diff --git a/frontend/src/components/monitoring/alertText.js b/frontend/src/components/monitoring/alertText.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..80e720b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/monitoring/alertText.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { METRIC_LABELS } from './fleetMetrics.js';
+
+const SERVICE_PREFIX = 'svc:';
+
+const isNumber = (value) => typeof value === 'number' && !Number.isNaN(value);
+const hasValue = (value) => value !== null && value !== undefined && value !== '';
+
+// Wording for a fleet alert row. Threshold alerts read "<metric> over limit";
+// host-offline and service-down alerts have no limit, so they never say it.
+// `detail` drops every missing fragment instead of printing "—" or "null".
+export function fleetAlertText(t, alert, subject) {
+    const { metric, value, threshold } = alert;
+
+    if (metric === 'offline') {
+        return {
+            title: t('app.incidents.hostOffline', 'Host offline'),
+            detail: t('app.incidents.hostOfflineDetail', '{{subject}} stopped reporting', { subject }),
+        };
+    }
+
+    if (typeof metric === 'string' && metric.startsWith(SERVICE_PREFIX)) {
+        const service = metric.slice(SERVICE_PREFIX.length);
+        return {
+            title: t('app.incidents.serviceDown', '{{service}} is down', { service }),
+            detail: t('app.incidents.serviceDownDetail', 'on {{subject}}', { subject }),
+        };
+    }
+
+    const label = METRIC_LABELS[metric] || metric;
+    const parts = [];
+    if (isNumber(value)) parts.push(`${label} ${value.toFixed(1)}`);
+    if (hasValue(threshold)) parts.push(t('app.incidents.limitValue', 'Limit: {{value}}', { value: threshold }));
+    return {
+        title: t('app.incidents.overLimitOn', '{{metric}} over limit on {{subject}}', { metric: label, subject }),
+        detail: parts.join(' · ') || label,
+    };
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/monitoring/alertText.test.mjs b/frontend/src/components/monitoring/alertText.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0c9ec5b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/monitoring/alertText.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { fleetAlertText } from './alertText.js';
+
+const t = (_key, fallback, vars = {}) => fallback.replace(/\{\{(\w+)\}\}/g, (_, k) => vars[k]);
+
+test('host offline never says "over limit" or prints null', () => {
+    const text = fleetAlertText(t, { metric: 'offline', value: null, threshold: null }, 'web-1');
+    assert.deepEqual(text, { title: 'Host offline', detail: 'web-1 stopped reporting' });
+});
+
+test('service-down alert names the service', () => {
+    const text = fleetAlertText(t, { metric: 'svc:mysql', value: null, threshold: null }, 'web-1');
+    assert.equal(text.title, 'mysql is down');
+    assert.doesNotMatch(text.detail, /null|—|over limit/);
+});
+
+test('threshold alert shows reading and limit', () => {
+    const text = fleetAlertText(t, { metric: 'cpu', value: 91.234, threshold: 90 }, 'web-1');
+    assert.equal(text.title, 'CPU % over limit on web-1');
+    assert.equal(text.detail, 'CPU % 91.2 · Limit: 90');
+});
+
+test('threshold alert without a limit omits it', () => {
+    const text = fleetAlertText(t, { metric: 'disk', value: 50, threshold: null }, 'web-1');
+    assert.equal(text.detail, 'Disk % 50.0');
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.json b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.json
index deba9002..6f3b430b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.json
+++ b/frontend/src/i18n/locales/en.json
@@ -3301,22 +3301,30 @@
             "hostAlertsFiring_one": "1 host alert firing",
             "hostAlertsFiring_other": "{{count}} host alerts firing",
             "hostLimitsLiveOnThe": "Host limits live on the",
+            "hostOffline": "Host offline",
+            "hostOfflineDetail": "{{subject}} stopped reporting",
             "impact": "Impact",
             "incident": "Incident {{state}}",
             "limit": "Limit",
+            "limitValue": "Limit: {{value}}",
             "loadingIncidents": "Loading incidents",
             "metric": "Metric",
             "noMonitorIsDownAndNo": "No monitor is down and no host is over its limit.",
             "noUpdatesPostedYet": "No updates posted yet.",
             "nothingIsWrongRightNow": "Nothing is wrong right now",
+            "overLimitOn": "{{metric}} over limit on {{subject}}",
             "postAnUpdate": "Post an update",
             "reading": "Reading",
             "resolve": "Resolve",
             "resolved": "Resolved",
             "rules": "Rules",
             "searchIncidentsAndAlerts": "Search incidents and alerts…",
+            "serviceDown": "{{service}} is down",
+            "serviceDownDetail": "on {{subject}}",
             "subject": "Subject",
+            "thisServer": "This server",
             "timeline": "Timeline",
+            "unknownServer": "Unknown server",
             "whatChanged": "What changed?",
             "whatHappened": "What happened"
         },
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/Incidents.jsx b/frontend/src/pages/Incidents.jsx
index 02806416..a54c1695 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/Incidents.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/Incidents.jsx
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input';
 import { useTableSort } from '@/hooks/useTableSort';
 import { useColumnVisibility } from '@/hooks/useColumnVisibility';
 import { useTopbarActions, useTopbarChrome } from '@/hooks/useTopbarActions';
-import { METRIC_LABELS } from '../components/monitoring/fleetMetrics';
+import { fleetAlertText } from '../components/monitoring/alertText';
 import { impactTone, INCIDENT_STATES } from '../components/monitoring/monitorShared';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import { toastError } from '@/utils/errorMessage';
@@ -238,14 +238,14 @@ export default function Incidents() {
         });
 
