diff --git a/src/lib/combos/testHealth.ts b/src/lib/combos/testHealth.ts
index 15959e6913..f7ac5f66cf 100644
--- a/src/lib/combos/testHealth.ts
+++ b/src/lib/combos/testHealth.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ function asRecord(value: unknown): JsonRecord {
   return value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value) ? (value as JsonRecord) : {};
 }
 
+function joinNonEmpty(parts: string[]) {
+  return parts.filter(Boolean).join("\n").trim();
+}
+
 function extractTextFromContent(content: unknown): string {
   if (typeof content === "string") return content.trim();
 
@@ -28,12 +32,85 @@ function extractTextFromContent(content: unknown): string {
     .trim();
 }
 
+function extractReasoningText(record: JsonRecord): string {
+  const reasoningDetails = Array.isArray(record.reasoning_details) ? record.reasoning_details : [];
+  const detailText = reasoningDetails
+    .map((detail) => {
+      const detailRecord = asRecord(detail);
+      const detailType = typeof detailRecord.type === "string" ? detailRecord.type : "";
+      const text =
+        typeof detailRecord.text === "string"
+          ? detailRecord.text.trim()
+          : typeof detailRecord.content === "string"
+            ? detailRecord.content.trim()
+            : "";
+
+      if (
+        text &&
+        (detailType === "" ||
+          detailType === "reasoning" ||
+          detailType === "reasoning.text" ||
+          detailType === "thinking")
+      ) {
+        return text;
+      }
+
+      return "";
+    })
+    .filter(Boolean);
+
+  return joinNonEmpty([
+    typeof record.reasoning_content === "string" ? record.reasoning_content.trim() : "",
+    typeof record.reasoning === "string" ? record.reasoning.trim() : "",
+    typeof record.reasoning_text === "string" ? record.reasoning_text.trim() : "",
+    joinNonEmpty(detailText),
+  ]);
+}
+
+function getUsageReasoningTokens(body: JsonRecord): number {
+  const usage = asRecord(body.usage);
+  if (!usage) return 0;
+
+  const completionDetails = asRecord(usage.completion_tokens_details);
+  const topLevelReasoning =
+    typeof usage.reasoning_tokens === "number" && Number.isFinite(usage.reasoning_tokens)
+      ? usage.reasoning_tokens
+      : 0;
+  const detailedReasoning =
+    typeof completionDetails.reasoning_tokens === "number" &&
+    Number.isFinite(completionDetails.reasoning_tokens)
+      ? completionDetails.reasoning_tokens
+      : 0;
+
+  return Math.max(topLevelReasoning, detailedReasoning);
+}
+
+function hasReasoningOnlyCompletion(body: JsonRecord): boolean {
+  if (!Array.isArray(body.choices) || body.choices.length === 0) return false;
+  if (getUsageReasoningTokens(body) <= 0) return false;
+
+  return body.choices.some((choice) => {
+    const choiceRecord = asRecord(choice);
+    const message = asRecord(choiceRecord.message);
+    const finishReason =
+      typeof choiceRecord.finish_reason === "string" ? choiceRecord.finish_reason : "";
+
+    if (!message || message.role !== "assistant") return false;
+    if (!finishReason) return false;
+    if (extractTextFromContent(message.content)) return false;
+    if (extractReasoningText(message)) return false;
+    return true;
+  });
+}
+
 export function buildComboTestRequestBody(modelStr: string) {
   return {
     model: modelStr,
     messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Reply with OK only." }],
-    // Keep this close to a real client request without inflating cost.
-    max_tokens: 16,
+    // Give reasoning-heavy models enough headroom to emit a tiny visible answer
+    // without turning the smoke test into a full-cost real request.
+    max_tokens: 64,
+    temperature: 0,
     stream: false,
   };
 }
@@ -52,6 +129,9 @@ export function extractComboTestResponseText(responseBody: unknown): string {
       const messageText = extractTextFromContent(message.content);
       if (messageText) return messageText;
 
+      const reasoningText = extractReasoningText(message);
+      if (reasoningText) return reasoningText;
+
       if (typeof choiceRecord.text === "string" && choiceRecord.text.trim()) {
         return choiceRecord.text.trim();
       }
@@ -63,8 +143,21 @@ export function extractComboTestResponseText(responseBody: unknown): string {
       const itemRecord = asRecord(item);
       const contentText = extractTextFromContent(itemRecord.content);
       if (contentText) return contentText;
+
+      const reasoningText = extractReasoningText(itemRecord);
+      if (reasoningText) return reasoningText;
     }
   }
 
