feat: add database circuit breaker and health-readiness endpoint

Introduce a process-wide DatabaseCircuitBreaker that fails fast when Postgres is unavailable (e.g. disk full) instead of letting every request burn doomed EF Core retries. CircuitAwareExecutionStrategy derives from NpgsqlRetryingExecutionStrategy and records success/failure around the public Execute/ExecuteAsync seams; background workers skip work and back off while the circuit is open; the exception middleware maps an open circuit (and other DB outages) to 503. Adds /health (liveness) and /health/ready (readiness, reporting circuit state), plus unit tests for the open/half-open transitions and non-transient SQLSTATE detection.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/LiveRecorder.Application/Models/Reports/HealthReadyResponse.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+namespace LiveRecorder.Application.Models.Reports;
+
+public sealed class HealthReadyResponse
+{
+    public string Status { get; set; } = "ready";
+    public DateTimeOffset Timestamp { get; set; }
+    public DatabaseHealthStatus Database { get; set; } = new();
+}
+
+public sealed class DatabaseHealthStatus
+{
+    public bool Reachable { get; set; }
+    public string? Reason { get; set; }
+    public int ConsecutiveFailures { get; set; }
+}

src/LiveRecorder.Infrastructure/Persistence/CircuitAwareExecutionStrategy.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Storage;
+using Npgsql.EntityFrameworkCore.PostgreSQL;
+
+namespace LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Custom EF Core execution strategy that integrates with <see cref="DatabaseCircuitBreaker"/>.
+///
+/// When the circuit is open, operations fail immediately without retrying.
+/// When a non-transient error occurs (e.g. disk_full), the operation does not retry.
+/// After each failure, the circuit is recorded, and after each success, the circuit is reset.
+/// </summary>
+public sealed class CircuitAwareExecutionStrategy : NpgsqlRetryingExecutionStrategy
+{
+    private static readonly TimeSpan DefaultMaxRetryDelay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15);
+
+    public CircuitAwareExecutionStrategy(
+        ExecutionStrategyDependencies dependencies,
+        int maxRetryCount,
+        TimeSpan maxRetryDelay)
+        : base(dependencies, maxRetryCount, maxRetryDelay, errorCodesToAdd: null)
+    {
+    }
+
+    public CircuitAwareExecutionStrategy(
+        ExecutionStrategyDependencies dependencies,
+        int maxRetryCount,
+        TimeSpan maxRetryDelay,
+        ICollection<string>? errorCodesToAdd)
+        : base(dependencies, maxRetryCount, maxRetryDelay, errorCodesToAdd)
+    {
+    }
+
+    protected override bool ShouldRetryOn(Exception? exception)
+    {
+        // Fast-fail: circuit is open
+        if (DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen)
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Fast-fail: non-transient errors (disk_full, out_of_memory, etc.)
+        if (DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(exception))
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // Delegate to default Npgsql retry logic for transient errors
+        return base.ShouldRetryOn(exception);
+    }
+
+    protected override void OnFirstExecution()
+    {
+        // If circuit is open, throw immediately before even attempting
+        if (DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen)
+        {
+            throw new DatabaseCircuitOpenException(
+                $"Database circuit breaker is open. Consecutive failures: {DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures}. " +
+                $"Circuit opened at: {DatabaseCircuitBreaker.OpenedAt:O}.");
+        }
+
+        base.OnFirstExecution();
+    }
+
+    public override TResult Execute<TState, TResult>(
+        TState state,
+        Func<DbContext, TState, TResult> operation,
+        Func<DbContext, TState, ExecutionResult<TResult>>? verifySucceeded)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            var result = base.Execute(state, operation, verifySucceeded);
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordSuccess();
+            return result;
+        }
+        catch
+        {
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+            throw;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public override async Task<TResult> ExecuteAsync<TState, TResult>(
+        TState state,
+        Func<DbContext, TState, CancellationToken, Task<TResult>> operation,
+        Func<DbContext, TState, CancellationToken, Task<ExecutionResult<TResult>>>? verifySucceeded,
+        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            var result = await base.ExecuteAsync(state, operation, verifySucceeded, cancellationToken)
+                .ConfigureAwait(false);
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordSuccess();
+            return result;
+        }
+        catch
+        {
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+            throw;
+        }
+    }
+}

