diff --git a/services/mana-llm/src/health.py b/services/mana-llm/src/health.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1389e0b35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mana-llm/src/health.py
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+"""Provider health cache.
+
+Tracks per-provider liveness for the LLM router. The router reads
+:meth:`is_healthy` to decide whether to even try a provider in a chain;
+the probe loop and the call-site fallback handler write state via
+:meth:`mark_healthy` / :meth:`mark_unhealthy`.
+
+Implements a simple circuit-breaker:
+
+* The first failure flips no switch — providers occasionally have
+  transient blips, we don't want to bounce off after a single 502.
+* After ``failure_threshold`` consecutive failures the provider is
+  marked unhealthy for ``unhealthy_backoff`` seconds. During that
+  window :meth:`is_healthy` returns ``False`` so the router fails
+  fast straight to the next chain entry.
+* When the backoff expires :meth:`is_healthy` returns ``True`` again
+  (half-open). The next call exercises the provider; success calls
+  :meth:`mark_healthy` and fully resets state, failure re-arms the
+  backoff window.
+
+State is kept in a plain dict guarded by a ``threading.Lock``. All
+operations are short, lock-free reads of dict references aren't safe
+because we mutate state in-place — the lock keeps it boring. Probe
+loop runs in the asyncio loop alongside the router, but the lock
+costs are negligible at ~1 update/30s/provider.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+import threading
+import time
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from typing import Iterable
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD = 2
+DEFAULT_UNHEALTHY_BACKOFF_SEC = 60.0
+
+
+@dataclass
+class ProviderState:
+    """Per-provider liveness snapshot. All times are unix seconds."""
+
+    healthy: bool = True
+    consecutive_failures: int = 0
+    last_check: float = 0.0
+    last_error: str | None = None
+    unhealthy_until: float = 0.0
+    """When > now, the provider is currently in backoff (`is_healthy → False`)."""
+
+
+class ProviderHealthCache:
+    """Thread-safe per-provider liveness with circuit-breaker semantics.
+
+    Provider IDs are arbitrary strings — by convention we use the same
+    short name as the provider router (``ollama``, ``groq``, ``openrouter``,
+    ``together``, ``google``). The cache is provider-list agnostic; states
+    are created lazily on first ``mark_*`` or queried-but-absent ``is_healthy``
+    call (returning ``True`` by default — no state means no reason to skip).
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        *,
+        failure_threshold: int = DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD,
+        unhealthy_backoff_sec: float = DEFAULT_UNHEALTHY_BACKOFF_SEC,
+        clock: callable = time.time,
+    ) -> None:
+        if failure_threshold < 1:
+            raise ValueError("failure_threshold must be >= 1")
+        if unhealthy_backoff_sec < 0:
+            raise ValueError("unhealthy_backoff_sec must be >= 0")
+        self._failure_threshold = failure_threshold
+        self._unhealthy_backoff = unhealthy_backoff_sec
+        self._clock = clock
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+        self._states: dict[str, ProviderState] = {}
+
+    @property
+    def failure_threshold(self) -> int:
+        return self._failure_threshold
+
+    @property
+    def unhealthy_backoff_sec(self) -> float:
+        return self._unhealthy_backoff
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Reads
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def is_healthy(self, provider_id: str) -> bool:
+        """Should the router try this provider right now?
+
+        Returns ``True`` by default for unknown providers — the cache is
+        observation-only, not a registry.
+        """
+        with self._lock:
+            state = self._states.get(provider_id)
+            if state is None:
+                return True
+            if state.unhealthy_until > self._clock():
+                return False
+            # Backoff expired: caller is allowed to try again (half-open).
+            return True
+
+    def get_state(self, provider_id: str) -> ProviderState | None:
+        """Snapshot of one provider's state (for debugging / tests)."""
+        with self._lock:
+            state = self._states.get(provider_id)
+            return None if state is None else _copy(state)
+
+    def snapshot(self, expected: Iterable[str] | None = None) -> dict[str, ProviderState]:
+        """All known states, plus zero-state placeholders for any names in
+        ``expected`` that haven't been touched yet. Used by ``GET /v1/health``
+        so the response shape is stable regardless of probe order.
