diff --git a/backend/fluksio/sdk/cli.py b/backend/fluksio/sdk/cli.py
index cb2a249..5863b3f 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/sdk/cli.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/sdk/cli.py
@@ -612,6 +612,10 @@ def cmd_status(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
                 return 0
             if not sys.stdout.isatty():
                 return _fail("--watch needs a terminal; without one, drop it")
+            if getattr(args, "local", False):
+                # An in-process engine is this command and nothing else, so
+                # nothing can change under it while it watches.
+                return _fail("--watch wants an engine that outlives it; drop --local")
             with Live(_status_screen(client), console=console) as live:
                 while True:
                     time.sleep(WATCH_INTERVAL_S)
@@ -788,7 +792,9 @@ def add_parsers(subparsers: Any) -> None:
         action="store_true",
         help="keep it on screen, refreshed until Ctrl-C",
     )
-    with_engine(parser)
+    # `--local` for the same reason `runs` has it: the flows and the history are
+    # in this directory, and reading them should not need a server.
+    with_engine(parser, local=True)
     parser.set_defaults(func=cmd_status)
 
     parser = subparsers.add_parser("runs", help="the runs an engine has recorded")
diff --git a/docs/code/cli.md b/docs/code/cli.md
index 012ef8f..226596a 100644
--- a/docs/code/cli.md
+++ b/docs/code/cli.md
@@ -241,6 +241,10 @@ whether it has unpublished changes, and the last few failures under them.
 the cadence the dashboard polls at, since nothing here moves faster. It needs a
 terminal; without one, run it without `--watch` and the output pipes cleanly.
 
+`--local` reads the flows and history out of this directory with no engine
+served, the same way `runs --local` does. It cannot be watched: an in-process
+engine is the command itself, so nothing changes under it.
+
 ### `fluksio runs`
 
 ```sh