diff --git a/src/gitea_dashboard/cli.py b/src/gitea_dashboard/cli.py
index 62eda56..7a55721 100644
--- a/src/gitea_dashboard/cli.py
+++ b/src/gitea_dashboard/cli.py
@@ -59,9 +59,35 @@ def parse_args(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> argparse.Namespace:
         dest="format",
         help="Format de sortie (defaut: table).",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--health",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Verifie la connexion Gitea et affiche la version. Exit 0 si OK, 1 sinon.",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--no-desc",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Masque la colonne Description dans le tableau.",
+    )
     return parser.parse_args(argv)
 
 
+def _run_health_check(client: GiteaClient, console: Console) -> None:
+    """Execute le health check et affiche les resultats.
+
+    1. Appelle client.get_version() -> affiche "Gitea vX.Y.Z"
+    2. Appelle client.get_repos() -> affiche "N repos accessibles"
+    """
+    version_info = client.get_version()
+    version = version_info.get("version", "inconnue")
+    console.print(f"Gitea v{version}")
+
+    repos = client.get_repos()
+    console.print(f"{len(repos)} repos accessibles")
+
+
 def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> None:
     """Point d'entree principal.
 
@@ -90,6 +116,10 @@ def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> None:
     client = GiteaClient(url, token)
 
     try:
+        if args.health:
+            _run_health_check(client, console)
+            return
+
         repos = collect_all(client, include=args.repo, exclude=args.exclude)
     except requests.ConnectionError:
         console.print("[red]Erreur : connexion refusee. Verifiez l'URL et le serveur Gitea.[/red]")
@@ -111,4 +141,4 @@ def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> None:
         sorted_repos = sort_repos(repos, args.sort)
         print(export_json(sorted_repos))  # noqa: T201
     else:
-        render_dashboard(repos, sort_key=args.sort)
+        render_dashboard(repos, sort_key=args.sort, show_description=not args.no_desc)
diff --git a/src/gitea_dashboard/client.py b/src/gitea_dashboard/client.py
index 1249167..6965c55 100644
--- a/src/gitea_dashboard/client.py
+++ b/src/gitea_dashboard/client.py
@@ -126,6 +126,18 @@ class GiteaClient:
             params={"state": "open"},
         )
 
+    def get_version(self) -> dict:
+        """Retourne la version de l'instance Gitea.
+
+        Endpoint: GET /api/v1/version
+        Retourne: {"version": "1.21.0"}
+        Leve HTTPError si l'appel echoue.
+        """
+        url = f"{self.base_url}/api/v1/version"
+        resp = self._get_with_retry(url)
+        resp.raise_for_status()
+        return resp.json()
+
     def get_latest_commit(self, owner: str, repo: str) -> dict | None:
         """Retourne le dernier commit du repo, ou None si aucun.
 
diff --git a/src/gitea_dashboard/display.py b/src/gitea_dashboard/display.py
index 628906a..057350e 100644
--- a/src/gitea_dashboard/display.py
+++ b/src/gitea_dashboard/display.py
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@ def _colorize_milestone_due(due_on: str | None) -> str:
     return "green"
 
 
+def _truncate(text: str, max_length: int = 40) -> str:
+    """Tronque le texte a max_length caracteres avec '...' si necessaire."""
+    if len(text) <= max_length:
+        return text
+    return text[:max_length] + "..."
+
+
 def sort_repos(repos: list[RepoData], sort_key: str) -> list[RepoData]:
     """Trie la liste des repos selon le critere donne.
 
@@ -126,15 +133,18 @@ def render_dashboard(
     repos: list[RepoData],
     console: Console | None = None,
     sort_key: str = "name",
+    show_description: bool = True,
 ) -> None:
     """Affiche le dashboard complet dans le terminal.
 
