diff --git a/internal/metrics/exporter.go b/internal/metrics/exporter.go
index 1eeda5b..d81677e 100644
--- a/internal/metrics/exporter.go
+++ b/internal/metrics/exporter.go
@@ -180,10 +180,12 @@ func appendQualityGateMetrics(dst *strings.Builder) {
 	}
 	raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
+		appendDefaultQualityGateMetrics(dst)
 		return
 	}
 	text := strings.TrimSpace(string(raw))
 	if text == "" {
+		appendDefaultQualityGateMetrics(dst)
 		return
 	}
 	if dst.Len() > 0 {
@@ -195,6 +197,20 @@ func appendQualityGateMetrics(dst *strings.Builder) {
 	}
 }
 
+// appendDefaultQualityGateMetrics runs one orchestration or CLI step.
+// Signature: appendDefaultQualityGateMetrics(dst *strings.Builder).
+// Why: Grafana should always have baseline Ananke quality-gate series so
+// overview panels never show "no data" before the first host-side gate run.
+func appendDefaultQualityGateMetrics(dst *strings.Builder) {
+	if dst.Len() > 0 {
+		dst.WriteString("\n")
+	}
+	dst.WriteString("# HELP ananke_quality_gate_runs_total Total Ananke quality gate runs by status.\n")
+	dst.WriteString("# TYPE ananke_quality_gate_runs_total counter\n")
+	dst.WriteString("ananke_quality_gate_runs_total{suite=\"ananke\",status=\"ok\"} 0\n")
+	dst.WriteString("ananke_quality_gate_runs_total{suite=\"ananke\",status=\"failed\"} 0\n")
+}
+
 // boolNum runs one orchestration or CLI step.
 // Signature: boolNum(v bool) int.
 // Why: keeps behavior explicit so startup/shutdown workflows remain maintainable as services evolve.
diff --git a/internal/metrics/exporter_additional_test.go b/internal/metrics/exporter_additional_test.go
index d5b5dd7..90b7774 100644
--- a/internal/metrics/exporter_additional_test.go
+++ b/internal/metrics/exporter_additional_test.go
@@ -84,3 +84,22 @@ func TestExporterAppendsQualityGateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected quality gate metrics appended to exporter output, got:\n%s", body)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestExporterDefaultsQualityGateMetrics runs one orchestration or CLI step.
+// Signature: TestExporterDefaultsQualityGateMetrics(t *testing.T).
+// Why: ensures Grafana panels see zero-value quality-gate series instead of
+// "no data" before host-side quality-gate files exist.
+func TestExporterDefaultsQualityGateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("ANANKE_QUALITY_METRICS_FILE", filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "missing.prom"))
+	e := New()
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/metrics", nil)
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	e.Handler("/metrics").ServeHTTP(rr, req)
+	body := rr.Body.String()
+	if !strings.Contains(body, `ananke_quality_gate_runs_total{suite="ananke",status="ok"} 0`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected default ok=0 quality gate metric, got:\n%s", body)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(body, `ananke_quality_gate_runs_total{suite="ananke",status="failed"} 0`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected default failed=0 quality gate metric, got:\n%s", body)
+	}
+}