diff --git a/src/renderer/components/ActivityBar/ActivityBar.tsx b/src/renderer/components/ActivityBar/ActivityBar.tsx
index 8b113d2..20d6695 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/ActivityBar/ActivityBar.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/ActivityBar/ActivityBar.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React from 'react';
+import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 import { useAppStore } from '../../store';
 import { useI18n } from '../../i18n';
 import {
@@ -65,7 +65,71 @@ const GitIcon = () => (
 
 export const ActivityBar: React.FC = () => {
   const { t } = useI18n();
-  const { activeView, setActiveView, sidebarVisible, toggleSidebar, tabs, activeTabId } = useAppStore();
+  const { activeView, setActiveView, sidebarVisible, toggleSidebar, tabs, activeTabId, activeProject } = useAppStore();
+  const [pendingPullCount, setPendingPullCount] = useState(0);
+  const gitRefreshInFlightRef = useRef(false);
+
+  const refreshPendingPullCount = useCallback(async () => {
+    if (gitRefreshInFlightRef.current) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.onLine === false) {
+      setPendingPullCount(0);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (!activeProject) {
+      setPendingPullCount(0);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const gitApi = window.electronAPI?.git;
+    if (!gitApi?.getRepoState || !gitApi?.fetch || !gitApi?.getRemoteState) {
+      setPendingPullCount(0);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    gitRefreshInFlightRef.current = true;
+    try {
+      const targetProjectPath = activeProject.dataPath || (await window.electronAPI?.app.getDefaultProjectPath(activeProject.id));
+      if (!targetProjectPath) {
+        setPendingPullCount(0);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const repoState = await gitApi.getRepoState(targetProjectPath);
+      if (!repoState.isRepo || !repoState.hasRemote) {
+        setPendingPullCount(0);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const fetchResult = await gitApi.fetch(targetProjectPath);
+      if (!fetchResult.success) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const remoteState = await gitApi.getRemoteState(targetProjectPath);
+      setPendingPullCount(Math.max(0, remoteState.behind));
+    } catch {
+      setPendingPullCount(0);
+    } finally {
+      gitRefreshInFlightRef.current = false;
+    }
+  }, [activeProject]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    void refreshPendingPullCount();
+
+    const intervalId = globalThis.setInterval(() => {
+      void refreshPendingPullCount();
+    }, 30000);
+
+    return () => {
+      globalThis.clearInterval(intervalId);
+    };
+  }, [refreshPendingPullCount]);
+
   const snapshot: ActivitySnapshot = {
     activeView,
     sidebarVisible,
@@ -136,6 +200,7 @@ export const ActivityBar: React.FC = () => {
           title={getTitle('git')}
         >
           <GitIcon />
+          {pendingPullCount > 0 ? <span className="activity-bar-badge">{pendingPullCount > 99 ? '99+' : pendingPullCount}</span> : null}
         </button>
         <button
           className={`activity-bar-item ${isActivityActive(snapshot, 'settings') ? 'active' : ''}`}
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/GitSidebar/GitSidebar.tsx b/src/renderer/components/GitSidebar/GitSidebar.tsx
index 86868d3..57240ea 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/GitSidebar/GitSidebar.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/GitSidebar/GitSidebar.tsx
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ export const GitSidebar: React.FC = () => {
 
       remoteRefreshInFlightRef.current = true;
       try {
+        if (fetchFirst && typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.onLine === false) {
+          return;
+        }
+
         if (fetchFirst) {
           const fetchResult = await window.electronAPI.git.fetch(targetProjectPath);
           if (!fetchResult.success) {
diff --git a/tests/renderer/components/ActivityBar.test.tsx b/tests/renderer/components/ActivityBar.test.tsx
index 089c1a5..606366c 100644
--- a/tests/renderer/components/ActivityBar.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/renderer/components/ActivityBar.test.tsx
@@ -1,13 +1,47 @@
 import React from 'react';
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { act, fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 import { ActivityBar } from '../../../src/renderer/components/ActivityBar/ActivityBar';
 import { I18nProvider } from '../../../src/renderer/i18n';
 import { useAppStore } from '../../../src/renderer/store';
 
