diff --git a/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/config.rs b/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/config.rs
index 79a463b23..970c71a18 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/config.rs
+++ b/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/config.rs
@@ -122,8 +122,17 @@ pub struct PodmanComputeConfig {
     ///
     /// Set to `0` to leave Podman's runtime/default PID limit unchanged.
     pub sandbox_pids_limit: i64,
+    /// Health check interval in seconds for sandbox containers.
+    ///
+    /// Podman runs the health check command at this interval to determine
+    /// container readiness. Lower values detect readiness faster but
+    /// increase process churn (each check spawns a conmon subprocess).
+    /// Defaults to [`DEFAULT_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL_SECS`].
+    pub health_check_interval_secs: u64,
 }
 
+pub const DEFAULT_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL_SECS: u64 = 10;
+
 impl PodmanComputeConfig {
     /// Returns `true` when all three TLS paths are configured.
     #[must_use]
@@ -246,6 +255,7 @@ impl Default for PodmanComputeConfig {
             guest_tls_cert: None,
             guest_tls_key: None,
             sandbox_pids_limit: DEFAULT_SANDBOX_PIDS_LIMIT,
+            health_check_interval_secs: DEFAULT_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL_SECS,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -267,6 +277,10 @@ impl std::fmt::Debug for PodmanComputeConfig {
             .field("guest_tls_cert", &self.guest_tls_cert)
             .field("guest_tls_key", &self.guest_tls_key)
             .field("sandbox_pids_limit", &self.sandbox_pids_limit)
+            .field(
+                "health_check_interval_secs",
+                &self.health_check_interval_secs,
+            )
             .finish()
     }
 }
@@ -308,6 +322,15 @@ mod tests {
         });
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn default_config_sets_health_check_interval() {
+        let cfg = PodmanComputeConfig::default();
+        assert_eq!(
+            cfg.health_check_interval_secs,
+            DEFAULT_HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL_SECS
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn default_config_sets_driver_owned_pids_limit() {
         let cfg = PodmanComputeConfig::default();
diff --git a/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/container.rs b/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/container.rs
index 13f053e93..e37d5f214 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/container.rs
+++ b/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/container.rs
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ pub fn build_container_spec_with_token(
                     openshell_core::config::DEFAULT_SSH_PORT
                 ),
             ],
-            interval: 3_000_000_000,
+            interval: config.health_check_interval_secs * 1_000_000_000,
             timeout: 2_000_000_000,
             retries: 10,
             start_period: 5_000_000_000,
@@ -940,6 +940,19 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn container_spec_healthcheck_interval_from_config() {
+        let sandbox = test_sandbox("test-id", "test-name");
+        let mut config = test_config();
+        config.health_check_interval_secs = 30;
+        let spec = build_container_spec(&sandbox, &config);
+
+        let interval = spec["healthconfig"]["Interval"]
+            .as_u64()
+            .expect("healthcheck interval should be a u64");
+        assert_eq!(interval, 30_000_000_000);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn container_spec_required_vars_cannot_be_overridden() {
         use openshell_core::proto::compute::v1::{DriverSandboxSpec, DriverSandboxTemplate};
diff --git a/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/main.rs b/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/main.rs
index 53af4e190..e6ba7b9ff 100644
--- a/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/openshell-driver-podman/src/main.rs
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         guest_tls_cert: args.podman_tls_cert,
         guest_tls_key: args.podman_tls_key,
         sandbox_pids_limit: args.sandbox_pids_limit,
+        ..PodmanComputeConfig::default()
     })
     .await
     .into_diagnostic()?;
diff --git a/docs/reference/gateway-config.mdx b/docs/reference/gateway-config.mdx
index c70d8acbd..75d0c05f0 100644
--- a/docs/reference/gateway-config.mdx
+++ b/docs/reference/gateway-config.mdx
@@ -252,6 +252,10 @@ guest_tls_cert          = "/etc/openshell/certs/client.pem"
 guest_tls_key           = "/etc/openshell/certs/client-key.pem"
 # Set to 0 to leave Podman's runtime default unchanged.
 sandbox_pids_limit      = 2048
+# Health check interval in seconds. Lower values detect readiness faster
+# but increase process churn (each check spawns a conmon subprocess).
+# Default: 10.
+health_check_interval_secs = 10
 ```
 
 ### MicroVM