diff --git a/src/api/docling.py b/src/api/docling.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66b7777e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/api/docling.py
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+"""Docling service proxy endpoints."""
+
+import socket
+import struct
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import httpx
+from starlette.requests import Request
+from starlette.responses import JSONResponse
+
+from utils.container_utils import (
+    detect_container_environment,
+    get_container_host,
+    guess_host_ip_for_containers,
+)
+from utils.logging_config import get_logger
+
+logger = get_logger(__name__)
+
+
+def _get_gateway_ip_from_route() -> str | None:
+    """Return the default gateway IP visible from the current network namespace."""
+    try:
+        with Path("/proc/net/route").open() as route_table:
+            next(route_table)  # Skip header
+            for line in route_table:
+                fields = line.strip().split()
+                min_fields = 3  # interface, destination, gateway
+                if len(fields) >= min_fields and fields[1] == "00000000":
+                    gateway_hex = fields[2]
+                    gw_int = int(gateway_hex, 16)
+                    gateway_ip = socket.inet_ntoa(struct.pack("<L", gw_int))
+                    return gateway_ip
+    except (FileNotFoundError, PermissionError, IndexError, ValueError) as err:
+        logger.warning("Could not read routing table: %s", err)
+
+    return None
+
+
+def determine_docling_host() -> str:
+    """Determine the host address used for docling health checks."""
+    container_type = detect_container_environment()
+    if container_type:
+        container_host = get_container_host()
+        if container_host:
+            logger.info("Using container-aware host '%s'", container_host)
+            return container_host
+
+        gateway_ip = _get_gateway_ip_from_route()
+        if gateway_ip:
+            logger.info("Detected host gateway IP: %s", gateway_ip)
+            return gateway_ip
+
+    # Either we're not inside a container or gateway detection failed.
+    fallback_ip = guess_host_ip_for_containers(logger=logger)
+    if container_type:
+        logger.info("Falling back to container bridge host %s", fallback_ip)
+    else:
+        logger.info("Running outside a container; using host %s", fallback_ip)
+    return fallback_ip
+
+
+# Detect the host IP once at startup
+HOST_IP = determine_docling_host()
+DOCLING_SERVICE_URL = f"http://{HOST_IP}:5001"
+
+
+async def health(request: Request) -> JSONResponse:
+    """
+    Proxy health check to docling-serve.
+    This allows the frontend to check docling status via same-origin request.
+    """
+    try:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
+            response = await client.get(
+                f"{DOCLING_SERVICE_URL}/health",
+                timeout=2.0
+            )
+
+            if response.status_code == 200:
+                return JSONResponse({
+                    "status": "healthy",
+                    "host": HOST_IP
+                })
+            else:
+                return JSONResponse({
+                    "status": "unhealthy",
+                    "message": f"Health check failed with status: {response.status_code}",
+                    "host": HOST_IP
+                }, status_code=503)
+
+    except httpx.TimeoutException:
+        return JSONResponse({
+            "status": "unhealthy",
+            "message": "Connection timeout",
+            "host": HOST_IP
+        }, status_code=503)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error("Docling health check failed", error=str(e))
+        return JSONResponse({
+            "status": "unhealthy",
+            "message": str(e),
+            "host": HOST_IP
+        }, status_code=503)