 describe('ActivityBar tags behavior', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
+    (window as any).electronAPI = {
+      ...(window as any).electronAPI,
+      app: {
+        ...(window as any).electronAPI?.app,
+        getDefaultProjectPath: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue('/repo/path'),
+      },
+      git: {
+        ...(window as any).electronAPI?.git,
+        getRepoState: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+          isRepo: true,
+          rootPath: '/repo/path',
+          currentBranch: 'main',
+          hasRemote: true,
+        }),
+        fetch: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ success: true }),
+        getRemoteState: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+          localBranch: 'main',
+          upstreamBranch: 'origin/main',
+          hasUpstream: true,
+          ahead: 0,
+          behind: 0,
+        }),
+      },
+    };
+
     useAppStore.setState({
+      activeProject: {
+        id: 'project-1',
+        name: 'Test Project',
+        slug: 'test-project',
+        dataPath: '/repo/path',
+        isActive: true,
+        createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+        updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+      },
       activeView: 'posts',
       sidebarVisible: true,
       tabs: [],
@@ -15,6 +49,10 @@ describe('ActivityBar tags behavior', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
   it('switches sidebar to tags view when clicking Tags', () => {
     render(
       <I18nProvider>
@@ -95,4 +133,69 @@ describe('ActivityBar tags behavior', () => {
 
     expect(screen.getByTitle('Tags (click again to toggle sidebar)')).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
+
+  it('shows a badge on the git activity icon when remote commits are available to pull', async () => {
+    (window as any).electronAPI.git.getRemoteState = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      localBranch: 'main',
+      upstreamBranch: 'origin/main',
+      hasUpstream: true,
+      ahead: 0,
+      behind: 4,
+    });
+
+    render(
+      <I18nProvider>
+        <ActivityBar />
+      </I18nProvider>
+    );
+
+    expect(await screen.findByText('4')).toHaveClass('activity-bar-badge');
+  });
+
+  it('polls remote git status on a regular interval', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+
+    render(
+      <I18nProvider>
+        <ActivityBar />
+      </I18nProvider>
+    );
+
+    await vi.waitFor(() => {
+      expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.getRemoteState).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    });
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(30000);
+    });
+
+    await vi.waitFor(() => {
+      expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.getRemoteState).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('skips periodic git fetch polling while offline', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    Object.defineProperty(globalThis.navigator, 'onLine', {
+      configurable: true,
+      value: false,
+    });
+
+    render(
+      <I18nProvider>
+        <ActivityBar />
+      </I18nProvider>
+    );
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(60000);
+      await Promise.resolve();
+      await Promise.resolve();
+    });
+
+    expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+    expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.getRemoteState).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/tests/renderer/components/GitSidebar.test.tsx b/tests/renderer/components/GitSidebar.test.tsx
index 950cbc9..90f2931 100644
--- a/tests/renderer/components/GitSidebar.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/renderer/components/GitSidebar.test.tsx
@@ -750,6 +750,50 @@ describe('GitSidebar', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('skips remote fetch polling while offline', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    Object.defineProperty(globalThis.navigator, 'onLine', {
+      configurable: true,
+      value: false,
+    });
+
+    (window as any).electronAPI.git.getRepoState = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      isRepo: true,
+      rootPath: '/repo/path',
+      currentBranch: 'main',
+      hasRemote: true,
+    });
+    (window as any).electronAPI.git.getRemoteState = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      localBranch: 'main',
+      upstreamBranch: 'origin/main',
+      hasUpstream: true,
+      ahead: 0,
+      behind: 0,
+    });
+    (window as any).electronAPI.git.fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ success: true });
+
+    try {
+      render(<GitSidebar />);
+
+      await act(async () => {
+        await Promise.resolve();
+        await Promise.resolve();
+      });
+
+      expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+
+      await act(async () => {
+        vi.advanceTimersByTime(30000);
+        await Promise.resolve();
+        await Promise.resolve();
+      });
+
+      expect((window as any).electronAPI.git.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
   it('polls repository status on an interval and prevents overlapping in-flight requests', async () => {
     vi.useFakeTimers();