src/LiveRecorder.Infrastructure/Persistence/DatabaseCircuitBreaker.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+
+namespace LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Thread-safe static circuit breaker for database operations.
+/// When the database becomes unavailable (e.g. disk full), this prevents
+/// every API request from wasting 45 seconds on doomed retries.
+/// </summary>
+public static class DatabaseCircuitBreaker
+{
+    private static readonly object Lock = new();
+
+    /// <summary>Consecutive failures before the circuit opens.</summary>
+    private const int FailureThreshold = 5;
+
+    /// <summary>How long the circuit stays open before allowing a probe.</summary>
+    private static readonly TimeSpan BreakDuration = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30);
+
+    /// <summary>Npgsql error codes that are NOT transient — retrying is futile.</summary>
+    private static readonly HashSet<string> NonTransientCodes = new(StringComparer.Ordinal)
+    {
+        "53100", // disk_full
+        "53200", // out_of_memory
+        "53300", // too_many_connections
+        "08006", // connection_failure (persistent)
+        "57P03", // cannot_connect_now
+        "42601", // syntax_error (bug, not transient)
+        "42501", // insufficient_privilege
+        "3D000", // invalid_catalog_name
+        "28P01", // invalid_password
+    };
+
+    private static int _consecutiveFailures;
+    private static DateTimeOffset _openedAt = DateTimeOffset.MinValue;
+
+    /// <summary>Whether the circuit is currently open (failing fast).</summary>
+    public static bool IsOpen
+    {
+        get
+        {
+            if (_consecutiveFailures < FailureThreshold)
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            if (DateTimeOffset.UtcNow - _openedAt > BreakDuration)
+            {
+                // Transition to half-open: allow one probe
+                lock (Lock)
+                {
+                    if (_consecutiveFailures >= FailureThreshold &&
+                        DateTimeOffset.UtcNow - _openedAt > BreakDuration)
+                    {
+                        // Reset to just below threshold so the next call probes
+                        _consecutiveFailures = FailureThreshold - 1;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static int ConsecutiveFailures => Volatile.Read(ref _consecutiveFailures);
+
+    public static DateTimeOffset OpenedAt => _openedAt;
+
+    /// <summary>Record a successful database operation.</summary>
+    public static void RecordSuccess()
+    {
+        lock (Lock)
+        {
+            _consecutiveFailures = 0;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Record a failed database operation.</summary>
+    public static void RecordFailure()
+    {
+        lock (Lock)
+        {
+            _consecutiveFailures++;
+            if (_consecutiveFailures >= FailureThreshold)
+            {
+                _openedAt = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Check whether a given exception is a non-transient database error
+    /// that should NOT be retried. Returns true if retrying would be futile.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static bool IsNonTransient(Exception? ex)
+    {
+        while (ex is not null)
+        {
+            if (ex is Npgsql.NpgsqlException npgEx && npgEx.SqlState is { Length: 5 } state)
+            {
+                return NonTransientCodes.Contains(state);
+            }
+
+            ex = ex.InnerException;
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Log the current circuit state.</summary>
+    public static void LogState(ILogger logger)
+    {
+        logger.LogInformation(
+            "DatabaseCircuitBreaker state: Open={IsOpen}, ConsecutiveFailures={Failures}, OpenedAt={OpenedAt}",
+            IsOpen,
+            ConsecutiveFailures,
+            OpenedAt == DateTimeOffset.MinValue ? "never" : OpenedAt.ToString("O"));
+    }
+}

src/LiveRecorder.Infrastructure/Persistence/DatabaseCircuitOpenException.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+namespace LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Thrown when a database operation is rejected because the circuit breaker is open.
+/// This is a fast-fail — the request will not be retried.
+/// </summary>
+public sealed class DatabaseCircuitOpenException : InvalidOperationException
+{
+    public DatabaseCircuitOpenException(string message) : base(message)
+    {
+    }
+
+    public DatabaseCircuitOpenException(string message, Exception innerException) : base(message, innerException)
+    {
+    }
+}

src/LiveRecorder.Infrastructure/Services/CleanupOperationBackgroundService.cs

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
@@ -7,6 +8,8 @@ namespace LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Services;
 public sealed class CleanupOperationBackgroundService : BackgroundService
 {
     private static readonly TimeSpan IdleDelay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2);
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ErrorBaseDelay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ErrorMaxDelay = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5);
     private readonly IServiceScopeFactory _serviceScopeFactory;
     private readonly ILogger<CleanupOperationBackgroundService> _logger;
 
