diff --git a/migrations/20250617133955-tasks-add-pending.js b/migrations/20250617133955-tasks-add-pending.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0838b632f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/20250617133955-tasks-add-pending.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+'use strict';
+
+exports.up = async function (db) {
+    await db.runSql('ALTER TABLE tasks ADD COLUMN pending BOOLEAN DEFAULT true');
+    await db.runSql('UPDATE tasks SET pending=?', [ false ]);
+};
+
+exports.down = async function (db) {
+    await db.runSql('ALTER TABLE tasks DROP COLUMN pending');
+};
diff --git a/src/tasks.js b/src/tasks.js
index 25681077c..71a3422ca 100644
--- a/src/tasks.js
+++ b/src/tasks.js
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ let gTasks = {}; // indexed by task id
 const START_TASK_CMD = path.join(__dirname, 'scripts/starttask.sh');
 const STOP_TASK_CMD = path.join(__dirname, 'scripts/stoptask.sh');
 
-const TASKS_FIELDS = [ 'id', 'type', 'argsJson', 'percent', 'message', 'errorJson', 'creationTime', 'resultJson', 'ts' ];
+const TASKS_FIELDS = [ 'id', 'type', 'argsJson', 'percent', 'pending', 'message', 'errorJson', 'creationTime', 'resultJson', 'ts' ];
 
 function postProcess(task) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof task, 'object');
@@ -84,13 +84,8 @@ function postProcess(task) {
 function updateStatus(result) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof result, 'object');
 
-    // running means actively running
-    // pending means not actively running
-    // active mean task is 'done' or not. at this point, clients can stop polling this task.
-    // the apptaskmanager sets percent=1 when queued. just a hack to figure non-started but scheduled tasks
-    result.running = !!gTasks[result.id];
-    result.active = result.running || result.percent === 1;
-    result.pending = !gTasks[result.id] && result.active;
+    result.running = !!gTasks[result.id]; // running means actively running
+    result.active = result.running || !!result.pending; // active mean task is 'done' or not. at this point, clients can stop polling this task.
 
     // we rely on 'percent' to determine success. maybe this can become a db field
     result.success = result.percent === 100 && !result.error;
@@ -157,7 +152,7 @@ async function add(type, args) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof type, 'string');
     assert(Array.isArray(args));
 
-    const result = await database.query('INSERT INTO tasks (type, argsJson, percent, message) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)', [ type, JSON.stringify(args), 0, 'Queued' ]);
+    const result = await database.query('INSERT INTO tasks (type, argsJson, percent, message, pending) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)', [ type, JSON.stringify(args), 0, 'Queued', true ]);
     return String(result.insertId);
 }
 
@@ -221,6 +216,8 @@ function startTask(id, options, onTaskFinished) {
             if (error) debug(`startTask: error stopping task: ${error.message}`);
         }, options.timeout);
     }
+
+    update(id, { pending: false }); // fixme: make async
 }
 
 async function stopTask(id) {
@@ -288,7 +285,7 @@ async function getLogs(task, options) {
 
 // removes all fields that are strictly private and should never be returned by API calls
 function removePrivateFields(task) {
-    return _.pick(task, ['id', 'type', 'percent', 'message', 'error', 'active', 'pending', 'creationTime', 'result', 'ts', 'success']);
+    return _.pick(task, ['id', 'type', 'percent', 'message', 'error', 'running', 'active', 'creationTime', 'result', 'ts', 'success']);
 }
 
 async function del(id) {
diff --git a/src/taskworker.js b/src/taskworker.js
index 982f15263..2ee434f01 100755
--- a/src/taskworker.js
+++ b/src/taskworker.js
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ const TASKS = { // indexed by task type
     syncDyndns: dyndns.sync,
     updateDiskUsage: system.updateDiskUsage,
 
-    _identity: async (arg, progressCallback) => { progressCallback({}); return arg; },
-    _error: async (arg, progressCallback) => { progressCallback({}); throw new Error(`Failed for arg: ${arg}`); },
+    _identity: async (arg, progressCallback) => { progressCallback({ percent: 20 }); return arg; },
+    _error: async (arg, progressCallback) => { progressCallback({ percent: 20 }); throw new Error(`Failed for arg: ${arg}`); },
     _crash: (arg) => { throw new Error(`Crashing for arg: ${arg}`); }, // the test looks for this debug string in the log file
     _sleep: async (arg) => setTimeout(process.exit, arg)
 };