diff --git a/docs/operations/P7_2_P7_3_RUNBOOK.md b/docs/operations/P7_2_P7_3_RUNBOOK.md
index b444b21..0beb7e3 100644
--- a/docs/operations/P7_2_P7_3_RUNBOOK.md
+++ b/docs/operations/P7_2_P7_3_RUNBOOK.md
@@ -106,10 +106,20 @@ in synchronized `origin/main`, valid Compose configuration, running services,
 an all-PASS production configuration audit, and a fresh verified backup. It
 builds the migration/backend/bot images, runs migration before cutover, stops
 immediately on migration failure, recreates backend then bot, checks local
-health/readiness, and verifies the actual backend identity and restrictions.
+health/readiness with bounded startup retries, and verifies the actual backend
+identity and restrictions. The two local probes must both pass in the same
+attempt; after at most 12 attempts, with 1, 2, 4, then 5-second capped delays,
+the script fails and names the last failing probe.
 It does not reconcile PostgreSQL/Redis images or run product smoke by itself;
 those controlled gates below surround the application deployment.
 
+Run every production backend configuration audit directly through the compiled
+CLI in the minimized image:
+
+```bash
+docker compose exec -T backend node dist/security/security-config-audit.cli.js
+```
+
 ## Controlled PostgreSQL/Redis image reconciliation
 
 The repository requires these exact references:
diff --git a/scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh b/scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh
index 509d264..ecbfb0b 100755
--- a/scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh
+++ b/scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ docker compose config --quiet
   exit 1
 }
 if [ -n "$(docker compose ps -q backend)" ]; then
-  docker compose exec -T backend npm run security:config-audit
+  docker compose exec -T backend node dist/security/security-config-audit.cli.js
 else
   echo 'pre-cutover config audit: previously required by Gate 1 (backend currently stopped)'
 fi
@@ -59,8 +59,30 @@ docker compose up -d --no-deps --force-recreate backend
 docker compose up -d --no-deps --force-recreate telegram-bot
 
 runtime_port=${PORT:-3000}
-curl --fail --silent --show-error "http://127.0.0.1:$runtime_port/api/health" >/dev/null
-curl --fail --silent --show-error "http://127.0.0.1:$runtime_port/api/health/readiness" >/dev/null
+attempt=1
+max_attempts=12
+retry_delay=1
+while :; do
+  if curl --fail --silent --connect-timeout 1 --max-time 2 "http://127.0.0.1:$runtime_port/api/health" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    if curl --fail --silent --connect-timeout 1 --max-time 2 "http://127.0.0.1:$runtime_port/api/health/readiness" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      break
+    fi
+    failed_check=readiness
+  else
+    failed_check=health
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$attempt" -ge "$max_attempts" ]; then
+    echo >&2 "deployment failed: backend $failed_check did not pass after $max_attempts attempts"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  sleep "$retry_delay"
+  attempt=$((attempt + 1))
+  if [ "$retry_delay" -lt 5 ]; then
+    retry_delay=$((retry_delay * 2))
+    [ "$retry_delay" -le 5 ] || retry_delay=5
+  fi
+done
 scripts/ops/verify-runtime-role.sh
 
 echo "deployment path: PASS revision=$actual_revision"
diff --git a/scripts/ops/test-deploy-production.sh b/scripts/ops/test-deploy-production.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..fac22e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ops/test-deploy-production.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+workspace=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf -- "$workspace"' EXIT
+mkdir -p "$workspace/scripts/ops" "$workspace/bin" "$workspace/state"
+cp scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh "$workspace/scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh"
+
+cat >"$workspace/bin/git" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/sh
+case "$*" in
+  'rev-parse HEAD') printf '%s\n' "$TEST_REVISION" ;;
+  'status --porcelain'|"merge-base --is-ancestor $TEST_REVISION origin/main") ;;
+  *) exit 99 ;;
+esac
+SH
+
+cat >"$workspace/bin/docker" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/sh
+printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$TEST_STATE/docker.log"
+case "$*" in
+  'compose config --quiet'|'compose build migrate backend telegram-bot'|\
+    'compose up -d --no-deps --force-recreate backend'|\
+    'compose up -d --no-deps --force-recreate telegram-bot'|\
+    'compose exec -T backend node dist/security/security-config-audit.cli.js') ;;
+  'compose ps --status running -q postgres'|'compose ps --status running -q redis'|\
+    'compose ps -q backend') printf 'test-container-id\n' ;;
+  *) exit 99 ;;
+esac
+SH
+
+cat >"$workspace/bin/curl" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/sh
+count=$(cat "$TEST_STATE/curl-count")
+count=$((count + 1))
+printf '%s\n' "$count" >"$TEST_STATE/curl-count"
+printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$TEST_STATE/curl.log"
+for arg do url=$arg; done
+if [ "$TEST_CURL_MODE" = delayed ] && [ "$count" -eq 1 ]; then
+  exit 56
+fi
+if [ "$TEST_CURL_MODE" = persistent ] && [ "${url##*/}" = readiness ]; then
+  exit 22
+fi
+exit 0
+SH
+
+cat >"$workspace/bin/sleep" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/sh
+printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$TEST_STATE/sleep.log"
+SH
+
+for helper in backup-postgres migrate-production verify-runtime-role; do
+  cat >"$workspace/scripts/ops/$helper.sh" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/sh
+printf '%s\n' "${0##*/}" >>"$TEST_STATE/operations.log"
+SH
+done
+chmod +x "$workspace"/bin/* "$workspace"/scripts/ops/*.sh
+
+revision=1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678
+export TEST_REVISION=$revision TEST_STATE="$workspace/state"
+export PATH="$workspace/bin:$PATH"
+
+run_deploy() {
+  (cd "$workspace" && sh scripts/ops/deploy-production.sh \
+    --revision "$revision" \
+    --migration-credential-file /unused/test-migration-file \
+    --backup-directory /unused/test-backups)
+}
+
+printf '0\n' >"$TEST_STATE/curl-count"
+export TEST_CURL_MODE=delayed
+run_deploy >"$workspace/delayed.log" 2>&1
+grep -q 'deployment path: PASS' "$workspace/delayed.log"
+[[ $(cat "$TEST_STATE/curl-count") = 3 ]]
+[[ $(cat "$TEST_STATE/sleep.log") = 1 ]]
+grep -qx 'compose exec -T backend node dist/security/security-config-audit.cli.js' "$TEST_STATE/docker.log"
+! grep -q 'compose exec -T backend npm ' "$TEST_STATE/docker.log"
+grep -qx 'verify-runtime-role.sh' "$TEST_STATE/operations.log"
+
+rm -f "$TEST_STATE"/*.log
+printf '0\n' >"$TEST_STATE/curl-count"
+export TEST_CURL_MODE=persistent
+if run_deploy >"$workspace/persistent.log" 2>&1; then
+  echo >&2 'test failed: persistent readiness failure was accepted'
+  exit 1
+fi
+grep -q 'deployment failed: backend readiness did not pass after 12 attempts' "$workspace/persistent.log"
+[[ $(cat "$TEST_STATE/curl-count") = 24 ]]
+[[ $(wc -l <"$TEST_STATE/sleep.log" | tr -d ' ') = 11 ]]
+[[ $(sed -n '1,4p' "$TEST_STATE/sleep.log" | tr '\n' ',') = '1,2,4,5,' ]]
+! grep -q 'verify-runtime-role.sh' "$TEST_STATE/operations.log"
+
+echo 'deployment script: PASS startup-reset-retry persistent-readiness-failure compiled-config-audit'