diff --git a/cli/serve/app.py b/cli/serve/app.py
index 82e652fb7..22e7f4e56 100644
--- a/cli/serve/app.py
+++ b/cli/serve/app.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import sys
 import time
 import uuid
-from typing import Any, Literal, cast
+from typing import Any, cast
 
 try:
     import typer
@@ -52,6 +52,18 @@
 )
 
 
+@app.get("/health")
+async def health_check() -> dict[str, str]:
+    """Basic liveness check endpoint.
+
+    Returns a 200 OK status to signal that the Python process is alive and responding.
+
+    Returns:
+        dict: A dictionary with status "pass".
+    """
+    return {"status": "pass"}
+
+
 @app.exception_handler(RequestValidationError)
 async def validation_exception_handler(
     request: Request, exc: RequestValidationError
diff --git a/test/cli/test_serve.py b/test/cli/test_serve.py
index 889049613..473ddc69d 100644
--- a/test/cli/test_serve.py
+++ b/test/cli/test_serve.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
 from pydantic import BaseModel, ValidationError
 
-from cli.serve.app import make_chat_endpoint, validation_exception_handler
+from cli.serve.app import app, make_chat_endpoint, validation_exception_handler
 from cli.serve.models import (
     ChatCompletion,
     ChatCompletionRequest,
@@ -45,6 +45,28 @@ def sample_request():
     )
 
 
+class TestHealthCheckEndpoint:
+    """Tests for the health check endpoint."""
+
+    @pytest.fixture(scope="class")
+    def client(self, request) -> TestClient:
+        """Set up the test client."""
+
+        # /health is registered at module-load time — TestClient(app) is correct here
+        return TestClient(app)
+
+    def test_health_check(self, client: TestClient):
+        """Test that /health GET endpoint returns 200 with correct JSON response."""
+        response = client.get("/health")
+
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert response.json() == {"status": "pass"}
+
+    def test_health_check_rejects_post(self, client: TestClient):
+        """Test that /health POST endpoint returns 405"""
+        assert client.post("/health").status_code == 405
+
+
 class TestChatEndpoint:
     """Tests for the chat completion endpoint."""
 
@@ -722,8 +744,6 @@ async def test_text_format_no_schema(self, mock_module):
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
     async def test_json_schema_missing_schema_field(self, mock_module):
         """Test that json_schema without schema field raises ValidationError."""
-        from pydantic import ValidationError
-
         # Should raise ValidationError when creating ResponseFormat
         with pytest.raises(ValidationError) as exc_info:
             ResponseFormat(