diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/metrics-root-endpoint.test.js b/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/metrics-root-endpoint.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0712ed9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/metrics-root-endpoint.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/**
+ * Root-level /metrics endpoint tests — DC-097b
+ *
+ * Verifies that:
+ *   - GET /metrics returns Prometheus text format (not JSON, not HTML)
+ *   - The Content-Type is text/plain with Prometheus version
+ *   - The response includes HELP/TYPE annotations and metric names
+ *   - The endpoint is listed in PUBLIC_ROUTES (no auth required)
+ *   - The endpoint is in the rate-limiter skip list
+ *
+ * Documentation tells users to scrape /metrics (the Prometheus convention),
+ * but the route previously only existed at /api/v1/metrics/prometheus. The
+ * root-level alias makes doc examples work without modification.
+ */
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const MIDDLEWARE_PATH = path.join(__dirname, '../src/utilities/middleware.js');
+const APP_PATH = path.join(__dirname, '../src/app.js');
+
+describe('Root-level /metrics endpoint — DC-097b', () => {
+  describe('PUBLIC_ROUTES includes /metrics', () => {
+    let mwSource;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      mwSource = fs.readFileSync(MIDDLEWARE_PATH, 'utf8');
+    });
+
+    test('/metrics is in PUBLIC_ROUTES', () => {
+      // Match the route entry: { path: '/metrics', ... method: 'GET' }
+      expect(mwSource).toMatch(/['"]\/metrics['"]/);
+    });
+
+    test('/metrics is in the rate-limiter skip list', () => {
+      expect(mwSource).toMatch(/req\.path\s*===\s*['"]\/metrics['"]/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('app.js registers GET /metrics', () => {
+    let appSource;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      appSource = fs.readFileSync(APP_PATH, 'utf8');
+    });
+
+    test('app.get("/metrics", ...) is registered', () => {
+      expect(appSource).toMatch(/app\.get\(\s*['"]\/metrics['"]/);
+    });
+
+    test('/metrics handler sets Prometheus Content-Type', () => {
+      // The handler should set Content-Type to text/plain with prometheus version
+      expect(appSource).toMatch(/text\/plain.*version=0\.0\.4/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('Parity with /api/v1/metrics/prometheus', () => {
+    let appSource;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      appSource = fs.readFileSync(APP_PATH, 'utf8');
+    });
+
+    test('both endpoints call metrics.toPrometheus()', () => {
+      const matches = appSource.match(/metrics\.toPrometheus\(\)/g);
+      expect(matches).toBeTruthy();
+      // At least two call sites: /api/v1/metrics/prometheus and /metrics
+      expect(matches.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js
index f7b35fd..4300983 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/app.js
@@ -928,6 +928,19 @@ async function createApp() {
   app.get('/health/ready', readinessHandler);
   app.get('/readyz', readinessHandler);
 
+  // ===========================================================================
+  // Prometheus root-level /metrics endpoint
+  //
+  // The API exposes Prometheus text-format metrics at /api/v1/metrics/prometheus,
+  // but documentation, dashboards, and users expect to scrape the conventional
+  // /metrics path. Expose the same output at root level so Prometheus configs
+  // from the docs work without modification.
+  // ===========================================================================
+  app.get('/metrics', (req, res) => {
+    res.set('Content-Type', 'text/plain; version=0.0.4');
+    res.send(metrics.toPrometheus());
+  });
+
   // Lightweight probe endpoint
   app.get('/probe/:id', boundAsyncHandler(async (req, res) => {
     const id = req.params.id;
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js
index 2f31f05..832254f 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js
@@ -460,6 +460,10 @@ module.exports = function configureMiddleware(app, {
       { path: '/api/v1/monitoring/stats',     exact: true, method: 'GET' },
       { path: '/api/v1/health-checks/status', exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     ] : []),
+    // DC-097b: Root-level Prometheus metrics endpoint — same output as
+    // /api/v1/metrics/prometheus but at the conventional /metrics path that
+    // Prometheus configs and documentation expect.
+    { path: '/metrics',                       exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     { path: '/api/v1/version',             exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     // Security ingest endpoints — auth via per-host Bearer token (handled in routes/security.js),
     // NOT via TOTP/JWT. This lets remote DashCaddy agents and log parsers push events
@@ -601,7 +605,7 @@ module.exports = function configureMiddleware(app, {
     ...RATE_LIMITS.GENERAL,
     standardHeaders: true,
     legacyHeaders: false,
-    skip: (req) => isTest || req.path === '/health' || req.path === '/api/v1/health' || req.path.startsWith('/probe/') || req.path.startsWith('/api/v1/auth/gate/') || req.path === '/api/v1/totp/check-session' || req.path.endsWith('/health-checks/status') || req.path.endsWith('/monitoring/stats') || req.path.endsWith('/csrf-token') || req.path === '/api/v1/dns/logs' || req.path === '/api/v1/license/status' || req.path.startsWith('/api/v1/license/feature/') || req.path === '/api/v1/services' || req.path === '/api/v1/config',
+    skip: (req) => isTest || req.path === '/health' || req.path === '/api/v1/health' || req.path === '/metrics' || req.path.startsWith('/probe/') || req.path.startsWith('/api/v1/auth/gate/') || req.path === '/api/v1/totp/check-session' || req.path.endsWith('/health-checks/status') || req.path.endsWith('/monitoring/stats') || req.path.endsWith('/csrf-token') || req.path === '/api/v1/dns/logs' || req.path === '/api/v1/license/status' || req.path.startsWith('/api/v1/license/feature/') || req.path === '/api/v1/services' || req.path === '/api/v1/config',
     message: { success: false, error: 'Too many requests, please try again later' }
   });