diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f5efe33..d710328 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
 EXPOSE 8000
 
 # ── Healthcheck ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=15s --retries=3 \
+HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=30s --retries=3 \
     CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1
 
 # ── Default: run the dashboard ───────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 99046c5..5514319 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ services:
       interval: 30s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 3
-      start_period: 10s
+      start_period: 30s
 
   # ── Timmy — sovereign AI agent (separate container) ───────────────────────
   timmy:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 30d9360..fbf5584 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ python-telegram-bot = { version = ">=21.0", optional = true }
 "discord.py" = { version = ">=2.3.0", optional = true }
 airllm = { version = ">=2.9.0", optional = true }
 pyttsx3 = { version = ">=2.90", optional = true }
+pytest = { version = ">=8.0.0", optional = true }
+pytest-asyncio = { version = ">=0.24.0", optional = true }
+pytest-cov = { version = ">=5.0.0", optional = true }
+pytest-timeout = { version = ">=2.3.0", optional = true }
+selenium = { version = ">=4.20.0", optional = true }
 
 [tool.poetry.extras]
 swarm = ["redis"]
@@ -56,6 +61,7 @@ telegram = ["python-telegram-bot"]
 discord = ["discord.py"]
 bigbrain = ["airllm"]
 voice = ["pyttsx3"]
+dev = ["pytest", "pytest-asyncio", "pytest-cov", "pytest-timeout", "selenium"]
 
 [tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
 pytest = ">=8.0.0"
diff --git a/src/dashboard/app.py b/src/dashboard/app.py
index aa372a1..fd77c56 100644
--- a/src/dashboard/app.py
+++ b/src/dashboard/app.py
@@ -355,8 +355,12 @@ async def _start_chat_integrations_background() -> None:
     """Background task: start chat integrations without blocking startup."""
     from integrations.telegram_bot.bot import telegram_bot
     from integrations.chat_bridge.vendors.discord import discord_bot
-    
+    from integrations.chat_bridge.registry import platform_registry
+
     await asyncio.sleep(0.5)
+
+    # Register Discord in the platform registry
+    platform_registry.register(discord_bot)
     
     if settings.telegram_token:
         try:
@@ -392,8 +396,9 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
         agent_id="timmy",
     )
 
-    # Log swarm recovery summary
+    # Run swarm recovery and log summary
     from swarm.coordinator import coordinator as swarm_coordinator
+    swarm_coordinator.initialize()
     rec = swarm_coordinator._recovery_summary
     if rec["tasks_failed"] or rec["agents_offlined"]:
         logger.info(
@@ -442,18 +447,14 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     # Start chat integrations in background
     chat_task = asyncio.create_task(_start_chat_integrations_background())
 
-    # Register Discord bot
-    from integrations.chat_bridge.registry import platform_registry
-    from integrations.chat_bridge.vendors.discord import discord_bot
-    platform_registry.register(discord_bot)
-
     logger.info("✓ Timmy Time dashboard ready for requests")
 
     yield
 
     # Cleanup on shutdown
     from integrations.telegram_bot.bot import telegram_bot
-    
+    from integrations.chat_bridge.vendors.discord import discord_bot
+
     await discord_bot.stop()
     await telegram_bot.stop()
     
diff --git a/src/dashboard/routes/health.py b/src/dashboard/routes/health.py
index 686104c..7e8a140 100644
--- a/src/dashboard/routes/health.py
+++ b/src/dashboard/routes/health.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Provides system health checks and sovereignty audit information
 for the Mission Control dashboard.
 """
 
+import asyncio
 import logging
 import os
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
@@ -23,8 +24,8 @@ router = APIRouter(tags=["health"])
 
 
 # Legacy health check for backward compatibility
-async def check_ollama() -> bool:
-    """Legacy helper to check Ollama status."""
+def _check_ollama_sync() -> bool:
+    """Synchronous Ollama check — run via asyncio.to_thread()."""
     try:
         import urllib.request
         url = settings.ollama_url.replace("localhost", "127.0.0.1")
@@ -39,6 +40,14 @@ async def check_ollama() -> bool:
         return False
 
 
+async def check_ollama() -> bool:
+    """Check Ollama status without blocking the event loop."""
+    try:
+        return await asyncio.to_thread(_check_ollama_sync)
+    except Exception:
+        return False
+
+
 class DependencyStatus(BaseModel):
     """Status of a single dependency."""
     name: str
@@ -67,8 +76,8 @@ class HealthStatus(BaseModel):
 _START_TIME = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
 
 
-def _check_ollama() -> DependencyStatus:
-    """Check Ollama AI backend status."""
+def _check_ollama_status_sync() -> DependencyStatus:
+    """Synchronous Ollama status check — run via asyncio.to_thread()."""
     try:
         import urllib.request
         url = settings.ollama_url.replace("localhost", "127.0.0.1")
@@ -90,7 +99,7 @@ def _check_ollama() -> DependencyStatus:
             pass
     except Exception:
         pass
-    
+
     return DependencyStatus(
         name="Ollama AI",
         status="unavailable",
@@ -99,11 +108,24 @@ def _check_ollama() -> DependencyStatus:
     )
 