+        """
+        with self._lock:
+            out = {pid: _copy(s) for pid, s in self._states.items()}
+        if expected:
+            for pid in expected:
+                out.setdefault(pid, ProviderState())
+        return out
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Writes
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def mark_healthy(self, provider_id: str) -> None:
+        """Provider answered correctly — clear any failure state."""
+        with self._lock:
+            state = self._states.setdefault(provider_id, ProviderState())
+            previously_unhealthy = not state.healthy
+            state.healthy = True
+            state.consecutive_failures = 0
+            state.last_check = self._clock()
+            state.last_error = None
+            state.unhealthy_until = 0.0
+            if previously_unhealthy:
+                logger.info("provider %s recovered", provider_id)
+
+    def mark_unhealthy(self, provider_id: str, reason: str) -> None:
+        """Record a failure. Trips the breaker after the threshold."""
+        with self._lock:
+            state = self._states.setdefault(provider_id, ProviderState())
+            state.consecutive_failures += 1
+            state.last_check = self._clock()
+            state.last_error = reason
+            tripped = state.consecutive_failures >= self._failure_threshold
+            if tripped and state.healthy:
+                state.healthy = False
+                state.unhealthy_until = self._clock() + self._unhealthy_backoff
+                logger.warning(
+                    "provider %s marked unhealthy after %d consecutive failures (%s); "
+                    "backoff %.0fs",
+                    provider_id,
+                    state.consecutive_failures,
+                    reason,
+                    self._unhealthy_backoff,
+                )
+            elif not state.healthy:
+                # Still in unhealthy window; refresh the backoff so a flapping
+                # provider doesn't get re-tried every probe tick.
+                state.unhealthy_until = self._clock() + self._unhealthy_backoff
+
+
+def _copy(state: ProviderState) -> ProviderState:
+    """Return a shallow copy so callers can read without holding the lock."""
+    return ProviderState(
+        healthy=state.healthy,
+        consecutive_failures=state.consecutive_failures,
+        last_check=state.last_check,
+        last_error=state.last_error,
+        unhealthy_until=state.unhealthy_until,
+    )
diff --git a/services/mana-llm/src/health_probe.py b/services/mana-llm/src/health_probe.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f1cdfa28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mana-llm/src/health_probe.py
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+"""Background probe loop that keeps :class:`ProviderHealthCache` fresh.
+
+The router's circuit-breaker is reactive — it only learns a provider is
+sick after the next live request fails. A reactive-only design means:
+
+* every cold start re-discovers Ollama is down by paying one 75-second
+  ``ConnectError``, and
+* a provider that quietly recovers stays marked unhealthy until its
+  backoff expires and someone tries it.
+
+The probe loop closes both gaps. Every ``interval`` seconds it pings
+each registered provider with a small known-cheap request (Ollama:
+``GET /api/tags``, OpenAI-compat: ``GET /v1/models``) and updates the
+cache. Probes run concurrently per tick and respect a hard
+``probe_timeout`` so a hanging provider can't stall the loop.
+
+Probe functions are injected from outside (``probes={name: async-fn}``)
+so this module stays decoupled from the provider classes — wiring lives
+in ``main.py`` where we already know which providers are configured.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+from typing import Awaitable, Callable
+
+from .health import ProviderHealthCache
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+#: Probe function: returns ``True`` for healthy. Raising or returning
+#: ``False`` both count as a failure (the loop just calls
+#: ``mark_unhealthy``); an exception's string form becomes the
+#: ``last_error`` for the snapshot endpoint.
+ProbeFn = Callable[[], Awaitable[bool]]
+
+DEFAULT_PROBE_INTERVAL_SEC = 30.0
+DEFAULT_PROBE_TIMEOUT_SEC = 3.0
+
+
+class HealthProbe:
+    """Periodically probes every registered provider and updates the cache.
+
+    Lifecycle::
+
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {"ollama": probe_ollama, ...})
+        await probe.start()        # spawns the background task
+        ...
