diff --git a/resources/sql/patches/20131030.repostatusmessage.sql b/resources/sql/patches/20131030.repostatusmessage.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..159f5dadb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/sql/patches/20131030.repostatusmessage.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+CREATE TABLE {$NAMESPACE}_repository.repository_statusmessage (
+  id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+  repositoryID INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+  statusType VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL COLLATE utf8_bin,
+  statusCode VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL COLLATE utf8_bin,
+  parameters LONGTEXT NOT NULL,
+  epoch INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
+  UNIQUE KEY (repositoryID, statusType)
+) ENGINE=InnoDB, CHARSET utf8;
+
diff --git a/src/__phutil_library_map__.php b/src/__phutil_library_map__.php
index 47a9ccfdb8..98adad7aa9 100644
--- a/src/__phutil_library_map__.php
+++ b/src/__phutil_library_map__.php
@@ -1665,6 +1665,7 @@ phutil_register_library_map(array(
     'PhabricatorRepositoryQuery' => 'applications/repository/query/PhabricatorRepositoryQuery.php',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySearchEngine' => 'applications/repository/query/PhabricatorRepositorySearchEngine.php',
     'PhabricatorRepositoryShortcut' => 'applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryShortcut.php',
+    'PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage' => 'applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage.php',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySvnCommitChangeParserWorker' => 'applications/repository/worker/commitchangeparser/PhabricatorRepositorySvnCommitChangeParserWorker.php',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySvnCommitMessageParserWorker' => 'applications/repository/worker/commitmessageparser/PhabricatorRepositorySvnCommitMessageParserWorker.php',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySymbol' => 'applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositorySymbol.php',
@@ -4005,6 +4006,7 @@ phutil_register_library_map(array(
     'PhabricatorRepositoryQuery' => 'PhabricatorCursorPagedPolicyAwareQuery',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySearchEngine' => 'PhabricatorApplicationSearchEngine',
     'PhabricatorRepositoryShortcut' => 'PhabricatorRepositoryDAO',
+    'PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage' => 'PhabricatorRepositoryDAO',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySvnCommitChangeParserWorker' => 'PhabricatorRepositoryCommitChangeParserWorker',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySvnCommitMessageParserWorker' => 'PhabricatorRepositoryCommitMessageParserWorker',
     'PhabricatorRepositorySymbol' => 'PhabricatorRepositoryDAO',
diff --git a/src/applications/diffusion/controller/DiffusionRepositoryEditMainController.php b/src/applications/diffusion/controller/DiffusionRepositoryEditMainController.php
index 1552d471df..b0f7d8144a 100644
--- a/src/applications/diffusion/controller/DiffusionRepositoryEditMainController.php
+++ b/src/applications/diffusion/controller/DiffusionRepositoryEditMainController.php
@@ -565,6 +565,10 @@ final class DiffusionRepositoryEditMainController
 
     $view = new PHUIStatusListView();
 
+    $messages = id(new PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage())
+      ->loadAllWhere('repositoryID = %d', $repository->getID());
+    $messages = mpull($messages, null, 'getStatusType');
+
     if ($repository->isTracked()) {
       $view->addItem(
         id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
@@ -655,12 +659,53 @@ final class DiffusionRepositoryEditMainController
 
