diff --git a/internal/cli/banger.go b/internal/cli/banger.go
index 281325a..a9d4e80 100644
--- a/internal/cli/banger.go
+++ b/internal/cli/banger.go
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ to diagnose host readiness problems.
 }
 
 func (d *deps) newDoctorCommand() *cobra.Command {
-	return &cobra.Command{
+	var verbose bool
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "doctor",
 		Short: "Check host and runtime readiness",
 		Long: strings.TrimSpace(`
@@ -85,8 +86,10 @@ Run 'banger doctor':
   - after upgrading the host kernel or banger itself
   - when 'banger vm run' fails with an unclear error
 
-Exit code is non-zero if any check fails. Warnings are reported but
-do not fail the run.
+By default, prints failing and warning checks only and a summary
+footer; a healthy host collapses to a single line. Pass --verbose to
+print every check with its details. Exit code is non-zero if any
+check fails. Warnings are reported but do not fail the run.
 `),
 		Args: noArgsUsage("usage: banger doctor"),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
@@ -94,7 +97,7 @@ do not fail the run.
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			if err := printDoctorReport(cmd.OutOrStdout(), report); err != nil {
+			if err := printDoctorReport(cmd.OutOrStdout(), report, verbose); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 			if report.HasFailures() {
@@ -103,6 +106,8 @@ do not fail the run.
 			return nil
 		},
 	}
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&verbose, "verbose", "v", false, "show every check (default: only failures and warnings)")
+	return cmd
 }
 
 func newVersionCommand() *cobra.Command {
diff --git a/internal/cli/cli_test.go b/internal/cli/cli_test.go
index ed2ab59..d67ddef 100644
--- a/internal/cli/cli_test.go
+++ b/internal/cli/cli_test.go
@@ -133,12 +133,15 @@ func TestDoctorCommandPrintsReportAndFailsOnHardFailures(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Execute() error = %v, want doctor failure", err)
 	}
 	output := stdout.String()
-	if !strings.Contains(output, "PASS\truntime bundle") {
-		t.Fatalf("output = %q, want runtime bundle pass", output)
+	if strings.Contains(output, "PASS\truntime bundle") {
+		t.Fatalf("output = %q, brief default should hide PASS rows", output)
 	}
 	if !strings.Contains(output, "FAIL\tfeature nat") {
 		t.Fatalf("output = %q, want feature nat fail", output)
 	}
+	if !strings.Contains(output, "1 passed, 0 warnings, 1 failure") {
+		t.Fatalf("output = %q, want summary footer", output)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestDoctorCommandReturnsUnderlyingError(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/cli/printers.go b/internal/cli/printers.go
index d4ea646..afedbc8 100644
--- a/internal/cli/printers.go
+++ b/internal/cli/printers.go
@@ -272,9 +272,34 @@ func printKernelCatalogTable(out anyWriter, entries []api.KernelCatalogEntry) er
 
 // -- doctor printer -------------------------------------------------
 
-func printDoctorReport(out anyWriter, report system.Report) error {
+func printDoctorReport(out anyWriter, report system.Report, verbose bool) error {
 	colorWriter, _ := out.(io.Writer)
+
+	var passes, warns, fails int
+	for _, c := range report.Checks {
+		switch c.Status {
+		case system.CheckStatusPass:
+			passes++
+		case system.CheckStatusWarn:
+			warns++
+		case system.CheckStatusFail:
+			fails++
+		}
+	}
+
+	if !verbose && warns == 0 && fails == 0 {
+		msg := fmt.Sprintf("all %d checks passed", passes)
+		if colorWriter != nil {
+			msg = style.Pass(colorWriter, msg)
+		}
+		_, err := fmt.Fprintln(out, msg)
+		return err
+	}
+
 	for _, check := range report.Checks {
+		if !verbose && check.Status == system.CheckStatusPass {
+			continue
+		}
 		status := strings.ToUpper(string(check.Status))
 		if colorWriter != nil {
 			switch check.Status {
@@ -295,5 +320,19 @@ func printDoctorReport(out anyWriter, report system.Report) error {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
+	if !verbose {
+		if _, err := fmt.Fprintf(out, "\n%d passed, %s, %s\n", passes, pluralCount(warns, "warning"), pluralCount(fails, "failure")); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
+
+func pluralCount(n int, word string) string {
+	if n == 1 {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%d %s", n, word)
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%d %ss", n, word)
+}
diff --git a/internal/cli/printers_test.go b/internal/cli/printers_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3018ca8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cli/printers_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"banger/internal/system"
+)
+
+func TestPrintDoctorReport_BriefAllPass(t *testing.T) {
+	report := system.Report{}
+	report.AddPass("first", "detail one")
+	report.AddPass("second", "detail two")
+	report.AddPass("third")
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	if err := printDoctorReport(&buf, report, false); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("printDoctorReport: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	got := buf.String()
+	want := "all 3 checks passed\n"
+	if got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("brief all-pass output\n got: %q\nwant: %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPrintDoctorReport_BriefHidesPassDetails(t *testing.T) {
+	report := system.Report{}
+	report.AddPass("first", "detail one")
+	report.AddWarn("second", "warn detail")
+	report.AddPass("third", "detail three")
+	report.AddFail("fourth", "fail detail")
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	if err := printDoctorReport(&buf, report, false); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("printDoctorReport: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	got := buf.String()
+	if strings.Contains(got, "PASS") || strings.Contains(got, "first") || strings.Contains(got, "third") {
+		t.Fatalf("brief mode leaked PASS rows: %q", got)
+	}
+	for _, want := range []string{"WARN\tsecond", "warn detail", "FAIL\tfourth", "fail detail"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(got, want) {
+			t.Fatalf("missing %q in brief output: %q", want, got)
+		}
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "2 passed, 1 warning, 1 failure") {
+		t.Fatalf("missing summary footer in: %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPrintDoctorReport_BriefSummaryPlurals(t *testing.T) {
+	report := system.Report{}
+	report.AddPass("a")
+	report.AddWarn("b")
+	report.AddWarn("c")
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	if err := printDoctorReport(&buf, report, false); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("printDoctorReport: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(buf.String(), "1 passed, 2 warnings, 0 failures") {
+		t.Fatalf("plural counts wrong: %q", buf.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPrintDoctorReport_VerboseShowsEverything(t *testing.T) {
+	report := system.Report{}
+	report.AddPass("first", "detail one")
+	report.AddWarn("second", "warn detail")
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	if err := printDoctorReport(&buf, report, true); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("printDoctorReport: %v", err)
+	}
+	got := buf.String()
+	for _, want := range []string{"PASS\tfirst", "detail one", "WARN\tsecond", "warn detail"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(got, want) {
+			t.Fatalf("verbose mode missing %q: %q", want, got)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(got, "passed,") {
+		t.Fatalf("verbose mode should not print summary footer: %q", got)
+	}
+}