diff --git a/src/Vantage.Core/Health/HealthChecker.cs b/src/Vantage.Core/Health/HealthChecker.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f15195
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Vantage.Core/Health/HealthChecker.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Net.Sockets;
+using Vantage.Core.Models;
+
+namespace Vantage.Core.Health;
+
+public sealed class HealthChecker : IHealthChecker
+{
+    private readonly HttpClient httpClient;
+
+    public HealthChecker(HttpClient httpClient)
+    {
+        this.httpClient = httpClient;
+    }
+
+    public Task<HealthCheckResult> CheckAsync(HealthCheckConfig check, CancellationToken cancellationToken) =>
+        check.Kind switch
+        {
+            HealthKind.Http => CheckHttpAsync(check, cancellationToken),
+            HealthKind.Tcp => CheckTcpAsync(check, cancellationToken),
+            _ => throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(check))
+        };
+
+    private async Task<HealthCheckResult> CheckHttpAsync(HealthCheckConfig check, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        using var timeout = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(cancellationToken);
+        timeout.CancelAfter(check.TimeoutMs);
+
+        var stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
+        try
+        {
+            using var request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Get, check.Target);
+            using var response = await httpClient
+                .SendAsync(request, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead, timeout.Token)
+                .ConfigureAwait(false);
+            stopwatch.Stop();
+
+            var code = (int)response.StatusCode;
+            var latency = stopwatch.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds;
+            var label = $"HTTP {code} {response.ReasonPhrase}".TrimEnd();
+
+            if (code >= check.ExpectedStatusMin && code <= check.ExpectedStatusMax)
+                return HealthCheckResult.Up(latency, label);
+
+            return HealthCheckResult.Degraded(latency, $"{label} outside {check.ExpectedStatusMin}-{check.ExpectedStatusMax}");
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException) when (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            return HealthCheckResult.Down($"Timed out after {check.TimeoutMs} ms");
+        }
+        catch (HttpRequestException ex)
+        {
+            return HealthCheckResult.Down(ex.Message);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static async Task<HealthCheckResult> CheckTcpAsync(HealthCheckConfig check, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        var endpoint = TcpEndpoint.Parse(check.Target);
+
+        using var timeout = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(cancellationToken);
+        timeout.CancelAfter(check.TimeoutMs);
+
+        var stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
+        try
+        {
+            using var client = new TcpClient();
+            await client.ConnectAsync(endpoint.Host, endpoint.Port, timeout.Token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            stopwatch.Stop();
+            return HealthCheckResult.Up(stopwatch.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds, $"Connected to {endpoint.Host}:{endpoint.Port}");
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException) when (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            return HealthCheckResult.Down($"Timed out after {check.TimeoutMs} ms");
+        }
+        catch (SocketException ex)
+        {
+            return HealthCheckResult.Down(ex.Message);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Vantage.Core/Health/IHealthChecker.cs b/src/Vantage.Core/Health/IHealthChecker.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a995732
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Vantage.Core/Health/IHealthChecker.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+using Vantage.Core.Models;
+
+namespace Vantage.Core.Health;
+
+public interface IHealthChecker
+{
+    Task<HealthCheckResult> CheckAsync(HealthCheckConfig check, CancellationToken cancellationToken);
+}
diff --git a/src/Vantage.Core/Health/TcpEndpoint.cs b/src/Vantage.Core/Health/TcpEndpoint.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6578592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Vantage.Core/Health/TcpEndpoint.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+namespace Vantage.Core.Health;
+
+public readonly record struct TcpEndpoint(string Host, int Port)
+{
+    public static TcpEndpoint Parse(string target)
+    {
+        var trimmed = target.Trim();
+
+        if (trimmed.StartsWith('['))
+        {
+            var close = trimmed.IndexOf(']');
+            if (close < 0)
+                throw new FormatException($"Malformed IPv6 endpoint: '{target}'");
+
+            var host = trimmed[1..close];
+            var rest = trimmed[(close + 1)..].TrimStart(':');
+            return new TcpEndpoint(host, ParsePort(rest, target));
+        }
+
+        var lastColon = trimmed.LastIndexOf(':');
+        if (lastColon <= 0 || lastColon == trimmed.Length - 1)
+            throw new FormatException($"TCP target must be host:port, got '{target}'");
+
+        return new TcpEndpoint(trimmed[..lastColon], ParsePort(trimmed[(lastColon + 1)..], target));
+    }
+
+    private static int ParsePort(string value, string original)
+    {
+        if (!int.TryParse(value, out var port) || port is < 1 or > 65535)
+            throw new FormatException($"Invalid port in TCP target '{original}'");
+        return port;
+    }
+}