-    - Tableau principal : nom repo, indicateurs (fork/archive/mirror),
-      issues ouvertes, derniere release (tag + date relative)
+    - Tableau principal : nom repo, description (optionnelle, tronquee a 40 chars),
+      indicateurs (fork/archive/mirror), issues ouvertes, derniere release
     - Section milestones : par repo ayant des milestones,
       nom, progression (closed/total), date echeance
 
     Le parametre console permet l'injection pour les tests.
+    Si show_description est True, ajoute une colonne "Description"
+    entre "Repo" et "Issues", tronquee a 40 caracteres.
     """
     if console is None:
         console = Console()
@@ -149,6 +159,8 @@ def render_dashboard(
     # Tableau principal
     table = Table(title="Gitea Dashboard")
     table.add_column("Repo", style="bold")
+    if show_description:
+        table.add_column("Description")
     table.add_column("Issues", justify="right")
     table.add_column("Release")
     table.add_column("Dernier commit")
@@ -162,13 +174,19 @@ def render_dashboard(
             _format_relative_date(repo.last_commit_date) if repo.last_commit_date else "\u2014"
         )
 
-        table.add_row(
-            name,
-            f"[{issues_style}]{issues_str}[/{issues_style}]",
-            release_str,
-            commit_str,
+        row = [name]
+        if show_description:
+            row.append(_truncate(repo.description or ""))
+        row.extend(
+            [
+                f"[{issues_style}]{issues_str}[/{issues_style}]",
+                release_str,
+                commit_str,
+            ]
         )
 
+        table.add_row(*row)
+
     console.print(table)
 
     # Section milestones — uniquement si au moins un repo en a
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index aebaad4..6442d55 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@ class TestMainNominal:
 
         mock_client_cls.assert_called_once_with("http://localhost:3000", "test-token-123")
         mock_collect.assert_called_once_with(mock_client, include=None, exclude=None)
-        mock_render.assert_called_once_with(mock_collect.return_value, sort_key="name")
+        mock_render.assert_called_once_with(
+            mock_collect.return_value, sort_key="name", show_description=True
+        )
 
     @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.render_dashboard")
     @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.collect_all")
@@ -259,6 +261,96 @@ class TestParseArgsFormat:
             parse_args(["--format", "invalid"])
 
 
+class TestParseArgsHealth:
+    """Test --health argument parsing."""
+
+    def test_parse_args_health(self):
+        """--health sets health=True."""
+        from gitea_dashboard.cli import parse_args
+
+        args = parse_args(["--health"])
+        assert args.health is True
+
+    def test_parse_args_no_health_default(self):
+        """Without --health, health is False."""
+        from gitea_dashboard.cli import parse_args
+
+        args = parse_args([])
+        assert args.health is False
+
+
+class TestParseArgsNoDesc:
+    """Test --no-desc argument parsing."""
+
+    def test_parse_args_no_desc(self):
+        """--no-desc sets no_desc=True."""
+        from gitea_dashboard.cli import parse_args
+
+        args = parse_args(["--no-desc"])
+        assert args.no_desc is True
+
+    def test_parse_args_no_desc_default(self):
+        """Without --no-desc, no_desc is False."""
+        from gitea_dashboard.cli import parse_args
+
+        args = parse_args([])
+        assert args.no_desc is False
+
+
+class TestMainHealth:
+    """Test main() with --health."""
+
+    @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.GiteaClient")
+    def test_main_health_success(self, mock_client_cls, capsys):
+        """--health displays version and repo count, exits normally."""
+        env = {"GITEA_TOKEN": "test-token"}
+        mock_client = MagicMock()
+        mock_client_cls.return_value = mock_client
+        mock_client.get_version.return_value = {"version": "1.21.0"}
+        mock_client.get_repos.return_value = [{"id": 1}, {"id": 2}, {"id": 3}]
+
+        with patch.dict("os.environ", env, clear=True):
+            main(["--health"])
+
+        captured = capsys.readouterr()
+        assert "Gitea v1.21.0" in captured.err
+        assert "3 repos accessibles" in captured.err
+
+    @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.GiteaClient")
+    def test_main_health_connection_error(self, mock_client_cls):
+        """--health with connection error exits with code 1."""
+        env = {"GITEA_TOKEN": "test-token"}
+        mock_client = MagicMock()
+        mock_client_cls.return_value = mock_client
+        mock_client.get_version.side_effect = requests.ConnectionError("refused")
+
+        with patch.dict("os.environ", env, clear=True):
+            with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exc_info:
+                main(["--health"])
+
+        assert exc_info.value.code == 1
+
+
+class TestMainNoDesc:
+    """Test main() with --no-desc."""
+
+    @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.render_dashboard")
+    @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.collect_all")
+    @patch("gitea_dashboard.cli.GiteaClient")
+    def test_main_passes_no_desc_to_render(self, mock_client_cls, mock_collect, mock_render):
+        """--no-desc passes show_description=False to render_dashboard."""
+        env = {"GITEA_TOKEN": "test-token"}
+        mock_client_cls.return_value = MagicMock()
+        mock_collect.return_value = []
+
+        with patch.dict("os.environ", env, clear=True):
+            main(["--no-desc"])
+
+        mock_render.assert_called_once_with(
+            mock_collect.return_value, sort_key="name", show_description=False
+        )
+
+
 class TestMainFormatJson:
     """Test main() with --format json."""
 