         const hostDetail = (alert) => (alert.type
-            ? `${alert.type} ${formatValue(alert.value)} / ${alert.threshold}`
-            : 'This server');
+            ? `${alert.type} ${formatValue(alert.value)}${alert.threshold == null ? '' : ` / ${alert.threshold}`}`
+            : t('app.incidents.thisServer', 'This server'));
 
         const fromActive = activeAlerts.map((alert, index) => ({
             kind: 'alert',
             key: `active-${alert.type}-${index}`,
             title: alert.message,
-            subject: 'This server',
+            subject: t('app.incidents.thisServer', 'This server'),
             detail: hostDetail(alert),
             state: 'firing',
             tone: 'red',
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ export default function Incidents() {
             kind: 'alert',
             key: `history-${alert.timestamp || index}-${index}`,
             title: alert.message,
-            subject: 'This server',
+            subject: t('app.incidents.thisServer', 'This server'),
             detail: hostDetail(alert),
             state: alert.severity,
             tone: statusKind(alert.severity),
@@ -282,19 +282,19 @@ export default function Incidents() {
         // sources above describe the panel's own box and have no server-side
         // lifecycle to ack or resolve.
         const fromFleet = fleetAlerts.map((alert) => {
-            const metric = METRIC_LABELS[alert.metric] || alert.metric;
-            const subject = alert.server_name || 'Unknown server';
+            const subject = alert.server_name || t('app.incidents.unknownServer', 'Unknown server');
+            const { title, detail } = fleetAlertText(t, alert, subject);
             return {
                 kind: 'alert',
                 key: `fleet-${alert.id}`,
                 alertId: alert.id,
-                title: `${metric} over limit on ${subject}`,
+                title,
                 subject,
-                detail: `${metric} ${formatValue(alert.value)} / ${alert.threshold}`,
+                detail,
                 state: alert.status,
                 tone: alertStatusKind(alert.status),
                 impact: alert.severity,
-                metric,
+                metric: alert.metric,
                 value: alert.value,
                 threshold: alert.threshold,
                 when: alert.created_at,
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ export default function Incidents() {
 
         return [...fromActive, ...fromFleet, ...fromIncidents, ...fromHistory]
             .sort((a, b) => new Date(b.when || 0) - new Date(a.when || 0));
-    }, [incidents, activeAlerts, alertHistory, fleetAlerts, monitorsById]);
+    }, [incidents, activeAlerts, alertHistory, fleetAlerts, monitorsById, t]);
 
     // Search only. The active/resolved split used to live here as a segment
     // filter; it is a column rule now, applied inside the table.