     if ($repository->usesLocalWorkingCopy()) {
       $local_path = $repository->getLocalPath();
-      if (Filesystem::pathExists($local_path)) {
-        $view->addItem(
-          id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
-            ->setIcon('accept-green')
-            ->setTarget(pht('Working Copy OK'))
-            ->setNote(phutil_tag('tt', array(), $local_path)));
+      $message = idx($messages, PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::TYPE_INIT);
+      if ($message) {
+        switch ($message->getStatusCode()) {
+          case PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::CODE_ERROR:
+            $view->addItem(
+              id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
+                ->setIcon('warning-red')
+                ->setTarget(pht('Initialization Error'))
+                ->setNote($message->getParameter('message')));
+            return $view;
+          case PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::CODE_OKAY:
+              if (Filesystem::pathExists($local_path)) {
+                $view->addItem(
+                  id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
+                    ->setIcon('accept-green')
+                    ->setTarget(pht('Working Copy OK'))
+                    ->setNote(phutil_tag('tt', array(), $local_path)));
+              } else {
+                $view->addItem(
+                  id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
+                    ->setIcon('warning-red')
+                    ->setTarget(pht('Working Copy Error'))
+                    ->setNote(
+                      pht(
+                        'Working copy %s has been deleted, or is not '.
+                        'readable by the webserver. Make this directory '.
+                        'readable. If it has been deleted, the daemons should '.
+                        'restore it automatically.',
+                        phutil_tag('tt', array(), $local_path))));
+                return $view;
+              }
+            break;
+          case PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::CODE_WORKING:
+            $view->addItem(
+              id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
+                ->setIcon('time-green')
+                ->setTarget(pht('Initializing Working Copy'))
+                ->setNote(pht('Daemons are initilizing the working copy.')));
+            return $view;
+          default:
+            $view->addItem(
+              id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
+                ->setIcon('warning-red')
+                ->setTarget(pht('Unknown Init Status'))
+                ->setNote($message->getStatusCode()));
+            return $view;
+        }
       } else {
         $view->addItem(
           id(new PHUIStatusItemView())
diff --git a/src/applications/repository/engine/PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine.php b/src/applications/repository/engine/PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine.php
index 1a2bd9eab3..2fa02c6832 100644
--- a/src/applications/repository/engine/PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine.php
+++ b/src/applications/repository/engine/PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine.php
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ final class PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine
     $callsign = $repository->getCallsign();
 
     if ($repository->isHosted()) {
-      $this->log(
+      $this->skipPull(
         pht(
           'Repository "%s" is hosted, so Phabricator does not pull updates '.
           'for it.',
@@ -38,10 +38,11 @@ final class PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine
     switch ($vcs) {
       case PhabricatorRepositoryType::REPOSITORY_TYPE_SVN:
         // We never pull a local copy of Subversion repositories.
-        $this->log(
-          "Repository '%s' is a Subversion repository, which does not require ".
-          "a local working copy to be pulled.",
-          $callsign);
+        $this->skipPull(
+          pht(
+            "Repository '%s' is a Subversion repository, which does not ".
+            "require a local working copy to be pulled.",
+            $callsign));
         return;
       case PhabricatorRepositoryType::REPOSITORY_TYPE_GIT:
         $is_git = true;
@@ -50,44 +51,91 @@ final class PhabricatorRepositoryPullEngine
         $is_hg = true;
         break;
       default:
-        throw new Exception("Unsupported VCS '{$vcs}'!");
+        $this->abortPull(pht('Unknown VCS "%s"!', $vcs));
     }
 
     $callsign = $repository->getCallsign();
     $local_path = $repository->getLocalPath();
     if ($local_path === null) {
-      throw new Exception(
-        "No local path is configured for repository '{$callsign}'.");
+      $this->abortPull(
+        pht(
+          "No local path is configured for repository '%s'.",
+          $callsign));
     }
 
-    $dirname = dirname($local_path);
-    if (!Filesystem::pathExists($dirname)) {
-      Filesystem::createDirectory($dirname, 0755, $recursive = true);
+    try {
+      $dirname = dirname($local_path);
+      if (!Filesystem::pathExists($dirname)) {
+        Filesystem::createDirectory($dirname, 0755, $recursive = true);
+      }
+
+      if (!Filesystem::pathExists($local_path)) {
+        $this->logPull(
+          pht(
+            "Creating a new working copy for repository '%s'.",
+            $callsign));
+        if ($is_git) {
+          $this->executeGitCreate();
+        } else {
+          $this->executeMercurialCreate();
+        }
+      } else {
+        $this->logPull(
+          pht(
+            "Updating the working copy for repository '%s'.",
+            $callsign));
+        if ($is_git) {
+          $this->executeGitUpdate();
+        } else {
+          $this->executeMercurialUpdate();
+        }
+      }
+    } catch (Exception $ex) {
+      $this->abortPull(
+        pht('Pull of "%s" failed: %s', $callsign, $ex->getMessage()),
+        $ex);
     }
 