+        await probe.stop()         # cancels and awaits cleanup
+
+    Tests typically call :meth:`tick_once` directly to exercise one cycle
+    without driving the asyncio scheduler through real ``asyncio.sleep``.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        cache: ProviderHealthCache,
+        probes: dict[str, ProbeFn],
+        *,
+        interval: float = DEFAULT_PROBE_INTERVAL_SEC,
+        timeout: float = DEFAULT_PROBE_TIMEOUT_SEC,
+    ) -> None:
+        if interval <= 0:
+            raise ValueError("interval must be > 0")
+        if timeout <= 0:
+            raise ValueError("timeout must be > 0")
+        self._cache = cache
+        self._probes = dict(probes)
+        self._interval = interval
+        self._timeout = timeout
+        self._task: asyncio.Task | None = None
+        self._stop = asyncio.Event()
+
+    @property
+    def interval(self) -> float:
+        return self._interval
+
+    @property
+    def timeout(self) -> float:
+        return self._timeout
+
+    @property
+    def provider_ids(self) -> list[str]:
+        return list(self._probes)
+
+    @property
+    def running(self) -> bool:
+        return self._task is not None and not self._task.done()
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Per-tick logic — exercised directly by tests
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    async def tick_once(self) -> None:
+        """Probe every provider once, in parallel, updating the cache.
+
+        Errors in any one probe (including ``asyncio.TimeoutError``) are
+        captured per-provider — one bad probe never sinks the loop.
+        """
+        if not self._probes:
+            return
+        results = await asyncio.gather(
+            *(self._probe_one(name, fn) for name, fn in self._probes.items()),
+            return_exceptions=True,
+        )
+        # gather(return_exceptions=True) caught everything per-probe; this
+        # branch should never fire, but guard in case _probe_one ever grows
+        # a code path that bypasses its try/except.
+        # asyncio.gather() returns results in input order and same length,
+        # so the zip is a 1:1 mapping back to provider names.
+        for name, result in zip(self._probes, results):
+            if isinstance(result, BaseException):
+                logger.error("probe %s leaked exception: %s", name, result)
+
+    async def _probe_one(self, name: str, fn: ProbeFn) -> None:
+        try:
+            healthy = await asyncio.wait_for(fn(), timeout=self._timeout)
+        except asyncio.TimeoutError:
+            self._cache.mark_unhealthy(name, f"probe-timeout (>{self._timeout:.0f}s)")
+            return
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            raise
+        except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001 — probe SHOULD be permissive
+            self._cache.mark_unhealthy(name, f"probe-exception: {type(e).__name__}: {e}")
+            return
+        if healthy:
+            self._cache.mark_healthy(name)
+        else:
+            self._cache.mark_unhealthy(name, "probe-returned-false")
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Long-running task management
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    async def start(self) -> None:
+        """Spawn the periodic probe task. Idempotent."""
+        if self.running:
+            return
+        self._stop.clear()
+        self._task = asyncio.create_task(self._run_forever(), name="mana-llm-health-probe")
+        logger.info(
+            "HealthProbe started (interval=%.0fs, timeout=%.0fs, providers=%s)",
+            self._interval,
+            self._timeout,
+            ", ".join(self._probes) or "<none>",
+        )
+
+    async def stop(self) -> None:
+        """Cancel the background task and wait for it to finish."""
+        if not self.running:
+            return
+        self._stop.set()
+        assert self._task is not None
+        self._task.cancel()
+        try:
+            await self._task
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            pass
+        finally:
+            self._task = None
+        logger.info("HealthProbe stopped")
+
+    async def _run_forever(self) -> None:
+        # Probe immediately at boot so we don't serve traffic for `interval`
+        # seconds based on optimistic-default assumptions.
+        try:
+            await self.tick_once()
+        except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+            logger.error("HealthProbe initial tick failed: %s", e)
+        while not self._stop.is_set():
+            try:
+                await asyncio.wait_for(self._stop.wait(), timeout=self._interval)
+            except asyncio.TimeoutError:
+                pass
+            else:
+                # _stop.wait() succeeded → stop signalled, exit.
+                return
+            try:
+                await self.tick_once()
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                logger.error("HealthProbe tick failed: %s", e)
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Probe-function helpers
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def make_http_probe(
+    url: str,
+    *,
+    headers: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+    expected_status_lt: int = 500,
+) -> ProbeFn:
+    """Return a probe function that does ``GET <url>`` and considers the
+    provider healthy iff the response status is below
+    ``expected_status_lt`` (default: any non-5xx counts).
