diff --git a/internal/cmd/molecule_status.go b/internal/cmd/molecule_status.go
index 7feb33d7..abf4500f 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/molecule_status.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/molecule_status.go
@@ -331,6 +331,11 @@ func runMoleculeStatus(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		// not the agent from the GT_ROLE env var (which might be different if
 		// we cd'd into another rig's crew/polecat directory)
 		roleCtx = detectRole(cwd, townRoot)
+		if roleCtx.Role == RoleUnknown {
+			// Fall back to GT_ROLE when cwd doesn't identify an agent
+			// (e.g., at rig root like ~/gt/beads instead of ~/gt/beads/witness)
+			roleCtx, _ = GetRoleWithContext(cwd, townRoot)
+		}
 		target = buildAgentIdentity(roleCtx)
 		if target == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot determine agent identity (role: %s)", roleCtx.Role)
@@ -760,6 +765,11 @@ func runMoleculeCurrent(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		// not the agent from the GT_ROLE env var (which might be different if
 		// we cd'd into another rig's crew/polecat directory)
 		roleCtx = detectRole(cwd, townRoot)
+		if roleCtx.Role == RoleUnknown {
+			// Fall back to GT_ROLE when cwd doesn't identify an agent
+			// (e.g., at rig root like ~/gt/beads instead of ~/gt/beads/witness)
+			roleCtx, _ = GetRoleWithContext(cwd, townRoot)
+		}
 		target = buildAgentIdentity(roleCtx)
 		if target == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot determine agent identity (role: %s)", roleCtx.Role)