diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index a38b0b0..4e8620b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -246,7 +246,15 @@ jobs:
           trap 'docker logs artex-smoke; docker rm -f artex-smoke' EXIT
           curl --fail --retry 30 --retry-connrefused --retry-delay 2 --max-time 3 \
             http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/health > /tmp/artex-health.json
-          jq -e --arg version "${RELEASE_TAG#v}" '.ok == true and .version == $version' /tmp/artex-health.json
+          jq -e '. == {"ok": true}' /tmp/artex-health.json
+          curl --fail -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+            --data '{"password":"smoke-test-admin-password"}' \
+            http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/auth/init > /tmp/artex-auth.json
+          token=$(jq -er '.token' /tmp/artex-auth.json)
+          echo "::add-mask::$token"
+          curl --fail -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" \
+            http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/version > /tmp/artex-version.json
+          jq -e --arg version "${RELEASE_TAG#v}" '.version == $version' /tmp/artex-version.json
           curl --fail http://127.0.0.1:8787/ > /tmp/artex-index.html
           grep -qi '<!doctype html' /tmp/artex-index.html
       - name: Push tested architecture image
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 525ab6d..fcace3e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -tags embedui -o artex ./cmd/artex
 
 在 **系统配置 → HTTP Basic Auth** 中填写独立的验证用户名和密码，打开「启用访问验证」并点击「保存访问验证」。默认关闭，保存后立即生效，无需重启；密码至少 8 位、最多 72 字节，用户名不能包含冒号。
 
-开启后，访客先完成浏览器原生账号密码验证，再进入原有 ARTEX 登录页。网页、静态资源和 API 均受保护，`/api/health` 健康检查保留公开访问，但仅返回 `{"ok":true}`，不暴露应用名称或版本。版本号由需要管理员 JWT 的 `/api/version` 提供，启用访问验证后该接口同时受 Basic Auth 保护。未认证请求的 Basic Auth realm 使用通用名称 `Restricted`；通过访问验证仍需登录 ARTEX 才能使用业务 API。公网部署请通过 HTTPS 访问。
+开启后，访客先完成浏览器原生账号密码验证，再进入原有 ARTEX 登录页。网页、静态资源和 API 均受保护，`/api/health` 的 GET/HEAD 健康检查同样需要通过 Basic Auth，未认证时返回 `401`；通过后仅返回 `{"ok":true}`，不暴露应用名称或版本。健康检查不额外要求管理员 JWT；外部探针需要配置相同的 Basic Auth 凭据，例如使用 `curl --fail --user '验证用户名' http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/health` 并按提示输入密码。未启用 Basic Auth 时保留原有的无需凭据探活行为。版本号由需要管理员 JWT 的 `/api/version` 提供，启用访问验证后该接口同时受 Basic Auth 保护。未认证请求的 Basic Auth realm 使用通用名称 `Restricted`；通过访问验证仍需登录 ARTEX 才能使用业务 API。公网部署请通过 HTTPS 访问。
 
 从仍使用 `/api/health` 读取版本的旧版网页升级到此版本时，旧页面可能无法自动判断升级完成；服务重启后手动刷新页面即可。新版网页的版本显示和升级轮询均使用 `/api/version`。
 