-    if (!Filesystem::pathExists($local_path)) {
-      $this->log(
-        "Creating a new working copy for repository '%s'.",
-        $callsign);
-      if ($is_git) {
-        $this->executeGitCreate();
-      } else {
-        $this->executeMercurialCreate();
-      }
-    } else {
-      $this->log(
-        "Updating the working copy for repository '%s'.",
-        $callsign);
-      if ($is_git) {
-        $this->executeGitUpdate();
-      } else {
-        $this->executeMercurialUpdate();
-      }
-    }
+    $this->donePull();
 
     return $this;
   }
 
+  private function skipPull($message) {
+    $this->updateRepositoryInitStatus(null);
+    $this->log('%s', $message);
+  }
+
+  private function abortPull($message, Exception $ex = null) {
+    $code_error = PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::CODE_ERROR;
+    $this->updateRepositoryInitStatus($code_error, $message);
+    if ($ex) {
+      throw $ex;
+    } else {
+      throw new Exception($message);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private function logPull($message) {
+    $code_working = PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::CODE_WORKING;
+    $this->updateRepositoryInitStatus($code_working, $message);
+    $this->log('%s', $message);
+  }
+
+  private function donePull() {
+    $code_okay = PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::CODE_OKAY;
+    $this->updateRepositoryInitStatus($code_okay);
+  }
+
+  private function updateRepositoryInitStatus($code, $message = null) {
+    $this->getRepository()->writeStatusMessage(
+      PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage::TYPE_INIT,
+      $code,
+      array(
+        'message' => $message
+      ));
+  }
+
 
 /* -(  Pulling Git Working Copies  )----------------------------------------- */
 
diff --git a/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepository.php b/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepository.php
index 6bd26aa9d1..dcb5a80320 100644
--- a/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepository.php
+++ b/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepository.php
@@ -815,6 +815,43 @@ final class PhabricatorRepository extends PhabricatorRepositoryDAO
     }
   }
 
+  public function writeStatusMessage(
+    $status_type,
+    $status_code,
+    array $parameters = array()) {
+
+    $table = new PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage();
+    $conn_w = $table->establishConnection('w');
+    $table_name = $table->getTableName();
+
+    if ($status_code === null) {
+      queryfx(
+        $conn_w,
+        'DELETE FROM %T WHERE repositoryID = %d AND statusType = %s',
+        $table_name,
+        $this->getID(),
+        $status_type);
+    } else {
+      queryfx(
+        $conn_w,
+        'INSERT INTO %T
+          (repositoryID, statusType, statusCode, parameters, epoch)
+          VALUES (%d, %s, %s, %s, %d)
+          ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
+            statusCode = VALUES(statusCode),
+            parameters = VALUES(parameters),
+            epoch = VALUES(epoch)',
+        $table_name,
+        $this->getID(),
+        $status_type,
+        $status_code,
+        json_encode($parameters),
+        time());
+    }
+
+    return $this;
+  }
+
 
 /* -(  PhabricatorPolicyInterface  )----------------------------------------- */
 
diff --git a/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage.php b/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f35eec1cf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage.php
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+<?php
+
+final class PhabricatorRepositoryStatusMessage
+  extends PhabricatorRepositoryDAO {
+
+  const TYPE_INIT = 'init';
+  const TYPE_FETCH = 'fetch';
+  const TYPE_NEEDS_UPDATE = 'needs-update';
+
+  const CODE_ERROR = 'error';
+  const CODE_WORKING = 'working';
+  const CODE_OKAY = 'okay';
+
+  protected $repositoryID;
+  protected $statusType;
+  protected $statusCode;
+  protected $parameters = array();
+  protected $epoch;
+
+  public function getConfiguration() {
+    return array(
+      self::CONFIG_TIMESTAMPS => false,
+      self::CONFIG_SERIALIZATION => array(
+        'parameters' => self::SERIALIZATION_JSON,
+      ),
+    ) + parent::getConfiguration();
+  }
+
+  public function getParameter($key, $default = null) {
+    return idx($this->parameters, $key, $default);
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/storage/patch/PhabricatorBuiltinPatchList.php b/src/infrastructure/storage/patch/PhabricatorBuiltinPatchList.php
index 5b21dcfab8..d738b20172 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/storage/patch/PhabricatorBuiltinPatchList.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/storage/patch/PhabricatorBuiltinPatchList.php
@@ -1712,6 +1712,10 @@ final class PhabricatorBuiltinPatchList extends PhabricatorSQLPatchList {
         'type' => 'sql',
         'name' => $this->getPatchPath('20131026.commitstatus.sql'),
       ),
+      '20131030.repostatusmessage.sql' => array(
+        'type' => 'sql',
+        'name' => $this->getPatchPath('20131030.repostatusmessage.sql'),
+      ),
     );
   }
 }