diff --git a/internal/api/api.go b/internal/api/api.go
index 88929eed..659bcfea 100644
--- a/internal/api/api.go
+++ b/internal/api/api.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ func Mount(r chi.Router, pool *pgxpool.Pool, logger *slog.Logger, events *playev
 			authed.Use(auth.RequireUser(pool))
 			authed.Post("/auth/logout", h.handleLogout)
 			authed.Get("/me", h.handleGetMe)
+			authed.Get("/me/system-playlists-status", h.handleGetSystemPlaylistsStatus)
 			authed.Get("/me/listenbrainz", h.handleGetListenBrainz)
 			authed.Put("/me/listenbrainz", h.handlePutListenBrainz)
 			authed.Get("/me/history", h.handleGetMyHistory)
diff --git a/internal/api/me_system_playlists.go b/internal/api/me_system_playlists.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..67f46ec8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/me_system_playlists.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package api
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
+
+	"git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/minstrel/internal/auth"
+	"git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/minstrel/internal/db/dbq"
+)
+
+// systemPlaylistsStatusResp is the wire shape for the home page's placeholder
+// state lookup. Fields are nullable to distinguish "no row exists yet" (all
+// nulls) from "row exists with these values".
+type systemPlaylistsStatusResp struct {
+	InFlight  bool    `json:"in_flight"`
+	LastRunAt *string `json:"last_run_at"`
+	LastError *string `json:"last_error"`
+}
+
+// handleGetSystemPlaylistsStatus implements GET /api/me/system-playlists-status.
+// Returns the caller's system_playlist_runs row, or zero-values when no row
+// exists yet (i.e. the user has never had a build attempted).
+func (h *handlers) handleGetSystemPlaylistsStatus(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	caller, ok := auth.UserFromContext(r.Context())
+	if !ok {
+		writeErr(w, http.StatusUnauthorized, "unauthenticated", "no session")
+		return
+	}
+
+	row, err := dbq.New(h.pool).GetSystemPlaylistRun(r.Context(), caller.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, pgx.ErrNoRows) {
+			writeJSON(w, http.StatusOK, systemPlaylistsStatusResp{})
+			return
+		}
+		h.logger.Error("api: get system playlists status", "err", err)
+		writeErr(w, http.StatusInternalServerError, "server_error", "lookup failed")
+		return
+	}
+
+	resp := systemPlaylistsStatusResp{InFlight: row.InFlight}
+	if row.LastRunAt.Valid {
+		s := row.LastRunAt.Time.Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05Z07:00")
+		resp.LastRunAt = &s
+	}
+	if row.LastError != nil {
+		resp.LastError = row.LastError
+	}
+	writeJSON(w, http.StatusOK, resp)
+}
diff --git a/internal/api/me_system_playlists_test.go b/internal/api/me_system_playlists_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4e594b40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/me_system_playlists_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package api
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
+)
+
+// newMeSystemPlaylistsRouter mounts only the route under test. Mirrors the
+// per-handler routers in admin_covers_test.go.
+func newMeSystemPlaylistsRouter(h *handlers) chi.Router {
+	r := chi.NewRouter()
+	r.Get("/api/me/system-playlists-status", h.handleGetSystemPlaylistsStatus)
+	return r
+}
+
+func TestMeSystemPlaylistsStatus_NoSession401(t *testing.T) {
+	h, _ := testHandlers(t)
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/api/me/system-playlists-status", nil)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	newMeSystemPlaylistsRouter(h).ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusUnauthorized {
+		t.Errorf("status = %d, want 401", rec.Code)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMeSystemPlaylistsStatus_NoRowReturnsDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Getenv("MINSTREL_TEST_DATABASE_URL") == "" {
+		t.Skip("MINSTREL_TEST_DATABASE_URL not set")
+	}
+	h, pool := testHandlers(t)
+	user := seedUser(t, pool, "alice", "pw", false)
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/api/me/system-playlists-status", nil)
+	req = withUser(req, user)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	newMeSystemPlaylistsRouter(h).ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("status = %d, want 200; body=%s", rec.Code, rec.Body.String())
+	}
+	var resp systemPlaylistsStatusResp
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(rec.Body.Bytes(), &resp); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("decode: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp.InFlight {
+		t.Errorf("in_flight = true, want false")
+	}
+	if resp.LastRunAt != nil {
+		t.Errorf("last_run_at = %v, want nil", resp.LastRunAt)
+	}
+	if resp.LastError != nil {
+		t.Errorf("last_error = %v, want nil", resp.LastError)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMeSystemPlaylistsStatus_RowReturnsValues(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Getenv("MINSTREL_TEST_DATABASE_URL") == "" {
+		t.Skip("MINSTREL_TEST_DATABASE_URL not set")
+	}
+	h, pool := testHandlers(t)
+	user := seedUser(t, pool, "bob", "pw", false)
+	errMsg := "fetch failed"
+	if _, err := pool.Exec(context.Background(), `
+		INSERT INTO system_playlist_runs (user_id, in_flight, last_error)
+		VALUES ($1, true, $2)
+	`, user.ID, errMsg); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("seed runs: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/api/me/system-playlists-status", nil)
+	req = withUser(req, user)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	newMeSystemPlaylistsRouter(h).ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("status = %d, want 200; body=%s", rec.Code, rec.Body.String())
+	}
+	var resp systemPlaylistsStatusResp
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(rec.Body.Bytes(), &resp); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("decode: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !resp.InFlight {
+		t.Errorf("in_flight = false, want true")
+	}
+	if resp.LastError == nil || *resp.LastError != errMsg {
+		t.Errorf("last_error = %v, want %q", resp.LastError, errMsg)
+	}
+}