+
+    A 401/403/404 still counts as healthy because the *server* answered —
+    auth or path mistakes are misconfiguration, not provider liveness.
+    """
+    import httpx
+
+    async def probe() -> bool:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=httpx.Timeout(5.0)) as client:
+            resp = await client.get(url, headers=headers or None)
+            return resp.status_code < expected_status_lt
+
+    return probe
diff --git a/services/mana-llm/tests/test_health.py b/services/mana-llm/tests/test_health.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3b72ccc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mana-llm/tests/test_health.py
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+"""Tests for the provider health cache."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+from src.health import (
+    DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD,
+    DEFAULT_UNHEALTHY_BACKOFF_SEC,
+    ProviderHealthCache,
+    ProviderState,
+)
+
+
+class FakeClock:
+    """Deterministic clock for circuit-breaker timing tests."""
+
+    def __init__(self, start: float = 1_000_000.0) -> None:
+        self.now = start
+
+    def __call__(self) -> float:
+        return self.now
+
+    def advance(self, seconds: float) -> None:
+        self.now += seconds
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Construction
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestConstruction:
+    def test_defaults(self) -> None:
+        c = ProviderHealthCache()
+        assert c.failure_threshold == DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD
+        assert c.unhealthy_backoff_sec == DEFAULT_UNHEALTHY_BACKOFF_SEC
+
+    def test_invalid_threshold_rejected(self) -> None:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="failure_threshold"):
+            ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=0)
+
+    def test_invalid_backoff_rejected(self) -> None:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="backoff"):
+            ProviderHealthCache(unhealthy_backoff_sec=-1.0)
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Default-healthy behaviour
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestDefaults:
+    def test_unknown_provider_is_healthy(self) -> None:
+        # The cache is observation-only — no entry means "no reason to skip".
+        c = ProviderHealthCache()
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is True
+
+    def test_unknown_provider_has_no_state(self) -> None:
+        c = ProviderHealthCache()
+        assert c.get_state("ollama") is None
+
+    def test_snapshot_includes_expected_zero_state(self) -> None:
+        c = ProviderHealthCache()
+        snap = c.snapshot(expected=["ollama", "groq"])
+        assert set(snap.keys()) == {"ollama", "groq"}
+        assert all(s.healthy for s in snap.values())
+        assert all(s.consecutive_failures == 0 for s in snap.values())
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Failure → unhealthy state machine
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestFailureSemantics:
+    def test_first_failure_does_not_trip(self) -> None:
+        # Single transient blips shouldn't bounce a provider — wait for the
+        # next consecutive failure to confirm.
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=2)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "boom")
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is True
+        state = c.get_state("ollama")
+        assert state is not None
+        assert state.consecutive_failures == 1
+        assert state.healthy is True
+
+    def test_threshold_reached_trips_breaker(self) -> None:
+        clock = FakeClock()
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(
+            failure_threshold=2,
+            unhealthy_backoff_sec=60.0,
+            clock=clock,
+        )
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "fail-1")
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "fail-2")
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        state = c.get_state("ollama")
+        assert state is not None
+        assert state.healthy is False
+        assert state.last_error == "fail-2"
+        assert state.unhealthy_until == clock.now + 60.0
+
+    def test_threshold_one_trips_immediately(self) -> None:
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "boom")
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+
+    def test_mark_healthy_clears_state(self) -> None:
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=2)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "x")
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "x")
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        c.mark_healthy("ollama")
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is True
+        state = c.get_state("ollama")
+        assert state is not None
+        assert state.healthy is True
+        assert state.consecutive_failures == 0
+        assert state.unhealthy_until == 0.0
+        assert state.last_error is None
+
+
+class TestBackoffWindow:
+    def test_is_healthy_false_during_backoff(self) -> None:
+        clock = FakeClock()
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1, unhealthy_backoff_sec=60.0, clock=clock)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "boom")
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        clock.advance(30.0)
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+
+    def test_is_healthy_true_after_backoff_expires(self) -> None:
+        # After backoff: half-open. Router gets one more attempt; success
+        # mark_healthy resets, failure mark_unhealthy re-arms backoff.