diff --git a/server/basic_auth.go b/server/basic_auth.go
index b02f284..dc9c1c4 100644
--- a/server/basic_auth.go
+++ b/server/basic_auth.go
@@ -125,10 +125,9 @@ func (s *Server) setBasicAuthCookie(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, cfg
 func (s *Server) requireBasicAuth(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		cfg := s.basicAuth.snapshot()
-		// Health probes stay public; CORS preflight contains no credentials and
-		// the API CORS handler returns 204 without invoking any business handler.
-		if !cfg.Enabled || (r.URL.Path == "/api/health" && (r.Method == "GET" || r.Method == "HEAD")) ||
-			(r.Method == "OPTIONS" && strings.HasPrefix(r.URL.Path, "/api/")) {
+		// CORS preflight contains no credentials; the API CORS handler returns
+		// 204 without invoking any business handler, including health probes.
+		if !cfg.Enabled || (r.Method == "OPTIONS" && strings.HasPrefix(r.URL.Path, "/api/")) {
 			next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/server/basic_auth_test.go b/server/basic_auth_test.go
index 8858c54..8bbb16c 100644
--- a/server/basic_auth_test.go
+++ b/server/basic_auth_test.go
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ func TestBasicAuthBlockedSaveDoesNotBlockRequests(t *testing.T) {
 				h := s.requireBasicAuth(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent) }))
 				for _, path := range []string{"/", "/_next/static/app.js", "/api/tasks", "/api/health"} {
 					r := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, path, nil)
-					if enabled && path != "/api/health" {
+					if enabled {
 						r.AddCookie(initial.Result().Cookies()[0])
 					}
 					w := httptest.NewRecorder()
@@ -126,7 +126,11 @@ func TestBasicAuthBlockedSaveDoesNotBlockRequests(t *testing.T) {
 					}
 				}
 				w := httptest.NewRecorder()
-				s.Handler().ServeHTTP(w, httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/api/health", nil))
+				r := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/api/health", nil)
+				if enabled {
+					r.AddCookie(initial.Result().Cookies()[0])
+				}
+				s.Handler().ServeHTTP(w, r)
 				if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
 					reads <- errors.New("health handler unavailable during save")
 					return
@@ -247,7 +251,9 @@ func TestBasicAuthGate(t *testing.T) {
 		{name: "asset challenge", path: "/_next/static/app.js", want: 401},
 		{name: "auth API challenge", path: "/api/auth/status", want: 401},
 		{name: "check challenge", path: "/api/basic-auth/check", want: 401},
-		{name: "health exempt", path: "/api/health", want: 204},
+		{name: "health challenge", path: "/api/health", want: 401},
+		{name: "health credentials", path: "/api/health", user: "entry", pass: "密码:test-pass", want: 204},
+		{name: "health gate cookie", path: "/api/health", cookie: cookie, want: 204},
 		{name: "health prefix not exempt", path: "/api/health/anything", want: 401},
 		{name: "wrong password", path: "/login", user: "entry", pass: "wrong", want: 401},
 		{name: "wrong user", path: "/login", user: "wrong", pass: "密码:test-pass", want: 401},
diff --git a/server/health_test.go b/server/health_test.go
index 66114df..c643e88 100644
--- a/server/health_test.go
+++ b/server/health_test.go
@@ -7,34 +7,73 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
-func TestPublicHealthHasNoApplicationFingerprint(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, enabled := range []bool{false, true} {
-		name := "basic auth disabled"
-		if enabled {
-			name = "basic auth enabled"
-		}
-		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+func TestHealthGateAndResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name string
+		gate bool
+		auth string
+		want int
+	}{
+		{name: "gate disabled", want: http.StatusOK},
+		{name: "anonymous", gate: true, want: http.StatusUnauthorized},
+		{name: "wrong credentials", gate: true, auth: "wrong", want: http.StatusUnauthorized},
+		{name: "valid credentials", gate: true, auth: "basic", want: http.StatusOK},
+		{name: "valid gate cookie", gate: true, auth: "cookie", want: http.StatusOK},
+		{name: "admin JWT only", gate: true, auth: "jwt", want: http.StatusUnauthorized},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			s, _ := basicAuthTestServer(t)
-			if enabled {
+			var cookie *http.Cookie
+			if tc.gate {
 				w := saveBasicAuthForTest(s, `{"enabled":true,"username":"entry","password":"test-pass"}`)
 				if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
 					t.Fatalf("enable gate: %d %s", w.Code, w.Body.String())
 				}
+				cookie = w.Result().Cookies()[0]
 			}
 			h := s.Handler()
 			for _, method := range []string{http.MethodGet, http.MethodHead} {
 				t.Run(method, func(t *testing.T) {
+					r := httptest.NewRequest(method, "/api/health", nil)
+					switch tc.auth {
+					case "wrong":
+						r.SetBasicAuth("entry", "wrong-password")
+					case "basic":
+						r.SetBasicAuth("entry", "test-pass")
+					case "cookie":
+						r.AddCookie(cookie)
+					case "jwt":
+						token, err := signJWT(s.jwtKey)
+						if err != nil {
+							t.Fatal(err)
+						}
+						r.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+token)
+					}
 					w := httptest.NewRecorder()
-					h.ServeHTTP(w, httptest.NewRequest(method, "/api/health", nil))
-					if w.Code != http.StatusOK || w.Header().Get("WWW-Authenticate") != "" {
-						t.Fatalf("public health unavailable: %d %v", w.Code, w.Header())
+					h.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+					if w.Code != tc.want {
+						t.Fatalf("status=%d want=%d: %s", w.Code, tc.want, w.Body.String())
 					}
 					if w.Header().Get("Cache-Control") != "no-store" {
 						t.Fatal("health response must not be cached")
 					}
 					var body map[string]any
-					if err := json.Unmarshal(w.Body.Bytes(), &body); err != nil || len(body) != 1 || body["ok"] != true {
-						t.Fatalf("health must only expose readiness: %s (err=%v)", w.Body.String(), err)
+					if err := json.Unmarshal(w.Body.Bytes(), &body); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					if tc.want == http.StatusUnauthorized {
+						if w.Header().Get("WWW-Authenticate") != `Basic realm="Restricted", charset="UTF-8"` {
+							t.Fatal("health must require Basic Auth")
+						}
+						for _, field := range []string{"ok", "service", "version"} {
+							if _, exists := body[field]; exists {
+								t.Fatalf("unauthenticated health exposed %s: %s", field, w.Body.String())
+							}
+						}
+						return
+					}
+					if w.Header().Get("WWW-Authenticate") != "" || len(body) != 1 || body["ok"] != true {
+						t.Fatalf("unexpected health response: %v %s", w.Header(), w.Body.String())
 					}
 				})
 			}
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index 41ef3a6..114f0e9 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -1150,7 +1150,7 @@ func (s *Server) Handler() http.Handler {
 
 // --- handlers ---
 
-// health stays public for probes and must not expose application fingerprints.
+// health requires the optional Basic Auth gate but no admin JWT, and exposes no application fingerprints.
 func (s *Server) health(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	w.Header().Set("Cache-Control", "no-store")
 	writeJSON(w, 200, map[string]any{"ok": true})
diff --git a/web/src/lib/api.ts b/web/src/lib/api.ts
index 79c58f7..2282fb2 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/web/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ function schedulePayload(input: ScheduleInput) {
 }
 
 export const api = {
-  // 公开健康检查不返回应用名称或版本；版本号仅向已登录管理员提供。
+  // 健康检查受可选 Basic Auth 保护且不返回应用名称或版本；版本号仅向已登录管理员提供。
   health: () => get<{ ok: boolean }>("/health"),
   version: () => http<{ version: string }>("/version", { cache: "no-store" }),
   systemMetrics: () => get<SystemMetrics>("/system/metrics"),