diff --git a/health.go b/health.go
index fd6adfe..923fbed 100644
--- a/health.go
+++ b/health.go
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ package process
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -116,21 +118,40 @@ func (h *HealthServer) Addr() string {
 // WaitForHealth polls a health endpoint until it responds 200 or the timeout
 // (in milliseconds) expires. Returns true if healthy, false on timeout.
 func WaitForHealth(addr string, timeoutMs int) bool {
+	ok, _ := ProbeHealth(addr, timeoutMs)
+	return ok
+}
+
+// ProbeHealth polls a health endpoint until it responds 200 or the timeout
+// (in milliseconds) expires. Returns the health status and the last observed
+// failure reason if the endpoint never becomes healthy.
+func ProbeHealth(addr string, timeoutMs int) (bool, string) {
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(time.Duration(timeoutMs) * time.Millisecond)
 	url := fmt.Sprintf("http://%s/health", addr)
 
 	client := &http.Client{Timeout: 2 * time.Second}
+	var lastReason string
 
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
 		resp, err := client.Get(url)
 		if err == nil {
-			resp.Body.Close()
+			body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+			_ = resp.Body.Close()
 			if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusOK {
-				return true
+				return true, ""
 			}
+			lastReason = strings.TrimSpace(string(body))
+			if lastReason == "" {
+				lastReason = resp.Status
+			}
+		} else {
+			lastReason = err.Error()
 		}
 		time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
 	}
 
-	return false
+	if lastReason == "" {
+		lastReason = "health check timed out"
+	}
+	return false, lastReason
 }
diff --git a/pkg/api/provider.go b/pkg/api/provider.go
index 4397912..e2a9183 100644
--- a/pkg/api/provider.go
+++ b/pkg/api/provider.go
@@ -140,13 +140,14 @@ func (p *ProcessProvider) Describe() []api.RouteDescription {
 			Method:      "GET",
 			Path:        "/daemons/:code/:daemon/health",
 			Summary:     "Check daemon health",
-			Description: "Probes the daemon's health endpoint and returns the result.",
+			Description: "Probes the daemon's health endpoint and returns the result, including a failure reason when unhealthy.",
 			Tags:        []string{"process"},
 			Response: map[string]any{
 				"type": "object",
 				"properties": map[string]any{
 					"healthy": map[string]any{"type": "boolean"},
 					"address": map[string]any{"type": "string"},
+					"reason":  map[string]any{"type": "string"},
 				},
 			},
 		},
@@ -232,18 +233,22 @@ func (p *ProcessProvider) healthCheck(c *gin.Context) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	healthy := process.WaitForHealth(entry.Health, 2000)
+	healthy, reason := process.ProbeHealth(entry.Health, 2000)
 
 	result := map[string]any{
 		"healthy": healthy,
 		"address": entry.Health,
 	}
+	if !healthy && reason != "" {
+		result["reason"] = reason
+	}
 
 	// Emit health event
 	p.emitEvent("process.daemon.health", map[string]any{
 		"code":    code,
 		"daemon":  daemon,
 		"healthy": healthy,
+		"reason":  reason,
 	})
 
 	statusCode := http.StatusOK
diff --git a/pkg/api/provider_test.go b/pkg/api/provider_test.go
index eac3592..6a6f42c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/provider_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/provider_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	goapi "dappco.re/go/core/api"
@@ -84,6 +86,43 @@ func TestProcessProvider_GetDaemon_Bad(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusNotFound, w.Code)
 }
 
+func TestProcessProvider_HealthCheck_Bad(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	registry := newTestRegistry(dir)
+
+	healthSrv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte("upstream health check failed"))
+	}))
+	defer healthSrv.Close()
+
+	hostPort := strings.TrimPrefix(healthSrv.URL, "http://")
+	require.NoError(t, registry.Register(process.DaemonEntry{
+		Code:   "test",
+		Daemon: "broken",
+		PID:    os.Getpid(),
+		Health: hostPort,
+	}))
+
+	p := processapi.NewProvider(registry, nil)
+
+	r := setupRouter(p)
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "/api/process/daemons/test/broken/health", nil)
+	r.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusServiceUnavailable, w.Code)
+
+	var resp goapi.Response[map[string]any]
+	err := json.Unmarshal(w.Body.Bytes(), &resp)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, resp.Success)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, false, resp.Data["healthy"])
+	assert.Equal(t, hostPort, resp.Data["address"])
+	assert.Equal(t, "upstream health check failed", resp.Data["reason"])
+}
+
 func TestProcessProvider_RegistersAsRouteGroup_Good(t *testing.T) {
 	p := processapi.NewProvider(nil, nil)