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 63b4496..abc9611 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -287,6 +287,30 @@ class TestGetWithRetry429:
         assert mock_sleep.call_count == 2
 
 
+class TestGetVersion:
+    """Test get_version method."""
+
+    def test_get_version_success(self):
+        """Returns version dict on success."""
+        client = GiteaClient("http://gitea.local:3000", "tok")
+        mock_resp = MagicMock()
+        mock_resp.status_code = 200
+        mock_resp.json.return_value = {"version": "1.21.0"}
+
+        with patch.object(client.session, "get", return_value=mock_resp):
+            result = client.get_version()
+
+        assert result == {"version": "1.21.0"}
+
+    def test_get_version_connection_error(self):
+        """ConnectionError propagates to caller."""
+        client = GiteaClient("http://gitea.local:3000", "tok")
+
+        with patch.object(client.session, "get", side_effect=requests.ConnectionError("refused")):
+            with pytest.raises(requests.ConnectionError):
+                client.get_version()
+
+
 class TestGetPaginatedEdgeCases:
     """Test edge cases for API responses."""
 
diff --git a/tests/test_display.py b/tests/test_display.py
index b48e69a..6197b37 100644
--- a/tests/test_display.py
+++ b/tests/test_display.py
@@ -230,6 +230,66 @@ class TestRenderDashboardEmpty:
         assert "Aucun repo" in output
 
 
+class TestDescriptionColumn:
+    """Test Description column in dashboard table."""
+
+    def test_description_column_displayed(self):
+        """Table contains a Description column by default."""
+        console, buf = _make_console()
+        repos = [_make_repo(name="test", description="My project")]
+
+        render_dashboard(repos, console=console)
+        output = buf.getvalue()
+
+        assert "Description" in output
+        assert "My project" in output
+
+    def test_description_truncated_at_40(self):
+        """Description longer than 40 chars is truncated with '...'."""
+        console, buf = _make_console()
+        long_desc = "A" * 60
+        repos = [_make_repo(name="test", description=long_desc)]
+
+        render_dashboard(repos, console=console)
+        output = buf.getvalue()
+
+        # Should contain first 40 chars + "..."
+        assert "A" * 40 + "..." in output
+        # Should NOT contain the full 60-char string
+        assert "A" * 60 not in output
+
+    def test_description_short_not_truncated(self):
+        """Description of 20 chars is displayed as-is."""
+        console, buf = _make_console()
+        repos = [_make_repo(name="test", description="Short description")]
+
+        render_dashboard(repos, console=console)
+        output = buf.getvalue()
+
+        assert "Short description" in output
+
+    def test_description_empty(self):
+        """Empty description renders without crash."""
+        console, buf = _make_console()
+        repos = [_make_repo(name="test", description="")]
+
+        render_dashboard(repos, console=console)
+        output = buf.getvalue()
+
+        assert "test" in output
+
+    def test_no_description_flag(self):
+        """show_description=False hides the Description column."""
+        console, buf = _make_console()
+        repos = [_make_repo(name="test", description="My project")]
+
+        render_dashboard(repos, console=console, show_description=False)
+        output = buf.getvalue()
+
+        assert "Description" not in output
+        assert "test" in output
+
+
 class TestRenderDashboardEdgeCases:
     """Test edge cases for dashboard rendering."""