diff --git a/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Api/Program.cs b/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Api/Program.cs
index 5182d8778..2618a16da 100644
--- a/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Api/Program.cs
+++ b/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Api/Program.cs
@@ -5,11 +5,17 @@
 var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
 
 builder.WebHost.ConfigureKestrel(serverOptions => serverOptions.AddServerHeader = false);
+
+// for health checks: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/aspire/fundamentals/health-checks#non-development-environments
+builder.Services.AddRequestTimeouts();
+builder.Services.AddOutputCache();
+
 builder.AddServiceDefaults();
 builder.Services.AddCors(CorsConfiguration.SetupAction);
 builder.Services.AddProblemDetails();
 builder.Services.AddEndpointsApiExplorer();
 builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen(OpenApiGenConfiguration.SetupAction);
+
 builder.AddApplication();
 
 var app = builder.Build();
@@ -17,6 +23,11 @@
 app.UseExceptionHandler();
 app.UseCors();
 app.MapEndpoints();
+
+// for health checks: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/aspire/fundamentals/health-checks#non-development-environments
+app.UseRequestTimeouts();
+app.UseOutputCache();
+
 app.MapDefaultEndpoints();
 app.UseSwagger(o => o.RouteTemplate = "{documentName}/openapi.json");
 app.UseSwaggerUI(SwaggerUiConfiguration.SetupAction);
diff --git a/services/FilterLists.ServiceDefaults/Extensions.cs b/services/FilterLists.ServiceDefaults/Extensions.cs
index 7c8919c33..0f1b3d23f 100644
--- a/services/FilterLists.ServiceDefaults/Extensions.cs
+++ b/services/FilterLists.ServiceDefaults/Extensions.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Diagnostics.HealthChecks;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.ServiceDiscovery;
 using OpenTelemetry;
 using OpenTelemetry.Metrics;
 using OpenTelemetry.Trace;
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ public static class Extensions
     private const string HealthEndpointPath = "/health";
     private const string AlivenessEndpointPath = "/alive";
 
-    public static TBuilder AddServiceDefaults<TBuilder>(this TBuilder builder) where TBuilder : IHostApplicationBuilder
+    public static void AddServiceDefaults<TBuilder>(this TBuilder builder) where TBuilder : IHostApplicationBuilder
     {
         builder.ConfigureOpenTelemetry();
 
@@ -36,13 +37,8 @@ public static TBuilder AddServiceDefaults<TBuilder>(this TBuilder builder) where
             http.AddServiceDiscovery();
         });
 
-        // Uncomment the following to restrict the allowed schemes for service discovery.
-        // builder.Services.Configure<ServiceDiscoveryOptions>(options =>
-        // {
-        //     options.AllowedSchemes = ["https"];
-        // });
-
-        return builder;
+        // restrict the allowed schemes for service discovery
+        builder.Services.Configure<ServiceDiscoveryOptions>(options => options.AllowedSchemes = ["https"]);
     }
 
     private static void ConfigureOpenTelemetry<TBuilder>(this TBuilder builder) where TBuilder : IHostApplicationBuilder
@@ -86,37 +82,49 @@ private static void AddOpenTelemetryExporters<TBuilder>(this TBuilder builder)
 
         if (useOtlpExporter) builder.Services.AddOpenTelemetry().UseOtlpExporter();
 
-        // Uncomment the following lines to enable the Azure Monitor exporter (requires the Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.AspNetCore package)
-        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(builder.Configuration["APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING"]))
+        // enable the Azure Monitor exporter
+        if (!builder.Environment.IsDevelopment())
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(builder.Configuration["APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING"]))
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING is not set.");
+
             builder.Services.AddOpenTelemetry()
                 .UseAzureMonitor();
+        }
     }
 
-    private static void AddDefaultHealthChecks<TBuilder>(this TBuilder builder) where TBuilder : IHostApplicationBuilder
+    // https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/aspire/fundamentals/health-checks#non-development-environments
+    private static void AddDefaultHealthChecks(this IHostApplicationBuilder builder)
     {
+        builder.Services.AddRequestTimeouts(static timeouts =>
+            timeouts.AddPolicy("HealthChecks", TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)));
+
+        builder.Services.AddOutputCache(static caching =>
+            caching.AddPolicy("HealthChecks",
+                static policy => policy.Expire(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10))));
+
         builder.Services.AddHealthChecks()
             // Add a default liveness check to ensure the app is responsive
             .AddCheck("self", () => HealthCheckResult.Healthy(), ["live"]);
     }
 
-    public static WebApplication MapDefaultEndpoints(this WebApplication app)
+    public static void MapDefaultEndpoints(this WebApplication app)
     {
-        // Adding health checks endpoints to applications in non-development environments has security implications.
-        // See https://aka.ms/dotnet/aspire/healthchecks for details before enabling these endpoints in non-development environments.
-#pragma warning disable CA1062
-        if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
-#pragma warning restore CA1062
+        var healthChecks = app.MapGroup("");
+
+        healthChecks
+            .CacheOutput("HealthChecks")
+            .WithRequestTimeout("HealthChecks");
+
+        // All health checks must pass for the app to be
+        // considered ready to accept traffic after starting
+        healthChecks.MapHealthChecks(HealthEndpointPath);
+
+        // Only health checks tagged with the "live" tag
+        // must pass for the app to be considered alive
+        healthChecks.MapHealthChecks(AlivenessEndpointPath, new HealthCheckOptions
         {
-            // All health checks must pass for the app to be considered ready to accept traffic after starting
-            app.MapHealthChecks(HealthEndpointPath);
-
-            // Only health checks tagged with the "live" tag must pass for the app to be considered alive
-            app.MapHealthChecks(AlivenessEndpointPath, new HealthCheckOptions
-            {
-                Predicate = r => r.Tags.Contains("live")
-            });
-        }
-
-        return app;
+            Predicate = static r => r.Tags.Contains("live")
+        });
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file