROR": true,
+	}
+
+	for _, in := range []string{"VERIFIED", "PARTIAL", "MISSING", "UNKNOWN", "", "something new"} {
+		got := columnStatus(in)
+		if !allowed[got] {
+			t.Errorf("columnStatus(%q) = %q, which the check constraint rejects", in, got)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if got := columnStatus("MISSING"); got != "ERROR" {
+		t.Errorf("MISSING became %q; nothing resolved, so it is an error, not a pending check", got)
+	}
+	if got := columnStatus("VERIFIED"); got != "VERIFIED" {
+		t.Errorf("VERIFIED became %q", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_api.go b/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_api.go
index 8748e51..4cc5832 100644
--- a/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_api.go
+++ b/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_api.go
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ type DomainReconciler interface {
 	ReconcileDomain(ctx context.Context, domain string) (ReconcileResult, error)
 }
 
+// DnsStatusWriter records the outcome of a verification.
+//
+// Verification lives here, with the resolver; the badge the console shows is
+// read from the domains table. Without this the two never met: a domain could
+// verify 13 of 13 and still be listed as PENDING, never checked.
+type DnsStatusWriter interface {
+	SaveDnsStatus(ctx context.Context, domain, status string) error
+}
+
 type adminDnsAPI struct {
 	spec     DnsSpecSource
 	verifier DnsRecordVerifier
@@ -54,6 +63,9 @@ type adminDnsAPI struct {
 	// reconciler is optional: without it the route reports that the feature
 	// is not configured rather than answering as though it had run.
 	reconciler DomainReconciler
+	// status is optional: without it verification still answers, it just is
+	// not written down.
+	status DnsStatusWriter
 }
 
 // handleReconcile publishes the records a domain is missing.
@@ -168,6 +180,15 @@ func (a *adminDnsAPI) handleVerify(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		status = "PARTIAL"
 	}
 
+	// Written down before answering, so the list badge and this page agree.
+	if a.status != nil {
+		if err := a.status.SaveDnsStatus(r.Context(), domain, status); err != nil {
+			// The check itself succeeded; failing to file it must not turn a
+			// good answer into an error for the operator.
+			log.Printf("dns: verified %s but could not record the status: %v", domain, err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	writeJSON(w, http.StatusOK, map[string]any{
 		"domain":   domain,
 		"status":   status,
@@ -189,6 +210,7 @@ func (r *Router) SetAdminDnsAPI(spec DnsSpecSource, verifier DnsRecordVerifier,
 		// either order. They could not before, and main.go called them in the
 		// order that lost the reconciler.
 		reconciler: r.dnsReconciler,
+		status:     r.dnsStatus,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -208,6 +230,14 @@ func (r *Router) handleAdminDnsReconcile(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Reques
 
 // SetDnsReconciler enables the reconcile route to actually publish records.
 // Without it the route reports that reconciliation is not configured.
+// SetDnsStatusWriter lets verification record what it found.
+func (r *Router) SetDnsStatusWriter(w DnsStatusWriter) {
+	r.dnsStatus = w
+	if r.dns != nil {
+		r.dns.status = w
+	}
+}
+
 func (r *Router) SetDnsReconciler(reconciler DomainReconciler) {
 	// Kept on the router as well as on the API. Assigning only to r.dns meant
 	// that calling this before SetAdminDnsAPI silently did nothing: the field
diff --git a/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_reconcile_test.go b/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_reconcile_test.go
index 7f3ffae..e6cdf94 100644
--- a/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_reconcile_test.go
+++ b/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/admin_dns_reconcile_test.go
@@ -204,3 +204,44 @@ func TestReconcilerSurvivesBeingWiredBeforeTheDnsAPI(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+type stubStatusWriter struct {
+	domain string
+	status string
+	calls  int
+}
+
+func (s *stubStatusWriter) SaveDnsStatus(_ context.Context, domain, status string) error {
+	s.calls++
+	s.domain, s.status = domain, status
+	return nil
+}
+
+// The console listed a fully verified domain as PENDING, "last checked: never".
+//
+// Verification ran in the protocols service, which owns the resolver, and its
+// answer went straight to the browser. Nothing wrote it down, and the badge in
+// the list is read from the domains table - so it stayed at the value set when
+// the domain was first added, no matter how many times it verified 13 of 13.
+func TestVerifyRecordsWhatItFound(t *testing.T) {
+	writer := &stubStatusWriter{}
+	api := &adminDnsAPI{
+		spec: stubSpec{}, verifier: stubVerifier{},
+		sessions: testVerifier(interopSecret), status: writer,
+	}
+
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/api/v1/admin/dns/verify?domain=example.test", nil)
+	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+adminSurfaceToken2())
+	api.handleVerify(rec, req)
+
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("answered %d: %s", rec.Code, rec.Body)
+	}
+	if writer.calls != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("wrote the status %d times, want 1: the console keeps showing a stale badge", writer.calls)
+	}
+	if writer.domain != "example.test" {
+		t.Errorf("recorded status for %q, want example.test", writer.domain)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/router.go b/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/router.go
index 974b691..eb72a48 100644
--- a/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/router.go
+++ b/services/protocols/internal/presentation/http/router.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ type Router struct {
 	dns *adminDnsAPI
 	// dnsReconciler is held here so it survives being set before dns exists.
 	dnsReconciler DomainReconciler
+	dnsStatus     DnsStatusWriter
 	// degradedFunc reports a condition that leaves the service running but
 	// not fit for production, the clearest case being a self-signed
 	// certificate standing in for one Traefik never issued