diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1dcd2f9..a7938b5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ The observability stack provides full monitoring capabilities through metrics, l
     - Loki
     - Traefik
     - APISIX Gateway
+  - Traefik and APISIX are cross-stack targets resolved via Swarm's `<stack>_<service>` DNS naming on the shared overlay network.
 
 #### Logs
 
diff --git a/apisix/api-gateway/docker-compose.yml b/apisix/api-gateway/docker-compose.yml
index 5f2ee0e..62c99ad 100644
--- a/apisix/api-gateway/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/apisix/api-gateway/docker-compose.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,17 @@ services:
       - ./config/apisix.yaml:/usr/local/apisix/conf/config.yaml:ro
       - cache:/tmp/apisix-cache/
     restart: unless-stopped
+    healthcheck:
+      test:
+        - CMD
+        - wget
+        - --no-verbose
+        - --tries=1
+        - --spider
+        - http://localhost:9091/apisix/prometheus/metrics
+      interval: 20s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
     labels:
       - "traefik.enable=${TRAEFIK_ENABLE}"
       - "traefik.http.routers.apisix.rule=Host(`${HOST}`)"
diff --git a/observability/prometheus/config/prometheus.yml b/observability/prometheus/config/prometheus.yml
index 54b5941..fe65fd4 100644
--- a/observability/prometheus/config/prometheus.yml
+++ b/observability/prometheus/config/prometheus.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ global:
 rule_files:
   - 'alert.rules'
 
+# DNS naming convention:
+#   Same-stack targets use short names (e.g., 'tempo:3200')
+#   Cross-stack targets use <stack>_<service> (e.g., 'infrastructure_traefik:8080')
+#   All stacks share the 'traefik-public' overlay network.
+
 scrape_configs:
   # Prometheus self-monitoring
   - job_name: 'prometheus'
diff --git a/observability/prometheus/docker-compose.yml b/observability/prometheus/docker-compose.yml
index aad0628..50a5947 100644
--- a/observability/prometheus/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/observability/prometheus/docker-compose.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,17 @@ services:
     networks:
       - default
     restart: unless-stopped
+    healthcheck:
+      test:
+        - CMD
+        - wget
+        - --no-verbose
+        - --tries=1
+        - --spider
+        - http://localhost:9090/-/ready
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
     logging:
       options:
         max-size: "10m"
diff --git a/stacks/README.md b/stacks/README.md
index f7979d9..d7f3835 100644
--- a/stacks/README.md
+++ b/stacks/README.md
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ python3 tools/render_compose.py -i stacks/infrastructure.yml -o /tmp/check.rende
 
 - Ensure each service folder has a `.env` available. For local development, copy from `.env.example`; for production, use `./stackctl.sh secrets deploy` (see [Managing Secrets](../docs/Managing%20Secrets.md)).
 - APISIX dashboard uses `apisix/api-dashboard/config/conf.yaml` (generated from `conf.example.yml`).
-- Consider adding healthchecks for critical dependencies to improve startup reliability.
+- Healthchecks have been added for Prometheus and APISIX. Consider adding them for other services as needed.
 
 ### Resource caps & logging
 
diff --git a/stacks/infrastructure.yml b/stacks/infrastructure.yml
index b589a9e..8b7b2cc 100644
--- a/stacks/infrastructure.yml
+++ b/stacks/infrastructure.yml
@@ -62,6 +62,17 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./apisix/api-gateway/config/apisix.yaml:/usr/local/apisix/conf/config.yaml:ro
       - cache:/tmp/apisix-cache/
+    healthcheck:
+      test:
+        - CMD
+        - wget
+        - --no-verbose
+        - --tries=1
+        - --spider
+        - http://localhost:9091/apisix/prometheus/metrics
+      interval: 20s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
     labels:
       - traefik.enable=${TRAEFIK_ENABLE}
       - traefik.http.routers.apisix.rule=Host(`${HOST}`)
diff --git a/stacks/observability.yml b/stacks/observability.yml
index bb392df..2411c62 100644
--- a/stacks/observability.yml
+++ b/stacks/observability.yml
@@ -195,6 +195,17 @@ services:
       - traefik.http.services.prometheus.loadbalancer.server.port=${PORT}
     networks:
       - default
+    healthcheck:
+      test:
+        - CMD
+        - wget
+        - --no-verbose
+        - --tries=1
+        - --spider
+        - http://localhost:9090/-/ready
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 3
     logging:
       options:
         max-size: 10m