diff --git a/src/transcription/__main__.py b/src/transcription/__main__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8fe112
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/transcription/__main__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import uvicorn
+
+from .config import LOGGING_CONFIG
+from .config import get_settings
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    settings = get_settings()
+    uvicorn.run(
+        "transcription.app:create_app",
+        factory=True,
+        host=settings.server.host,
+        port=settings.server.port,
+        log_level=LOGGING_CONFIG.get("root", {}).get("level", "info").lower(),
+        reload=settings.server.reload,
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/src/transcription/app.py b/src/transcription/app.py
index 7f59d1f..9aeafe2 100644
--- a/src/transcription/app.py
+++ b/src/transcription/app.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 
 from .api.errors import register_error_handlers
 from .api.health import router as health_router
+from .config import Settings
 from .config import configure_logging
 from .config import get_settings
 from .db import create_all
@@ -73,14 +74,14 @@ async def _recover_stale_processing_jobs(app: FastAPI) -> None:
         logger.warning("Recovered %s stale processing job(s) at startup", recovered)
 
 
-def create_app() -> FastAPI:
+def create_app(settings: Settings | None = None) -> FastAPI:
     """Create and configure the FastAPI application."""
     app = FastAPI(title="Transcription", lifespan=_lifespan)
-    settings = get_settings()
-    app.state.settings = settings
+    active_settings = settings or get_settings()
+    app.state.settings = active_settings
     app.mount(
         "/uploads",
-        StaticFiles(directory=settings.upload_dir, check_dir=False),
+        StaticFiles(directory=active_settings.upload_dir, check_dir=False),
         name="uploads",
     )
 
@@ -92,6 +93,10 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
     async def ui_redirect() -> RedirectResponse:
         return RedirectResponse(url="/ui/upload", status_code=status.HTTP_307_TEMPORARY_REDIRECT)
 
+    @app.get("/healthz")
+    def health() -> dict[str, str]:
+        return {"status": "ok"}
+
     register_error_handlers(app)
     register_pages(app)
     app.include_router(health_router)
diff --git a/src/transcription/config.py b/src/transcription/config.py
index 5657ed4..b6706be 100644
--- a/src/transcription/config.py
+++ b/src/transcription/config.py
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@ are resolved by the provider adapters, not here.
 """
 
 import logging.config
-from contextvars import ContextVar
 from enum import StrEnum
+from functools import cache
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Literal
 
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from pydantic import ConfigDict
 from pydantic import Field
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
 from pydantic_settings import SettingsConfigDict
@@ -22,13 +24,26 @@ class Provider(StrEnum):
     OPENROUTER = "openrouter"
 
 
+class ServerSettings(BaseModel):
+    model_config = ConfigDict(frozen=True)
+
+    host: str = "0.0.0.0"
+    port: int = 8000
+    log_level: Literal["critical", "error", "warning", "info", "debug", "trace"] = "info"
+    reload: bool = False
+
+
 class Settings(BaseSettings):
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
         env_file=".env",
         env_file_encoding="utf-8",
         extra="ignore",
+        cli_parse_args=True,
     )
 
+    # --- NiceGUI Server ---
+    server: ServerSettings = Field(default_factory=ServerSettings)
+
     # --- AI provider ---
     provider: Provider = Provider.OPENROUTER
     openrouter_api_key: str
@@ -64,15 +79,9 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
         return self.environment in {"development", "test"}
 
 
-_settings: ContextVar[Settings | None] = ContextVar("settings", default=None)
-
-
+@cache
 def get_settings(**kwargs) -> Settings:
-    settings = _settings.get()
-    if settings is None:
-        settings = Settings(**kwargs)  # pyright: ignore[reportCallIssue]
-        _settings.set(settings)
-    return settings
+    return Settings(**kwargs)
 
 
 LOGGING_CONFIG: dict[str, object] = {