diff --git a/services/comms/atlasbot-deployment.yaml b/services/comms/atlasbot-deployment.yaml
index c2bc108..7a258ac 100644
--- a/services/comms/atlasbot-deployment.yaml
+++ b/services/comms/atlasbot-deployment.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ spec:
       labels:
         app: atlasbot
       annotations:
-        checksum/atlasbot-configmap: manual-atlasbot-5
+        checksum/atlasbot-configmap: manual-atlasbot-6
         vault.hashicorp.com/agent-inject: "true"
         vault.hashicorp.com/role: "comms"
         vault.hashicorp.com/agent-inject-secret-turn-secret: "kv/data/atlas/comms/turn-shared-secret"
diff --git a/services/comms/scripts/atlasbot/bot.py b/services/comms/scripts/atlasbot/bot.py
index 3da93ba..69c1b84 100644
--- a/services/comms/scripts/atlasbot/bot.py
+++ b/services/comms/scripts/atlasbot/bot.py
@@ -444,6 +444,28 @@ def vm_cluster_snapshot() -> str:
         parts.append(pr)
     return "\n".join(parts).strip()
 
+def nodes_summary(cluster_name: str) -> str:
+    try:
+        data = k8s_get("/api/v1/nodes?limit=500")
+    except Exception:
+        return ""
+    items = data.get("items") or []
+    if not isinstance(items, list) or not items:
+        return ""
+    total = len(items)
+    ready = 0
+    for node in items:
+        conditions = node.get("status", {}).get("conditions") or []
+        for cond in conditions if isinstance(conditions, list) else []:
+            if cond.get("type") == "Ready":
+                if cond.get("status") == "True":
+                    ready += 1
+                break
+    not_ready = max(total - ready, 0)
+    if not_ready:
+        return f"{cluster_name} cluster has {total} nodes: {ready} Ready, {not_ready} NotReady."
+    return f"{cluster_name} cluster has {total} nodes, all Ready."
+
 def _strip_code_fence(text: str) -> str:
     cleaned = (text or "").strip()
     match = CODE_FENCE_RE.match(cleaned)
@@ -526,7 +548,8 @@ def ollama_reply(hist_key, prompt: str, *, context: str) -> str:
             "System: You are Atlas, the Titan lab assistant for Atlas/Othrys. "
             "Be helpful, direct, and concise. "
             "Prefer answering with exact repo paths and Kubernetes resource names. "
-            "Never include or request secret values."
+            "Never include or request secret values. "
+            "Respond in plain sentences; do not return JSON or code fences unless explicitly asked."
         )
         transcript_parts = [system]
         if context:
@@ -601,6 +624,14 @@ def sync_loop(token: str, room_id: str):
                 if not (is_dm or mentioned):
                     continue
 
+                lower_body = body.lower()
+                if re.search(r"\\bhow many nodes\\b|\\bnode count\\b|\\bnumber of nodes\\b", lower_body):
+                    if any(word in lower_body for word in ("cluster", "atlas", "titan")):
+                        summary = nodes_summary("Atlas")
+                        if summary:
+                            send_msg(token, rid, summary)
+                            continue
+
                 # Only do live cluster/metrics introspection in DMs.
                 allow_tools = is_dm