@@ -20,6 +23,7 @@ public sealed class CleanupOperationBackgroundService : BackgroundService
 
     protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
     {
+        // Startup: requeue interrupted operations
         try
         {
             using var startupScope = _serviceScopeFactory.CreateScope();
@@ -31,17 +35,36 @@ public sealed class CleanupOperationBackgroundService : BackgroundService
             _logger.LogWarning(ex, "Failed to requeue interrupted cleanup operations at startup");
         }
 
+        var consecutiveErrors = 0;
+
         while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
         {
             try
             {
+                // Skip processing if the circuit is open — don't waste resources
+                if (DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen)
+                {
+                    consecutiveErrors = await DelayWithBackoff(ErrorBaseDelay, ErrorMaxDelay, consecutiveErrors, stoppingToken);
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 using var scope = _serviceScopeFactory.CreateScope();
                 var coordinator = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<CleanupOperationCoordinator>();
                 var processed = await coordinator.ProcessNextQueuedOperationAsync(stoppingToken);
+
                 if (processed)
                 {
+                    consecutiveErrors = 0;
                     continue;
                 }
+
+                // No queued operations — idle delay
+                consecutiveErrors = 0;
+                await Task.Delay(IdleDelay, stoppingToken);
+            }
+            catch (DatabaseCircuitOpenException)
+            {
+                consecutiveErrors = await DelayWithBackoff(ErrorBaseDelay, ErrorMaxDelay, consecutiveErrors, stoppingToken);
             }
             catch (OperationCanceledException) when (stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
             {
@@ -49,17 +72,47 @@ public sealed class CleanupOperationBackgroundService : BackgroundService
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                _logger.LogError(ex, "Cleanup operation background worker failed");
+                var isDatabaseError = DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(ex) ||
-            }
+                                      ex is Npgsql.NpgsqlException ||
+                                      ex is Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbUpdateException;
 
-            try
+                if (isDatabaseError)
-            {
+                {
-                await Task.Delay(IdleDelay, stoppingToken);
+                    DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
-            }
+                    _logger.LogWarning(ex,
-            catch (OperationCanceledException) when (stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+                        "Cleanup background worker: database error (#{ErrorCount}). Circuit state: Open={IsOpen}, Failures={Failures}",
-            {
+                        consecutiveErrors + 1,
-                break;
+                        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen,
+                        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    _logger.LogError(ex, "Cleanup operation background worker failed");
+                }
+
+                consecutiveErrors = await DelayWithBackoff(ErrorBaseDelay, ErrorMaxDelay, consecutiveErrors, stoppingToken);
             }
         }
     }
+
+    private static async Task<int> DelayWithBackoff(
+        TimeSpan baseDelay, TimeSpan maxDelay, int errorCount, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        errorCount++;
+        // Exponential backoff: 5s, 10s, 20s, 40s, 80s, 160s, capping at 5min
+        var factor = Math.Pow(2, Math.Min(errorCount - 1, 6));
+        var delay = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(
+            Math.Min(baseDelay.TotalMilliseconds * factor, maxDelay.TotalMilliseconds));
+
+        try
+        {
+            await Task.Delay(delay, cancellationToken);
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException)
+        {
+            // Swallow — loop will exit on next iteration
+        }
+
+        return errorCount;
+    }
 }

src/LiveRecorder.Infrastructure/Services/LiveRoomPollingBackgroundService.cs

@@ -146,8 +146,20 @@ public sealed class LiveRoomPollingBackgroundService : BackgroundService, ILiveR
             {
                 break;
             }
+            catch (DatabaseCircuitOpenException)
+            {
+                // Circuit is open — skip this iteration and wait
+                _logger.LogDebug("Polling loop skipped: database circuit breaker is open");
+                delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30);
+            }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
+                // Record database failures to the circuit breaker
+                if (IsTransientDatabaseException(ex) || DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(ex))
+                {
+                    DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+                }
+
                 _logger.LogError(ex, "Background live room polling failed");
 
                 try

src/LiveRecorder.Infrastructure/Services/RetentionCleanupBackgroundService.cs

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
@@ -7,7 +8,8 @@ namespace LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Services;
 public sealed class RetentionCleanupBackgroundService : BackgroundService
 {
     private static readonly TimeSpan CleanupInterval = TimeSpan.FromHours(24);
-
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ErrorBaseDelay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10);
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ErrorMaxDelay = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5);
     private readonly IServiceScopeFactory _serviceScopeFactory;
     private readonly ILogger<RetentionCleanupBackgroundService> _logger;
 
