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docs: Document configurable HEALTH_CHECK_PATH for load balancing endpoints #707

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lavanya-gunreddi merged 4 commits into from
Jul 14, 2026
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docs: Document configurable HEALTH_CHECK_PATH for load balancing endpoints #707

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Document configurable HEALTH_CHECK_PATH for load balancing endpoints
promptless[bot] Jun 29, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into promptless/lb-configurable-health-check-path
lavanya-gunreddi Jul 13, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into promptless/lb-configurable-health-check-path
lavanya-gunreddi Jul 14, 2026
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docs: add Note about setting health check path in Runpod console
promptless[bot] Jul 14, 2026
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11 changes: 9 additions & 2 deletions serverless/load-balancing/overview.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -89,7 +89,13 @@ This exposes custom endpoints: `https://ENDPOINT_ID.api.runpod.ai/ping` and `htt

## Health checks

Workers must expose a `/ping` endpoint on the `PORT_HEALTH` port. The load balancer periodically checks this endpoint:
Each worker exposes a health check endpoint on the `PORT_HEALTH` port, and the load balancer polls it periodically to decide whether the worker is healthy enough to receive traffic. By default the load balancer polls `/ping`, but you can point it at any path by setting the `HEALTH_CHECK_PATH` environment variable. This is useful when you deploy a public image whose server already exposes a health check at a different path, such as a `llama.cpp` image that serves `/health`, so you don't need to build a custom image just to satisfy the health check.

@lavanya-gunreddi lavanya-gunreddi Jul 14, 2026 •
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@Promptless Add this note here - You can also set the health check path directly in the RunPod console when creating a new endpoint. The Health check endpoint field appears on the Configure image step. Leave it empty to use the default /ping.

<Note>
You can also set the health check path directly in the Runpod console when creating a new endpoint. The **Health check endpoint** field appears on the Configure image step. Leave it empty to use the default `/ping`.
</Note>

The load balancer interprets the response code from the health check endpoint as follows:

| Response code | Status |
|---------------|--------|
Expand All @@ -101,7 +107,7 @@ Unhealthy workers are automatically removed from the routing pool.

<Note>

When calculating endpoint metrics, Runpod calculates the cold start time for load balancing workers by measuring the time it takes between `/ping` first returning `204` until it first returns `200`.
When calculating endpoint metrics, Runpod calculates the cold start time for load balancing workers by measuring the time it takes between the health check endpoint first returning `204` until it first returns `200`.

</Note>

Expand All @@ -112,6 +118,7 @@ When calculating endpoint metrics, Runpod calculates the cold start time for loa
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `PORT` | `80` | Main application server port |
| `PORT_HEALTH` | Same as `PORT` | Health check endpoint port |
| `HEALTH_CHECK_PATH` | `/ping` | Path the load balancer polls to check worker health |

If using a custom port, add it to your endpoint's environment variables and expose it in container configuration (under **Expose HTTP Ports (Max 10)**).

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