+        clock = FakeClock()
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1, unhealthy_backoff_sec=60.0, clock=clock)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "boom")
+        clock.advance(61.0)
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is True
+
+    def test_failure_during_backoff_extends_window(self) -> None:
+        clock = FakeClock()
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1, unhealthy_backoff_sec=60.0, clock=clock)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "first")
+        original_until = c.get_state("ollama").unhealthy_until
+        clock.advance(20.0)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "second")
+        new_until = c.get_state("ollama").unhealthy_until
+        assert new_until > original_until
+        assert new_until == clock.now + 60.0
+
+    def test_recovery_logged_only_once(self, caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture) -> None:
+        clock = FakeClock()
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1, unhealthy_backoff_sec=60.0, clock=clock)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "boom")
+        with caplog.at_level("INFO"):
+            c.mark_healthy("ollama")
+            # Calling mark_healthy on an already-healthy provider must not
+            # spam the recovery log line.
+            c.mark_healthy("ollama")
+            c.mark_healthy("ollama")
+        recovery_lines = [r for r in caplog.records if "recovered" in r.message]
+        assert len(recovery_lines) == 1
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Snapshot shape
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestSnapshot:
+    def test_snapshot_returns_copies(self) -> None:
+        # Caller shouldn't be able to poke through to the cache's internal
+        # state via a snapshot reference.
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "x")
+        snap = c.snapshot()
+        snap["ollama"].healthy = True
+        # Original state untouched:
+        assert c.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+
+    def test_snapshot_matches_recorded_state(self) -> None:
+        clock = FakeClock()
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(
+            failure_threshold=2,
+            unhealthy_backoff_sec=60.0,
+            clock=clock,
+        )
+        c.mark_unhealthy("groq", "rate-limit")
+        snap = c.snapshot()
+        assert isinstance(snap["groq"], ProviderState)
+        assert snap["groq"].consecutive_failures == 1
+        assert snap["groq"].last_error == "rate-limit"
+        assert snap["groq"].last_check == clock.now
+
+    def test_snapshot_expected_does_not_overwrite_real_state(self) -> None:
+        c = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        c.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "real-boom")
+        snap = c.snapshot(expected=["ollama", "groq"])
+        # ollama keeps its real (unhealthy) state, groq gets the zero-default.
+        assert snap["ollama"].consecutive_failures == 1
+        assert snap["groq"].consecutive_failures == 0
diff --git a/services/mana-llm/tests/test_health_probe.py b/services/mana-llm/tests/test_health_probe.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9305f5013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mana-llm/tests/test_health_probe.py
@@ -0,0 +1,222 @@
+"""Tests for the background health-probe loop."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import asyncio
+from typing import Awaitable, Callable
+
+import pytest
+
+from src.health import ProviderHealthCache
+from src.health_probe import HealthProbe, ProbeFn
+
+
+def make_probe(*, returns: bool = True, raises: type[BaseException] | None = None) -> ProbeFn:
+    """Synthesise a probe function that always returns / raises the same."""
+
+    async def probe() -> bool:
+        if raises is not None:
+            raise raises("boom")
+        return returns
+
+    return probe
+
+
+def make_slow_probe(delay: float, returns: bool = True) -> ProbeFn:
+    async def probe() -> bool:
+        await asyncio.sleep(delay)
+        return returns
+
+    return probe
+
+
+def make_call_counter() -> tuple[ProbeFn, Callable[[], int]]:
+    """Probe that counts how many times it was awaited."""
+    count = 0
+
+    async def probe() -> bool:
+        nonlocal count
+        count += 1
+        return True
+
+    return probe, lambda: count
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Construction
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestConstruction:
+    def test_invalid_interval(self) -> None:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="interval"):
+            HealthProbe(ProviderHealthCache(), {}, interval=0.0)
+
+    def test_invalid_timeout(self) -> None:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="timeout"):
+            HealthProbe(ProviderHealthCache(), {}, timeout=0.0)
+
+    def test_provider_ids_exposes_keys(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache()
+        probe = HealthProbe(
+            cache,
+            {"ollama": make_probe(), "groq": make_probe()},
+        )
+        assert sorted(probe.provider_ids) == ["groq", "ollama"]
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# tick_once — the per-cycle behaviour
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestTickOnce:
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_healthy_probe_marks_healthy(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        # Pre-mark unhealthy so we can verify the probe recovers it.
