diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index b3cb059..234464c 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from fastapi.templating import Jinja2Templates
 
 from config import VERSION, RATE_WINDOW_SECONDS, UPLOAD_DIR
 from db import init_db
+from hardware import assess_hardware
 from memory import get_memory_count
 from security import (
     get_client_ip, is_ip_allowed, check_rate_limit, rate_policy,
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ import routers.search_route as search_route
 import routers.completions as completions
 import routers.upload as upload
 import routers.ingest as ingest
+import routers.hardware as hardware
 
 # --- Logging ---
 log = logging.getLogger("jarvischat")
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     os.makedirs(UPLOAD_DIR, exist_ok=True)
     init_db()
     log.info(f"Memory system: {get_memory_count()} memories loaded")
+    await assess_hardware()
     yield
     log.info("JarvisChat shutting down")
 
@@ -103,7 +106,7 @@ async def session_auth_middleware(request: Request, call_next):
 
     unauth_paths = {
         "/api/auth/login", "/api/auth/logout", "/api/auth/session",
-        "/api/auth/heartbeat", "/api/auth/guest", "/api/ingest",
+        "/api/auth/heartbeat", "/api/auth/guest", "/api/ingest", "/api/hardware",
     }
 
     if path.startswith("/api/"):
@@ -142,7 +145,7 @@ async def index(request: Request):
 for router_module in [
     auth_router, conversations.router, memories.router, models.router,
     presets.router, profile.router, settings.router, skills.router,
-    chat.router, search_route.router, completions.router, upload.router, ingest.router,
+    chat.router, search_route.router, completions.router, upload.router, ingest.router, hardware.router,
 ]:
     app.include_router(router_module)
 