 
+async def _check_ollama() -> DependencyStatus:
+    """Check Ollama AI backend status without blocking the event loop."""
+    try:
+        return await asyncio.to_thread(_check_ollama_status_sync)
+    except Exception:
+        return DependencyStatus(
+            name="Ollama AI",
+            status="unavailable",
+            sovereignty_score=10,
+            details={"url": settings.ollama_url, "error": "Cannot connect to Ollama"},
+        )
+
+
 def _check_redis() -> DependencyStatus:
     """Check Redis cache status."""
     try:
-        from swarm.comms import SwarmComms
-        comms = SwarmComms()
+        from swarm.coordinator import coordinator
+        comms = coordinator.comms
         # Check if we're using fallback
         if hasattr(comms, '_redis') and comms._redis is not None:
             return DependencyStatus(
@@ -280,7 +302,7 @@ async def sovereignty_check():
     Use this to verify the system is operating in a sovereign manner.
     """
     dependencies = [
-        _check_ollama(),
+        await _check_ollama(),
         _check_redis(),
         _check_lightning(),
         _check_sqlite(),
diff --git a/src/swarm/comms.py b/src/swarm/comms.py
index 7e07006..7a50d14 100644
--- a/src/swarm/comms.py
+++ b/src/swarm/comms.py
@@ -56,7 +56,11 @@ class SwarmComms:
     def _try_connect(self) -> None:
         try:
             import redis
-            self._redis = redis.from_url(self._redis_url)
+            self._redis = redis.from_url(
+                self._redis_url,
+                socket_connect_timeout=3,
+                socket_timeout=3,
+            )
             self._redis.ping()
             self._pubsub = self._redis.pubsub()
             self._connected = True
diff --git a/src/swarm/coordinator.py b/src/swarm/coordinator.py
index 19bd3d2..d67ce46 100644
--- a/src/swarm/coordinator.py
+++ b/src/swarm/coordinator.py
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ class SwarmCoordinator:
         self.auctions = AuctionManager()
         self.comms = SwarmComms()
         self._in_process_nodes: list = []
+        self._recovery_summary = {"tasks_failed": 0, "agents_offlined": 0}
+
+    def initialize(self) -> None:
+        """Run startup recovery. Call during app lifespan, not at import time."""
         self._recovery_summary = reconcile_on_startup()
 
     # ── Agent lifecycle ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/tests/self_coding/test_git_tools.py b/tests/self_coding/test_git_tools.py
index cbb28e7..de74231 100644
--- a/tests/self_coding/test_git_tools.py
+++ b/tests/self_coding/test_git_tools.py
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@ def git_repo(tmp_path):
     result = git_init(tmp_path)
     assert result["success"]
 
-    # Configure git identity for commits
+    # Configure git identity and disable signing for commits
     from git import Repo
     repo = Repo(str(tmp_path))
     repo.config_writer().set_value("user", "name", "Test").release()
     repo.config_writer().set_value("user", "email", "test@test.com").release()
+    repo.config_writer().set_value("commit", "gpgsign", "false").release()
 
     # Create initial commit
     readme = tmp_path / "README.md"
diff --git a/tests/swarm/test_swarm_recovery.py b/tests/swarm/test_swarm_recovery.py
index 4076bee..9f1d3ae 100644
--- a/tests/swarm/test_swarm_recovery.py
+++ b/tests/swarm/test_swarm_recovery.py
@@ -156,9 +156,10 @@ def test_reconcile_counts_multiple_stale_agents():
 # ── Coordinator integration ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 def test_coordinator_runs_recovery_on_init():
-    """Coordinator.__init__ calls reconcile; _recovery_summary must be present."""
+    """Coordinator.initialize() populates _recovery_summary."""
     from swarm.coordinator import SwarmCoordinator
     coord = SwarmCoordinator()
+    coord.initialize()
     assert hasattr(coord, "_recovery_summary")
     assert "tasks_failed" in coord._recovery_summary
     assert "agents_offlined" in coord._recovery_summary
@@ -166,7 +167,7 @@ def test_coordinator_runs_recovery_on_init():
 
 
 def test_coordinator_recovery_cleans_stale_task():
-    """End-to-end: task left in BIDDING is cleaned up by a fresh coordinator."""
+    """End-to-end: task left in BIDDING is cleaned up after initialize()."""
     from swarm.tasks import create_task, get_task, update_task, TaskStatus
     from swarm.coordinator import SwarmCoordinator
 
@@ -174,6 +175,7 @@ def test_coordinator_recovery_cleans_stale_task():
     update_task(task.id, status=TaskStatus.BIDDING)
 
     coord = SwarmCoordinator()
+    coord.initialize()
     assert get_task(task.id).status == TaskStatus.FAILED
     assert coord._recovery_summary["tasks_failed"] >= 1
     coord.manager.stop_all()