health-checks
SKILL.md
Health Checks
Different checks serve different purposes. Don't conflate them.
Check Types
| Endpoint | Purpose | On Failure | Should Check |
|---|---|---|---|
/health/live |
Process alive? | K8s restarts pod | Only process responsiveness |
/health/ready |
Can handle traffic? | K8s removes from LB | DB, cache, critical deps |
/health/startup |
Init complete? | K8s waits | Initialization status |
Liveness (Simple)
Return 200 OK immediately. Never check dependencies.
Checking DB in liveness = pod restarts when DB is down = cascading failure.