diff --git a/hardware.py b/hardware.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69d8346
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hardware.py
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+"""
+JarvisChat — Startup hardware self-assessment.
+"""
+import asyncio
+import json
+import logging
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import httpx
+import psutil
+
+from config import LLAMA_SERVER_BASE, SEARXNG_BASE
+
+log = logging.getLogger("jarvischat")
+
+HARDWARE_STATE_PATH = Path("hardware_state.json")
+_TIMEOUT_EXPIRED = subprocess.TimeoutExpired
+
+
+async def assess_hardware() -> dict:
+    mem = psutil.virtual_memory()
+    ram_total_gb = round(mem.total / (1024 ** 3), 1)
+    ram_available_gb = round(mem.available / (1024 ** 3), 1)
+    cpu_count = psutil.cpu_count()
+
+    vram_total_mb = 0
+    vram_free_mb = 0
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            ["rocm-smi", "--showmeminfo", "vram", "--json"],
+            capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=5,
+        )
+        if result.returncode == 0:
+            data = json.loads(result.stdout)
+            for card, info in data.items():
+                tot = info.get("VRAM Total (MB)", 0)
+                free = info.get("VRAM Free (MB)", None)
+                used = info.get("VRAM Used (MB)", 0)
+                if tot:
+                    vram_total_mb += int(tot)
+                if free is not None:
+                    vram_free_mb += int(free)
+                else:
+                    vram_free_mb += int(tot) - int(used)
+    except (FileNotFoundError, _TIMEOUT_EXPIRED, json.JSONDecodeError):
+        log.warning("rocm-smi not available or failed — VRAM stats set to 0")
+    except Exception as e:
+        log.warning(f"rocm-smi error: {e}")
+
+    llama_reachable = False
+    llama_models = []
+    try:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=3) as client:
+            resp = await client.get(f"{LLAMA_SERVER_BASE}/v1/models")
+            if resp.status_code == 200:
+                llama_reachable = True
+                data = resp.json()
+                llama_models = [m.get("id", "") for m in data.get("data", [])]
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("llama-server not reachable")
+
+    qdrant_reachable = False
+    qdrant_collections = []
+    try:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=3) as client:
+            resp = await client.get("http://192.168.50.108:6333/collections")
+            if resp.status_code == 200:
+                qdrant_reachable = True
+                data = resp.json()
+                raw = data.get("result", {}).get("collections", [])
+                qdrant_collections = [c.get("name", "") for c in raw]
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("Qdrant not reachable")
+
+    searxng_reachable = False
+    try:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=3) as client:
+            resp = await client.get(SEARXNG_BASE)
+            if resp.status_code == 200:
+                searxng_reachable = True
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("SearXNG not reachable")
+
+    state = {
+        "ram_total_gb": ram_total_gb,
+        "ram_available_gb": ram_available_gb,
+        "cpu_count": cpu_count,
+        "vram_total_mb": vram_total_mb,
+        "vram_free_mb": vram_free_mb,
+        "llama_reachable": llama_reachable,
+        "llama_models": llama_models,
+        "qdrant_reachable": qdrant_reachable,
+        "qdrant_collections": qdrant_collections,
+        "searxng_reachable": searxng_reachable,
+    }
+    HARDWARE_STATE_PATH.write_text(json.dumps(state, indent=2))
+    log.info(
+        f"HW: {ram_total_gb}GB RAM, {vram_total_mb}MB VRAM, "
+        f"llama={llama_reachable}, qdrant={qdrant_reachable}, searxng={searxng_reachable}"
+    )
+    return state
diff --git a/hardware_state.json b/hardware_state.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5551cf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hardware_state.json
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{
+  "ram_total_gb": 15.2,
+  "ram_available_gb": 13.4,
+  "cpu_count": 16,
+  "vram_total_mb": 0,
+  "vram_free_mb": 0,
+  "llama_reachable": true,
+  "llama_models": [
+    "/home/gramps/models/Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407-Q4_K_M.gguf"
+  ],
+  "qdrant_reachable": true,
+  "qdrant_collections": [
+    "jarvis_rag"
+  ],
+  "searxng_reachable": false
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/routers/hardware.py b/routers/hardware.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c483b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routers/hardware.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+"""JarvisChat routers — Hardware self-assessment endpoint."""
+import json
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+
+import hardware
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/hardware")
+async def get_hardware_state():
+    if hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH.exists():
+        return json.loads(hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH.read_text())
+    return {"status": "not_ready", "message": "Hardware assessment not yet complete"}
diff --git a/tests/test_hardware.py b/tests/test_hardware.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1a47ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_hardware.py
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+import asyncio
+import json
+import os
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import httpx
+import psutil
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+import app as app_module
+import config
+import db
+import hardware
+from security import SESSIONS, PIN_ATTEMPTS, RATE_EVENTS
+
+
+def make_client(tmp_path: Path) -> TestClient:
+    os.environ["JARVISCHAT_ADMIN_PIN"] = "1234"
+    db.DB_PATH = tmp_path / "jarvischat-hardware.db"
+    hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH = tmp_path / "hardware_state.json"
+    SESSIONS.clear()
+    PIN_ATTEMPTS.clear()
+    RATE_EVENTS.clear()
+    db.init_db()
+    return TestClient(app_module.app, raise_server_exceptions=False)
+
+
+def _guest_headers(client: TestClient) -> dict:
+    sid = client.post("/api/auth/guest", headers={"Origin": "http://testserver"}).json()["session_id"]
+    return {"X-Session-ID": sid, "Origin": "http://testserver"}
+
+
+class _MockGet:
+    def __init__(self, status_code: int = 200, json_data: dict | None = None):