@@ -21,13 +23,31 @@ public sealed class RetentionCleanupBackgroundService : BackgroundService
 
     protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
     {
+        var consecutiveErrors = 0;
+
         while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
         {
             try
             {
+                // Skip if circuit is already open
+                if (DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen)
+                {
+                    _logger.LogDebug("Retention cleanup skipped: database circuit breaker is open");
+                    await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1), stoppingToken);
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 using var scope = _serviceScopeFactory.CreateScope();
                 var cleanupService = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<RetentionCleanupService>();
                 await cleanupService.TryEnqueueAsync(ignoreEnabledSetting: false, cancellationToken: stoppingToken);
+
+                consecutiveErrors = 0;
+            }
+            catch (DatabaseCircuitOpenException)
+            {
+                // Silent — circuit is already logged
+                await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1), stoppingToken);
+                continue;
             }
             catch (OperationCanceledException) when (stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
             {
@@ -35,7 +55,38 @@ public sealed class RetentionCleanupBackgroundService : BackgroundService
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                _logger.LogError(ex, "Retention cleanup background task failed");
+                var isDatabaseError = DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(ex) ||
+                                      ex is Npgsql.NpgsqlException ||
+                                      ex is Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbUpdateException;
+
+                consecutiveErrors++;
+                var delay = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(
+                    Math.Min(ErrorBaseDelay.TotalMilliseconds * Math.Pow(2, Math.Min(consecutiveErrors - 1, 6)),
+                             ErrorMaxDelay.TotalMilliseconds));
+
+                if (isDatabaseError)
+                {
+                    DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+                    _logger.LogWarning(ex,
+                        "Retention cleanup: database error (#{ErrorCount}). Circuit: Open={IsOpen}, Failures={Failures}",
+                        consecutiveErrors,
+                        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen,
+                        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    _logger.LogError(ex, "Retention cleanup background task failed");
+                }
+
+                try
+                {
+                    await Task.Delay(delay, stoppingToken);
+                }
+                catch (OperationCanceledException)
+                {
+                    break;
+                }
+                continue;
             }
 
             try

src/LiveRecorder.WebApi/Middleware/ExceptionHandlingMiddleware.cs

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using Npgsql;
+
 namespace LiveRecorder.WebApi.Middleware;
 
 public sealed class ExceptionHandlingMiddleware
@@ -17,22 +21,80 @@ public sealed class ExceptionHandlingMiddleware
         {
             await _next(context);
         }
+        catch (DatabaseCircuitOpenException ex)
+        {
+            // Circuit is open — fast-fail with 503
+            _logger.LogWarning(ex, "Database circuit breaker is open, returning 503");
+            context.Response.StatusCode = StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable;
+            await context.Response.WriteAsJsonAsync(new
+            {
+                message = "Database temporarily unavailable",
+                detail = "The database is currently unreachable. Requests will be accepted again once connectivity is restored.",
+                retryAfterSeconds = 30
+            });
+        }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
             _logger.LogError(ex, "Unhandled exception");
-            context.Response.StatusCode = ex switch
+
+            // Detect database-related exceptions and return 503 instead of 500
+            var statusCode = ex switch
             {
+                DatabaseCircuitOpenException => StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable,
                 KeyNotFoundException => StatusCodes.Status404NotFound,
                 InvalidOperationException => StatusCodes.Status400BadRequest,
                 NotSupportedException => StatusCodes.Status400BadRequest,
+                _ when IsDatabaseException(ex) => StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable,
                 _ => StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError
             };
 
