diff --git a/compose.yml b/compose.yml
index 5b7c1f6..0fdeb4e 100644
--- a/compose.yml
+++ b/compose.yml
@@ -32,14 +32,20 @@ services:
       # gold: VNAppMob). If GOLD_VNAPP_API_KEY is unset, the bot auto-fetches
       # and caches a key to Mongo.
     # Long polling is outbound-only: nothing inbound to route, so no published
-    # ports and no public domain. `expose` keeps :8080 reachable inside the
-    # Coolify network for the container health monitor against GET / only.
+    # ports and no public domain. `expose` only documents the health server's
+    # port; it publishes nothing on the host.
     expose:
       - "8080"
-    # No compose healthcheck: Coolify's own HTTP monitor covers it, so none is
-    # defined here. Configure that monitor against GET / instead
-    # (returns text/plain "miti99bot ok"). Note: a plain / check does not verify
-    # Mongo connectivity — see docs/deploy-coolify-selfhosted.md.
+    # Coolify's UI health check does not apply to Docker Compose apps; it reads
+    # this block instead. GET / returns text/plain "miti99bot ok". It proves the
+    # process is serving, not that Mongo is reachable — see
+    # docs/deploy-coolify-selfhosted.md. busybox wget ships in the Alpine image.
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -q -O /dev/null http://127.0.0.1:8080/ || exit 1"]
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 20s
 
   # Animation renderer (Node + Remotion + headless Chrome) from renderer/.
   # Internal only: the bot reaches it over the compose network, so it has no
diff --git a/docs/deploy-coolify-selfhosted.md b/docs/deploy-coolify-selfhosted.md
index 5299a00..c82d984 100644
--- a/docs/deploy-coolify-selfhosted.md
+++ b/docs/deploy-coolify-selfhosted.md
@@ -159,12 +159,13 @@ MP4, with the same text fallback.
    invalidate Docker cache on every commit. Do not add `SOURCE_COMMIT` to
    `compose.yml`; an interpolated empty value can override Coolify's runtime
    env-file value.
-6. **Health check:** use Coolify's HTTP monitor against `GET /` (returns
-   `text/plain` `miti99bot ok`). The committed `compose.yml` defines no
-   `healthcheck`, and `cmd/server` has no `-healthcheck` flag. Note: `/`
-   reports healthy even if Mongo is unreachable (the driver auto-reconnects on
-   the next op); a DB outage will not auto-restart the container — accepted
-   trade-off.
+6. **Health check:** Coolify's UI health-check settings do not apply to
+   Docker Compose apps; Coolify reads each service's `healthcheck:` in
+   `compose.yml` instead. The `bot` service checks `GET /` (returns
+   `text/plain` `miti99bot ok`) with the image's busybox `wget`, and the
+   `renderer` service checks `/api/healthz`. Note: `/` reports healthy even if
+   Mongo is unreachable (the driver auto-reconnects on the next op); a DB
+   outage will not mark the container unhealthy — accepted trade-off.
 
 ## 3. Command menu