diff --git a/packages/gateway/src/db/client.ts b/packages/gateway/src/db/client.ts
index 2d57b10..aeaa997 100644
--- a/packages/gateway/src/db/client.ts
+++ b/packages/gateway/src/db/client.ts
@@ -5,18 +5,35 @@ const { Pool } = pg;
 
 let pool: pg.Pool | null = null;
 
-export function getPool(): pg.Pool {
-  if (!pool) {
-    pool = new Pool({
-      host: process.env['DB_HOST'] ?? 'localhost',
-      port: parseInt(process.env['DB_PORT'] ?? '5432', 10),
-      database: process.env['DB_NAME'] ?? 'llm_gateway',
-      user: process.env['DB_USER'] ?? 'llm_gateway',
-      password: process.env['DB_PASSWORD'] ?? '',
+/**
+ * Build pool config from DATABASE_URL (preferred) or individual DB_* env vars.
+ * DATABASE_URL format: postgresql://user:password@host:port/database
+ */
+function buildPoolConfig(): pg.PoolConfig {
+  const databaseUrl = process.env['DATABASE_URL'];
+  if (databaseUrl) {
+    return {
+      connectionString: databaseUrl,
       max: 10,
       idleTimeoutMillis: 30_000,
       connectionTimeoutMillis: 5_000,
-    });
+    };
+  }
+  return {
+    host: process.env['DB_HOST'] ?? 'localhost',
+    port: parseInt(process.env['DB_PORT'] ?? '5432', 10),
+    database: process.env['DB_NAME'] ?? 'llm_gateway',
+    user: process.env['DB_USER'] ?? 'llm',
+    password: process.env['DB_PASSWORD'] ?? '',
+    max: 10,
+    idleTimeoutMillis: 30_000,
+    connectionTimeoutMillis: 5_000,
+  };
+}
+
+export function getPool(): pg.Pool {
+  if (!pool) {
+    pool = new Pool(buildPoolConfig());
 
     pool.on('error', (err) => {
       logger.error({ err }, 'PostgreSQL pool error');
diff --git a/packages/gateway/src/routes/health.ts b/packages/gateway/src/routes/health.ts
index 51bcc9b..73a75ab 100644
--- a/packages/gateway/src/routes/health.ts
+++ b/packages/gateway/src/routes/health.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ async function checkOllama(baseUrl: string): Promise<{ status: 'ok' | 'down'; la
   const start = Date.now();
   try {
     const response = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/tags`, {
-      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000),
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(15000),
     });
     const latency_ms = Date.now() - start;
     if (!response.ok) {
diff --git a/packages/learning/src/db/client.ts b/packages/learning/src/db/client.ts
index 6a7f34e..083dafb 100644
--- a/packages/learning/src/db/client.ts
+++ b/packages/learning/src/db/client.ts
@@ -5,18 +5,26 @@ const { Pool } = pg;
 
 let pool: pg.Pool | null = null;
 
+function buildPoolConfig(): pg.PoolConfig {
+  const databaseUrl = process.env['DATABASE_URL'];
+  if (databaseUrl) {
+    return { connectionString: databaseUrl, max: 5, idleTimeoutMillis: 30_000, connectionTimeoutMillis: 5_000 };
+  }
+  return {
+    host: process.env['DB_HOST'] ?? 'localhost',
+    port: parseInt(process.env['DB_PORT'] ?? '5432', 10),
+    database: process.env['DB_NAME'] ?? 'llm_gateway',
+    user: process.env['DB_USER'] ?? 'llm',
+    password: process.env['DB_PASSWORD'] ?? '',
+    max: 5,
+    idleTimeoutMillis: 30_000,
+    connectionTimeoutMillis: 5_000,
+  };
+}
+
 export function getPool(): pg.Pool {
   if (!pool) {
-    pool = new Pool({
-      host: process.env['DB_HOST'] ?? 'localhost',
-      port: parseInt(process.env['DB_PORT'] ?? '5432', 10),
-      database: process.env['DB_NAME'] ?? 'llm_gateway',
-      user: process.env['DB_USER'] ?? 'llm',
-      password: process.env['DB_PASSWORD'] ?? '',
-      max: 5,
-      idleTimeoutMillis: 30_000,
-      connectionTimeoutMillis: 5_000,
-    });
+    pool = new Pool(buildPoolConfig());
 
     pool.on('error', (err) => {
       logger.error({ err }, 'PostgreSQL pool error (learning engine)');