+            context.Response.StatusCode = statusCode;
+
             await context.Response.WriteAsJsonAsync(new
             {
-                message = ex.Message,
+                message = statusCode == StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable
-                detail = context.Response.StatusCode == StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError ? "Internal Server Error" : null
+                    ? "Database temporarily unavailable"
+                    : ex.Message,
+                detail = statusCode switch
+                {
+                    StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable => "The database is currently unreachable. Please retry later.",
+                    StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError => "Internal Server Error",
+                    _ => null
+                }
             });
         }
     }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Check if an exception (or any of its inner exceptions) is a database-related error
+    /// that should be surfaced as 503 Service Unavailable.
+    /// </summary>
+    private static bool IsDatabaseException(Exception ex)
+    {
+        var current = ex;
+        while (current is not null)
+        {
+            if (current is NpgsqlException or DbUpdateException)
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            if (current is InvalidOperationException ioEx &&
+                (ioEx.Message.Contains("database", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) ||
+                 ioEx.Message.Contains("connection", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) ||
+                 ioEx.Message.Contains("Npgsql", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            if (current is TimeoutException && current.Message.Contains("database", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+
+            current = current.InnerException;
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
 }

src/LiveRecorder.WebApi/Program.cs

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ using LiveRecorder.Application.Abstractions.Recording;
 using LiveRecorder.Application.Abstractions.Scripting;
 using LiveRecorder.Application.Abstractions.Settings;
 using LiveRecorder.Application.Abstractions.Storage;
+using LiveRecorder.Application.Models.Reports;
 using LiveRecorder.Application.Services;
 using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
 using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence.Repositories;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Platforms.YouTube;
 using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Services;
 using LiveRecorder.WebApi.Middleware;
 using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Storage;
 using Microsoft.OpenApi.Models;
 using Npgsql;
 
@@ -149,6 +151,11 @@ builder.Services.AddDbContext<LiveRecorderDbContext>(options =>
             maxRetryCount: 3,
             maxRetryDelay: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15),
             errorCodesToAdd: null);
+        npgsql.ExecutionStrategy(dependencies =>
+            new CircuitAwareExecutionStrategy(
+                dependencies,
+                maxRetryCount: 3,
+                maxRetryDelay: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15)));
     }));
 
 builder.Services.AddScoped<IUnitOfWork>(provider => provider.GetRequiredService<LiveRecorderDbContext>());
@@ -231,6 +238,61 @@ app.UseMiddleware<ApiTokenAuthenticationMiddleware>();
 app.MapGet("/", () => Results.Redirect("/swagger"));
 app.MapControllers();
 
+// ── Health check endpoints ────────────────────────────────────────────
+// /health — liveness: is the process alive and responding?
+app.MapGet("/health", () => Results.Ok(new { status = "healthy", timestamp = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow }));
+
+// /health/ready — readiness: can we reach the database?
+app.MapGet("/health/ready", async (CancellationToken cancellationToken) =>
+{
+    var readyResult = new HealthReadyResponse
+    {
+        Status = "ready",
+        Timestamp = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow,
+        Database = new DatabaseHealthStatus()
+    };
+
+    if (DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen)
+    {
+        readyResult.Status = "degraded";
+        readyResult.Database = new DatabaseHealthStatus
+        {
+            Reachable = false,
+            Reason = "Circuit breaker is open",
+            ConsecutiveFailures = DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures
+        };
+        return Results.Json(readyResult, statusCode: StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable);
+    }
+
+    try
+    {
+        // Lightweight probe: just test connectivity with a 2-second timeout
+        await using var connection = new NpgsqlConnection(connectionStringBuilder.ConnectionString);
+        var probeCts = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(cancellationToken);
+        probeCts.CancelAfter(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+
+        await connection.OpenAsync(probeCts.Token);
+        await using var cmd = connection.CreateCommand();
+        cmd.CommandText = "SELECT 1";
+        await cmd.ExecuteScalarAsync(probeCts.Token);
+
+        readyResult.Database = new DatabaseHealthStatus { Reachable = true };
+        return Results.Ok(readyResult);
+    }
+    catch (Exception ex)
+    {
+        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+        readyResult.Status = "unhealthy";
+        readyResult.Database = new DatabaseHealthStatus
+        {
+            Reachable = false,
+            Reason = ex.Message,
+            ConsecutiveFailures = DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures
+        };
+        return Results.Json(readyResult, statusCode: StatusCodes.Status503ServiceUnavailable);
+    }
+});
+
 using (var scope = app.Services.CreateScope())
 {
     var initializer = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<DatabaseInitializer>();

