diff --git a/src/config/index.ts b/src/config/index.ts
index f7487a4..1fc6a81 100644
--- a/src/config/index.ts
+++ b/src/config/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,20 @@
 export const config = {
-  port: process.env.PORT ?? 3000,
+  port: Number(process.env.PORT ?? 3000),
   nodeEnv: process.env.NODE_ENV ?? 'development',
+  /**
+   * Primary PostgreSQL connection string used by the shared pg.Pool.
+   * Example (matches docker-compose): postgresql://postgres:postgres@postgres:5432/callora?schema=public
+   */
+  databaseUrl:
+    process.env.DATABASE_URL ??
+    'postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/callora?schema=public',
+  /**
+   * Connection pool tuning. These can be overridden via environment variables
+   * but have sensible defaults for local development.
+   */
+  dbPool: {
+    max: Number(process.env.DB_POOL_MAX ?? 10),
+    idleTimeoutMillis: Number(process.env.DB_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS ?? 30_000),
+    connectionTimeoutMillis: Number(process.env.DB_CONN_TIMEOUT_MS ?? 2_000),
+  },
 };
diff --git a/src/db.ts b/src/db.ts
index 9f9f875..5347dad 100644
--- a/src/db.ts
+++ b/src/db.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,45 @@
 import { Pool } from 'pg';
+import { config } from './config/index.js';
+import { logger } from './logger.js';
 
-// Initialize the Postgres connection pool
+/**
+ * Shared PostgreSQL connection pool for the application.
+ *
+ * Pool configuration:
+ * - connectionString: taken from config.databaseUrl (DATABASE_URL env var)
+ * - max: maximum number of concurrent clients in the pool (DB_POOL_MAX, default 10)
+ * - idleTimeoutMillis: how long idle clients stay open before being closed (DB_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS, default 30s)
+ * - connectionTimeoutMillis: how long to wait when acquiring a client from the pool (DB_CONN_TIMEOUT_MS, default 2s)
+ */
 export const pool = new Pool({
-// Use the env var, or fallback to a default local test database URL
-connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/callora_test',
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+  connectionString: config.databaseUrl,
+  max: config.dbPool.max,
+  idleTimeoutMillis: config.dbPool.idleTimeoutMillis,
+  connectionTimeoutMillis: config.dbPool.connectionTimeoutMillis,
+});
+
+/**
+ * Convenience helper that proxies to pool.query for simple one-off queries.
+ */
+export const query = (
+  text: string,
+  params?: unknown[],
+): Promise<import('pg').QueryResult> => pool.query(text, params);
+
+/**
+ * Lightweight database health check used by the /api/health endpoint.
+ * Returns { ok: true } when a simple `SELECT 1` succeeds, or { ok: false, error }
+ * when the database is unreachable or misconfigured.
+ */
+export async function checkDbHealth(): Promise<{ ok: boolean; error?: string }> {
+  try {
+    await pool.query('SELECT 1');
+    return { ok: true };
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.error('[db] health check failed', error);
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown database error',
+    };
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/routes/health.ts b/src/routes/health.ts
index 697eebb..a6efd89 100644
--- a/src/routes/health.ts
+++ b/src/routes/health.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,21 @@
 import { Router } from 'express';
 import type { HealthResponse } from '../types/index.js';
+import { checkDbHealth } from '../db.js';
 
 const router = Router();
 
-router.get('/', (_req, res) => {
-  const response: HealthResponse = { status: 'ok', service: 'callora-backend' };
+router.get('/', async (_req, res) => {
+  const db = await checkDbHealth();
+
+  const response: HealthResponse = {
+    status: db.ok ? 'ok' : 'degraded',
+    service: 'callora-backend',
+    db: {
+      status: db.ok ? 'ok' : 'error',
+      ...(db.ok ? {} : { error: db.error }),
+    },
+  };
+
   res.json(response);
 });
 
diff --git a/src/types/index.ts b/src/types/index.ts
index be93743..bc700fa 100644
--- a/src/types/index.ts
+++ b/src/types/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
+export interface DbHealthStatus {
+  status: 'ok' | 'error';
+  error?: string;
+}
+
 export interface HealthResponse {
-  status: string;
+  status: 'ok' | 'degraded';
   service: string;
+  db?: DbHealthStatus;
 }
 
 export interface ApisResponse {