-  return extractTextFromContent(body.content);
+  const topLevelText = extractTextFromContent(body.content);
+  if (topLevelText) return topLevelText;
+
+  const topLevelReasoning = extractReasoningText(body);
+  if (topLevelReasoning) return topLevelReasoning;
+
+  if (hasReasoningOnlyCompletion(body)) {
+    return "[reasoning-only completion]";
+  }
+
+  return "";
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/combo-test-health.test.mjs b/tests/unit/combo-test-health.test.mjs
index 2471656d46..19de579271 100644
--- a/tests/unit/combo-test-health.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/unit/combo-test-health.test.mjs
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ test("combo test helper builds a realistic smoke payload", () => {
 
   assert.equal(body.model, "openrouter/openai/gpt-5.4");
   assert.equal(body.messages[0].content, "Reply with OK only.");
-  assert.equal(body.max_tokens, 16);
+  assert.equal(body.max_tokens, 64);
+  assert.equal(body.temperature, 0);
   assert.equal(body.stream, false);
 });
 
@@ -46,6 +47,62 @@ test("combo test helper extracts text from block-based responses", () => {
   assert.equal(text, "OK\nConfirmed.");
 });
 
+test("combo test helper extracts reasoning content when visible text is absent", () => {
+  const text = extractComboTestResponseText({
+    choices: [
+      {
+        message: {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: null,
+          reasoning_content: "Working through the request.\nOK",
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(text, "Working through the request.\nOK");
+});
+
+test("combo test helper extracts reasoning_text aliases from GitHub-style responses", () => {
+  const text = extractComboTestResponseText({
+    choices: [
+      {
+        message: {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: "",
+          reasoning_text: "Reasoning trace",
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(text, "Reasoning trace");
+});
+
+test("combo test helper treats reasoning-only completions as a healthy signal", () => {
+  const text = extractComboTestResponseText({
+    choices: [
+      {
+        finish_reason: "length",
+        message: {
+          role: "assistant",
+          content: "",
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+    usage: {
+      prompt_tokens: 6,
+      completion_tokens: 12,
+      total_tokens: 18,
+      completion_tokens_details: {
+        reasoning_tokens: 12,
+      },
+    },
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(text, "[reasoning-only completion]");
+});
+
 test("combo test helper returns empty string when no text content exists", () => {
   const text = extractComboTestResponseText({
     choices: [
diff --git a/tests/unit/combo-test-route.test.mjs b/tests/unit/combo-test-route.test.mjs
index 2cadf2ec1c..3f09834152 100644
--- a/tests/unit/combo-test-route.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/unit/combo-test-route.test.mjs
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ test("combo test route marks a model healthy only when it returns assistant text
   assert.match(fetchCalls[0].init.headers["X-Request-Id"], /^combo-test-/);
   assert.equal(forwardedBody.model, "openrouter/openai/gpt-5.4");
   assert.equal(forwardedBody.messages[0].content, "Reply with OK only.");
+  assert.equal(forwardedBody.max_tokens, 64);
+  assert.equal(forwardedBody.temperature, 0);
   assert.equal(body.resolvedBy, "openrouter/openai/gpt-5.4");
   assert.equal(body.results[0].status, "ok");
   assert.equal(body.results[0].responseText, "OK");
@@ -122,6 +124,45 @@ test("combo test route treats empty successful responses as failures", async ()
   assert.match(body.results[0].error, /no text content/i);
 });
 
+test("combo test route accepts reasoning-only completions as healthy smoke-test responses", async () => {
+  await createTestCombo();
+
+  globalThis.fetch = async () =>
+    new Response(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        choices: [
+          {
+            finish_reason: "length",
+            message: {
+              role: "assistant",
+              content: "",
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+        usage: {
+          prompt_tokens: 6,
+          completion_tokens: 12,
+          total_tokens: 18,
+          completion_tokens_details: {
+            reasoning_tokens: 12,
+          },
+        },
+      }),
+      {
+        status: 200,
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+      }
+    );
+
+  const response = await route.POST(makeRequest());
+  const body = await response.json();
+
+  assert.equal(response.status, 200);
+  assert.equal(body.resolvedBy, "openrouter/openai/gpt-5.4");
+  assert.equal(body.results[0].status, "ok");
+  assert.equal(body.results[0].responseText, "[reasoning-only completion]");
+});
+
 test("combo test route surfaces provider errors instead of downgrading them to reachability", async () => {
   await createTestCombo();