+        self.status_code = status_code
+        self._json_data = json_data or {}
+
+    def json(self):
+        return self._json_data
+
+
+def _mock_subprocess(rocm_stdout: str = "") -> object:
+    class MockProc:
+        returncode = 0
+        stdout = rocm_stdout
+
+    class MockSP:
+        TimeoutExpired = subprocess.TimeoutExpired
+        run = staticmethod(lambda cmd, **kw: MockProc())
+
+    return MockSP()
+
+
+def _broken_subprocess(exception: Exception) -> object:
+    class MockSP:
+        TimeoutExpired = subprocess.TimeoutExpired
+        run = staticmethod(lambda cmd, **kw: (_ for _ in ()).throw(exception))
+
+    return MockSP()
+
+
+def test_assess_hardware_all_services_reachable(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch):
+    hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH = tmp_path / "hardware_state.json"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "virtual_memory", lambda: type("M", (), {"total": 16 * 1024 ** 3, "available": 8 * 1024 ** 3})())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "cpu_count", lambda: 8)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hardware, "subprocess", _mock_subprocess(
+        json.dumps({"card0": {"VRAM Total (MB)": 8192, "VRAM Free (MB)": 4096}})
+    ))
+
+    async def mock_get(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
+        if "v1/models" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"data": [{"id": "mistral-nemo:latest"}]})
+        if "6333" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"result": {"collections": [{"name": "jarvischat"}]}})
+        if "8888" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {})
+        return _MockGet(200, {})
+    monkeypatch.setattr(httpx.AsyncClient, "get", mock_get)
+
+    state = asyncio.run(hardware.assess_hardware())
+
+    assert state["ram_total_gb"] == 16.0
+    assert state["ram_available_gb"] == 8.0
+    assert state["cpu_count"] == 8
+    assert state["vram_total_mb"] == 8192
+    assert state["vram_free_mb"] == 4096
+    assert state["llama_reachable"] is True
+    assert state["llama_models"] == ["mistral-nemo:latest"]
+    assert state["qdrant_reachable"] is True
+    assert state["qdrant_collections"] == ["jarvischat"]
+    assert state["searxng_reachable"] is True
+    assert tmp_path.joinpath("hardware_state.json").exists()
+
+
+def test_assess_hardware_rocm_smi_absent(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch):
+    hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH = tmp_path / "hardware_state.json"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "virtual_memory", lambda: type("M", (), {"total": 16 * 1024 ** 3, "available": 8 * 1024 ** 3})())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "cpu_count", lambda: 8)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hardware, "subprocess", _broken_subprocess(FileNotFoundError("no rocm-smi")))
+
+    async def mock_get(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
+        if "v1/models" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"data": []})
+        if "6333" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"result": {"collections": []}})
+        if "8888" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {})
+        return _MockGet(200, {})
+    monkeypatch.setattr(httpx.AsyncClient, "get", mock_get)
+
+    state = asyncio.run(hardware.assess_hardware())
+
+    assert state["vram_total_mb"] == 0
+    assert state["vram_free_mb"] == 0
+    assert state["llama_reachable"] is True
+    assert state["qdrant_reachable"] is True
+    assert state["searxng_reachable"] is True
+
+
+def test_assess_hardware_llama_unreachable(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch):
+    hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH = tmp_path / "hardware_state.json"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "virtual_memory", lambda: type("M", (), {"total": 16 * 1024 ** 3, "available": 8 * 1024 ** 3})())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "cpu_count", lambda: 8)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hardware, "subprocess", _mock_subprocess(
+        json.dumps({"card0": {"VRAM Total (MB)": 8192, "VRAM Free (MB)": 4096}})
+    ))
+
+    async def mock_get(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
+        if "v1/models" in url:
+            raise httpx.ConnectError("refused")
+        if "6333" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"result": {"collections": [{"name": "jarvischat"}]}})
+        if "8888" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {})
+        return _MockGet(200, {})
+    monkeypatch.setattr(httpx.AsyncClient, "get", mock_get)
+
+    state = asyncio.run(hardware.assess_hardware())
+
+    assert state["llama_reachable"] is False
+    assert state["llama_models"] == []
+    assert state["qdrant_reachable"] is True
+    assert state["searxng_reachable"] is True
+
+
+def test_get_hardware_endpoint(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch):
+    hardware.HARDWARE_STATE_PATH = tmp_path / "hardware_state.json"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "virtual_memory", lambda: type("M", (), {"total": 16 * 1024 ** 3, "available": 8 * 1024 ** 3})())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(psutil, "cpu_count", lambda: 8)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hardware, "subprocess", _mock_subprocess(
+        json.dumps({"card0": {"VRAM Total (MB)": 8192, "VRAM Free (MB)": 4096}})
+    ))
+
+    async def mock_get(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
+        if "v1/models" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"data": [{"id": "mistral-nemo:latest"}]})
+        if "6333" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {"result": {"collections": [{"name": "jarvischat"}]}})
+        if "8888" in url:
+            return _MockGet(200, {})
+        return _MockGet(200, {})
+    monkeypatch.setattr(httpx.AsyncClient, "get", mock_get)
+
+    with make_client(tmp_path) as client:
+        resp = client.get("/api/hardware", headers=_guest_headers(client))
+        assert resp.status_code == 200
+        data = resp.json()
+        assert data["ram_total_gb"] == 16.0
+        assert data["cpu_count"] == 8
+        assert data["vram_total_mb"] == 8192
+        assert data["llama_reachable"] is True
+        assert data["qdrant_reachable"] is True
+        assert data["searxng_reachable"] is True
+        assert "llama_models" in data
+        assert "qdrant_collections" in data