diff --git a/src/services/infrastructure/HealthMonitor.ts b/src/services/infrastructure/HealthMonitor.ts
index 815eeea5..d0e86864 100644
--- a/src/services/infrastructure/HealthMonitor.ts
+++ b/src/services/infrastructure/HealthMonitor.ts
@@ -29,17 +29,21 @@ export async function isPortInUse(port: number): Promise<boolean> {
 }
 
 /**
- * Wait for the worker to become fully ready (passes readiness check)
+ * Wait for the worker HTTP server to become responsive (liveness check)
+ * Uses /api/health instead of /api/readiness because:
+ * - /api/health returns 200 as soon as HTTP server is listening
+ * - /api/readiness waits for full initialization (MCP connection can take 5+ minutes)
+ * See: https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem/issues/811
  * @param port Worker port to check
  * @param timeoutMs Maximum time to wait in milliseconds
- * @returns true if worker became ready, false if timeout
+ * @returns true if worker became responsive, false if timeout
  */
 export async function waitForHealth(port: number, timeoutMs: number = 30000): Promise<boolean> {
   const start = Date.now();
   while (Date.now() - start < timeoutMs) {
     try {
       // Note: Removed AbortSignal.timeout to avoid Windows Bun cleanup issue (libuv assertion)
-      const response = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/readiness`);
+      const response = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/health`);
       if (response.ok) return true;
     } catch (error) {
       // [ANTI-PATTERN IGNORED]: Retry loop - expected failures during startup, will retry
diff --git a/src/shared/worker-utils.ts b/src/shared/worker-utils.ts
index e44af2a2..406fae0f 100644
--- a/src/shared/worker-utils.ts
+++ b/src/shared/worker-utils.ts
@@ -56,13 +56,17 @@ export function clearPortCache(): void {
 }
 
 /**
- * Check if worker is responsive and fully initialized by trying the readiness endpoint
- * Changed from /health to /api/readiness to ensure MCP initialization is complete
+ * Check if worker HTTP server is responsive
+ * Uses /api/health (liveness) instead of /api/readiness because:
+ * - Hooks have 15-second timeout, but full initialization can take 5+ minutes (MCP connection)
+ * - /api/health returns 200 as soon as HTTP server is up (sufficient for hook communication)
+ * - /api/readiness returns 503 until full initialization completes (too slow for hooks)
+ * See: https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem/issues/811
  */
 async function isWorkerHealthy(): Promise<boolean> {
   const port = getWorkerPort();
   // Note: Removed AbortSignal.timeout to avoid Windows Bun cleanup issue (libuv assertion)
-  const response = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/readiness`);
+  const response = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${port}/api/health`);
   return response.ok;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/infrastructure/health-monitor.test.ts b/tests/infrastructure/health-monitor.test.ts
index 64f09aa8..9a1d00e8 100644
--- a/tests/infrastructure/health-monitor.test.ts
+++ b/tests/infrastructure/health-monitor.test.ts
@@ -98,16 +98,18 @@ describe('HealthMonitor', () => {
       expect(callCount).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
     });
 
-    it('should check readiness endpoint not health endpoint', async () => {
+    it('should check health endpoint for liveness', async () => {
       const fetchMock = mock(() => Promise.resolve({ ok: true } as Response));
       global.fetch = fetchMock;
 
       await waitForHealth(37777, 1000);
 
-      // waitForHealth uses /api/readiness, not /api/health
+      // waitForHealth uses /api/health (liveness), not /api/readiness
+      // This is because hooks have 15-second timeout but full initialization can take 5+ minutes
+      // See: https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem/issues/811
       const calls = fetchMock.mock.calls;
       expect(calls.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-      expect(calls[0][0]).toBe('http://127.0.0.1:37777/api/readiness');
+      expect(calls[0][0]).toBe('http://127.0.0.1:37777/api/health');
     });
 
     it('should use default timeout when not specified', async () => {