+        cache.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "stale")
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {"ollama": make_probe(returns=True)})
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        assert cache.is_healthy("ollama") is True
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_returning_false_marks_unhealthy(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {"ollama": make_probe(returns=False)})
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        assert cache.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        state = cache.get_state("ollama")
+        assert state is not None
+        assert "false" in (state.last_error or "")
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_raising_marks_unhealthy_with_exc_info(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        probe = HealthProbe(
+            cache, {"ollama": make_probe(raises=ConnectionError)}
+        )
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        assert cache.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        state = cache.get_state("ollama")
+        assert state is not None
+        assert "ConnectionError" in (state.last_error or "")
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_timeout_marks_unhealthy(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        probe = HealthProbe(
+            cache,
+            {"ollama": make_slow_probe(delay=1.0)},
+            timeout=0.05,
+        )
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        assert cache.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        state = cache.get_state("ollama")
+        assert state is not None
+        assert "timeout" in (state.last_error or "").lower()
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_one_bad_probe_does_not_sink_others(self) -> None:
+        # Probe 'ollama' raises — 'groq' must still be evaluated and marked
+        # healthy. Bug shape: an unhandled exception in gather() sinks the
+        # whole loop.
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        probe = HealthProbe(
+            cache,
+            {
+                "ollama": make_probe(raises=RuntimeError),
+                "groq": make_probe(returns=True),
+            },
+        )
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        assert cache.is_healthy("ollama") is False
+        assert cache.is_healthy("groq") is True
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_concurrent_probes(self) -> None:
+        # All probes should run in parallel — total elapsed wall-clock for
+        # N x 100ms probes should be well under N*100ms.
+        import time
+
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache()
+        probes = {f"p{i}": make_slow_probe(delay=0.1) for i in range(5)}
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, probes, timeout=1.0)
+        t0 = time.perf_counter()
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        elapsed = time.perf_counter() - t0
+        assert elapsed < 0.3, f"probes ran serially? elapsed={elapsed:.3f}s"
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_empty_probes_is_noop(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache()
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {})
+        # No exception, no state mutation.
+        await probe.tick_once()
+        assert cache.snapshot() == {}
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# start / stop lifecycle
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestLifecycle:
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_start_runs_initial_tick_immediately(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        cache.mark_unhealthy("ollama", "stale")
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {"ollama": make_probe(returns=True)}, interval=10.0)
+        await probe.start()
+        # Give the loop one event-loop turn to run the initial tick before
+        # blocking on the long sleep.
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.01)
+        assert cache.is_healthy("ollama") is True
+        await probe.stop()
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_stop_cancels_cleanly(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache()
+        probe = HealthProbe(
+            cache, {"ollama": make_probe()}, interval=10.0, timeout=1.0
+        )
+        await probe.start()
+        assert probe.running is True
+        await probe.stop()
+        assert probe.running is False
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_start_is_idempotent(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache()
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {"ollama": make_probe()}, interval=10.0)
+        await probe.start()
+        await probe.start()  # must not spawn a second task
+        assert probe.running is True
+        await probe.stop()
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_stop_without_start_is_safe(self) -> None:
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache()
+        probe = HealthProbe(cache, {})
+        await probe.stop()  # idempotent / safe pre-start
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_loop_keeps_running_after_tick_error(self) -> None:
+        # Even if every probe explodes, the loop must keep ticking.
+        cache = ProviderHealthCache(failure_threshold=1)
+        fn, count = make_call_counter()
+        # Wrap with one that raises — but tick_once internally catches
+        # per-probe via gather(return_exceptions=True). Force an outer error
+        # via an evil probe key that the dict can't handle? Easier: use the
+        # call-counter to verify multiple ticks happened.
+        probe = HealthProbe(
+            cache,
+            {"counter": fn},
+            interval=0.05,  # short interval for test
+            timeout=1.0,
+        )
+        await probe.start()
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.18)  # ~3-4 ticks
+        await probe.stop()
+        # Initial tick + at least 2 interval ticks.
+        assert count() >= 3