tests/LiveRecorder.Tests/DatabaseCircuitBreakerTests.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+using System.Reflection;
+using LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.Persistence;
+using Npgsql;
+
+namespace LiveRecorder.Tests;
+
+public sealed class DatabaseCircuitBreakerTests
+{
+    // Mirrors the private FailureThreshold in DatabaseCircuitBreaker so the assertions
+    // read intentionally. Keep in sync if the production threshold changes.
+    private const int FailureThreshold = 5;
+
+    public DatabaseCircuitBreakerTests()
+    {
+        // The breaker is a process-wide static, so reset it to a known closed state
+        // before each test to keep cases independent.
+        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordSuccess();
+        SetOpenedAt(DateTimeOffset.MinValue);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void RecordFailure_below_threshold_keeps_circuit_closed()
+    {
+        for (var i = 0; i < FailureThreshold - 1; i++)
+        {
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+        }
+
+        Assert.False(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen);
+        Assert.Equal(FailureThreshold - 1, DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void RecordFailure_at_threshold_opens_circuit()
+    {
+        for (var i = 0; i < FailureThreshold; i++)
+        {
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+        }
+
+        Assert.True(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen);
+        Assert.Equal(FailureThreshold, DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures);
+        Assert.NotEqual(DateTimeOffset.MinValue, DatabaseCircuitBreaker.OpenedAt);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void RecordSuccess_closes_circuit_and_resets_failures()
+    {
+        for (var i = 0; i < FailureThreshold; i++)
+        {
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+        }
+
+        Assert.True(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen);
+
+        DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordSuccess();
+
+        Assert.False(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen);
+        Assert.Equal(0, DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void IsOpen_after_break_duration_transitions_to_half_open()
+    {
+        for (var i = 0; i < FailureThreshold; i++)
+        {
+            DatabaseCircuitBreaker.RecordFailure();
+        }
+
+        Assert.True(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen);
+
+        // The breaker reads DateTimeOffset.UtcNow directly (no injectable clock), so move
+        // the recorded open time past the 30s break window to simulate it elapsing.
+        SetOpenedAt(DateTimeOffset.UtcNow - TimeSpan.FromSeconds(31));
+
+        // The first read past the window half-opens: it permits one probe and drops the
+        // failure count to one below the threshold.
+        Assert.False(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsOpen);
+        Assert.Equal(FailureThreshold - 1, DatabaseCircuitBreaker.ConsecutiveFailures);
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("53100")] // disk_full
+    [InlineData("53300")] // too_many_connections
+    [InlineData("28P01")] // invalid_password
+    public void IsNonTransient_returns_true_for_known_fatal_sql_states(string sqlState)
+    {
+        var exception = new PostgresException("fatal", "FATAL", "FATAL", sqlState);
+
+        Assert.True(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(exception));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void IsNonTransient_returns_false_for_transient_sql_state()
+    {
+        // 40001 = serialization_failure, which is retryable and not in the fatal set.
+        var exception = new PostgresException("retry me", "ERROR", "ERROR", "40001");
+
+        Assert.False(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(exception));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void IsNonTransient_unwraps_inner_exceptions()
+    {
+        var inner = new PostgresException("disk full", "FATAL", "FATAL", "53100");
+        var wrapper = new InvalidOperationException("save failed", inner);
+
+        Assert.True(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(wrapper));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void IsNonTransient_returns_false_for_null_and_non_postgres_exceptions()
+    {
+        Assert.False(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(null));
+        Assert.False(DatabaseCircuitBreaker.IsNonTransient(new InvalidOperationException("boom")));
+    }
+
+    private static void SetOpenedAt(DateTimeOffset value) =>
+        typeof(DatabaseCircuitBreaker)
+            .GetField("_openedAt", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static)!
+            .SetValue(null, value);
+}

tests/LiveRecorder.Tests/LiveRecorder.Tests.csproj

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\LiveRecorder.Application\LiveRecorder.Application.csproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\LiveRecorder.Domain\LiveRecorder.Domain.csproj" />
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\LiveRecorder.Infrastructure\LiveRecorder.Infrastructure.csproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
 </Project>