diff --git a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/JsonApiStartUp.java b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/JsonApiStartUp.java
index ca44cd1622..6d26dacceb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/JsonApiStartUp.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/JsonApiStartUp.java
@@ -4,13 +4,23 @@
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.api.request.tenant.TenantFactory;
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.BillingConfig;
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.DebugModeConfig;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.DeploymentMarkerConfig;
 import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.OperationsConfig;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.feature.ApiFeature;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.feature.ApiFeatures;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.feature.FeaturesConfig;
 import jakarta.enterprise.event.Observes;
 import jakarta.inject.Inject;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 public class JsonApiStartUp {
 
+  private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(JsonApiStartUp.class);
+
   private final OperationsConfig operationsConfig;
+  private final DeploymentMarkerConfig deploymentMarkerConfig;
+  private final FeaturesConfig featuresConfig;
 
   /**
    * {@link DebugModeConfig} and {@link BillingConfig} are injected here purely to anchor them as
@@ -26,11 +36,30 @@ public class JsonApiStartUp {
    */
   @Inject
   public JsonApiStartUp(
-      DebugModeConfig config, OperationsConfig operationsConfig, BillingConfig billingConfig) {
+      DebugModeConfig config,
+      OperationsConfig operationsConfig,
+      BillingConfig billingConfig,
+      DeploymentMarkerConfig deploymentMarkerConfig,
+      FeaturesConfig featuresConfig) {
     this.operationsConfig = operationsConfig;
+    this.deploymentMarkerConfig = deploymentMarkerConfig;
+    this.featuresConfig = featuresConfig;
   }
 
   void onStart(@Observes StartupEvent ev) {
     TenantFactory.initialize(operationsConfig.databaseConfig().type());
+
+    // Observation point for deployment drills, see DeploymentMarkerConfig.
+    // Disabled by default, in which case nothing is logged here.
+    if (deploymentMarkerConfig.enabled()) {
+      LOGGER.info("Deployment config enabled - marker={}", deploymentMarkerConfig.value());
+    }
+
+    // Startup-resolved feature flag state (configuration only — request headers cannot apply
+    // here). Logged unconditionally so the effective state is observable from the pod log.
+    ApiFeatures apiFeatures = ApiFeatures.fromConfigAndRequest(featuresConfig, null);
+    LOGGER.info(
+        "ApiFeature DEPLOYMENT_MARKER enabled={}",
+        apiFeatures.isFeatureEnabled(ApiFeature.DEPLOYMENT_MARKER));
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/DeploymentMarkerConfig.java b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/DeploymentMarkerConfig.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5841d3b529
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/DeploymentMarkerConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config;
+
+import io.smallrye.config.ConfigMapping;
+import io.smallrye.config.WithDefault;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+@ConfigMapping(prefix = "stargate.jsonapi.deployment.env")
+public interface DeploymentMarkerConfig {
+
+  @WithDefault("false")
+  boolean enabled();
+
+  Optional<String> deployCloud();
+
+  Optional<String> deploy_region();
+
+  @WithDefault("0")
+  int value();
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/feature/ApiFeature.java b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/feature/ApiFeature.java
index f8cc2b57e0..c5ccc4c904 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/feature/ApiFeature.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/config/feature/ApiFeature.java
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ public enum ApiFeature {
    *
    * <p>Disabled by default.
    */
-  BILLING_EVENTS_LOGGING("billing-events-logging", false);
+  BILLING_EVENTS_LOGGING("billing-events-logging", false),
+
+  DEPLOYMENT_MARKER("deployment-marker", false);
 
   /**
    * Prefix for HTTP headers used to override feature flags for specific requests: prepended before