diff --git a/internal/ui/tui.go b/internal/ui/tui.go
index cdc44a1..3fce8d3 100644
--- a/internal/ui/tui.go
+++ b/internal/ui/tui.go
@@ -152,6 +152,12 @@ func RunInteractiveMode(hosts []config.SSHHost, configFile, currentVersion strin
 
 	// Start the application in alt screen mode for clean output
 	p := tea.NewProgram(m, tea.WithAltScreen())
+
+	// Send initial command to start auto-ping when the program starts
+	go func() {
+		p.Send(autoPingMsg{})
+	}()
+
 	_, err := p.Run()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error running TUI: %w", err)
diff --git a/internal/ui/update.go b/internal/ui/update.go
index f633212..8e521ce 100644
--- a/internal/ui/update.go
+++ b/internal/ui/update.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ type (
 	versionCheckMsg *version.UpdateInfo
 	versionErrorMsg error
 	errorMsg        string
+	autoPingMsg     struct{}
 )
 
 // startPingAllCmd creates a command to ping all hosts concurrently
@@ -145,6 +146,10 @@ func (m Model) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		}
 		return m, nil
 
+	case autoPingMsg:
+		// Handle auto-ping on startup - start pinging all hosts
+		return m, m.startPingAllCmd()
+
 	case versionCheckMsg:
 		// Handle version check result
 		if msg != nil {