diff --git a/.github/observatory/litellm_config.yaml b/.github/observatory/litellm_config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fe95c023bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/observatory/litellm_config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# LiteLLM Observatory Test Configuration
+# This config is used by CI to spin up a temporary LiteLLM instance
+# for running observatory tests against RC/stable releases.
+#
+# Add model definitions for the providers you want to test.
+# Provider API keys are injected via environment variables in CI.
+
+model_list:
+  - model_name: gpt-4o
+    litellm_params:
+      model: azure/gpt-4o
+      api_key: os.environ/AZURE_API_KEY
+      api_base: os.environ/AZURE_API_BASE
+
+  - model_name: gpt-4o-mini
+    litellm_params:
+      model: azure/gpt-4o-mini
+      api_key: os.environ/AZURE_API_KEY
+      api_base: os.environ/AZURE_API_BASE
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ghcr_deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/ghcr_deploy.yml
index f67538a427..c317309d91 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ghcr_deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ghcr_deploy.yml
@@ -299,6 +299,15 @@ jobs:
             ${{ github.event.inputs.release_type == 'stable' && format('{0}/berriai/litellm-spend_logs:main-stable', env.REGISTRY) || '' }}
           platforms: local,linux/amd64,linux/arm64,linux/arm64/v8
 
+  run-observatory-tests:
+    if: github.event.inputs.release_type == 'rc' || github.event.inputs.release_type == 'stable'
+    needs: [docker-hub-deploy]
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/run_observatory_tests.yml
+    with:
+      tag: ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
+      commit_hash: ${{ github.event.inputs.commit_hash }}
+    secrets: inherit
+
   build-and-push-helm-chart:
     if: github.event.inputs.release_type  != 'dev'
     needs: [docker-hub-deploy, build-and-push-image, build-and-push-image-database]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_observatory_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_observatory_tests.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f526567bdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_observatory_tests.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+name: Run Observatory Tests
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tag:
+        description: "Docker image tag to test (e.g. v1.61.0.rc1)"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      commit_hash:
+        description: "Commit hash (defaults to HEAD of current branch)"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      tag:
+        description: "Docker image tag to test"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      commit_hash:
+        description: "Commit hash of the release"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+
+env:
+  LITELLM_MASTER_KEY: ${{ secrets.LITELLM_MASTER_KEY_STAGING }}
+
+jobs:
+  observatory-tests:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.commit_hash || github.sha }}
+
+      - name: Start LiteLLM container
+        run: |
+          docker run -d \
+            --name litellm-rc \
+            -p 4000:4000 \
+            -v ${{ github.workspace }}/.github/observatory/litellm_config.yaml:/app/config.yaml \
+            -e LITELLM_MASTER_KEY="${{ env.LITELLM_MASTER_KEY }}" \
+            -e AZURE_API_KEY="${{ secrets.AZURE_API_KEY }}" \
+            -e AZURE_API_BASE="${{ secrets.AZURE_API_BASE }}" \
+            litellm/litellm:${{ inputs.tag }} \
+            --config /app/config.yaml --port 4000
+
+      - name: Wait for LiteLLM health check
+        run: |
+          echo "Waiting for LiteLLM to be ready..."
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            if curl -s -f http://localhost:4000/health/liveliness > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "LiteLLM is healthy"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "Attempt $i/30 - not ready yet, waiting 10s..."
+            sleep 10
+          done
+          echo "LiteLLM failed to start within 5 minutes"
+          docker logs litellm-rc
+          exit 1
+
+      - name: Start cloudflared tunnel
+        run: |
+          # Install cloudflared
+          curl -sL https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/cloudflared
+          chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cloudflared
+
+          # Start a quick tunnel (no account needed) and capture the URL
+          cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:4000 --no-autoupdate > /tmp/cloudflared.log 2>&1 &
+          CLOUDFLARED_PID=$!
+          echo "CLOUDFLARED_PID=$CLOUDFLARED_PID" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+          # Wait for tunnel URL to appear in logs
+          echo "Waiting for tunnel URL..."
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            TUNNEL_URL=$(grep -oP 'https://[a-z0-9-]+\.trycloudflare\.com' /tmp/cloudflared.log | head -1 || true)
+            if [ -n "$TUNNEL_URL" ]; then
+              echo "Tunnel URL: $TUNNEL_URL"
+              echo "TUNNEL_URL=$TUNNEL_URL" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          echo "Failed to get tunnel URL"
+          cat /tmp/cloudflared.log
+          exit 1
+
+      - name: Verify tunnel connectivity
+        run: |
+          echo "Testing tunnel at ${{ env.TUNNEL_URL }}..."
+          curl -sf "${{ env.TUNNEL_URL }}/health/liveliness"
+          echo "Tunnel is working"
+
+      - name: Trigger observatory test run
+        run: |
+          OBSERVATORY_URL="${{ secrets.OBSERVATORY_URL }}"
+          RESPONSE=$(curl -s -w "\n%{http_code}" -X POST "${OBSERVATORY_URL}/run-test" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.OBSERVATORY_API_KEY }}" \
+            -d '{
+              "deployment_url": "${{ env.TUNNEL_URL }}",
+              "api_key": "${{ env.LITELLM_MASTER_KEY }}",
+              "test_suite": "TestOAIAzureRelease",
+              "models": ["gpt-4o-mini", "gpt-4o"]
+            }')
+          HTTP_CODE=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | tail -1)
+          BODY=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | head -n -1)
+          echo "Response ($HTTP_CODE): $BODY"
+          if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 400 ]; then
+            echo "Failed to trigger test run"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Poll for test completion
+        run: |
+          OBSERVATORY_URL="${{ secrets.OBSERVATORY_URL }}"
+          TIMEOUT=900  # 15 minutes
+          INTERVAL=30
+          ELAPSED=0
+          while [ $ELAPSED -lt $TIMEOUT ]; do
+            STATUS=$(curl -s "${OBSERVATORY_URL}/queue-status" \
+              -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.OBSERVATORY_API_KEY }}")
+            echo "Queue status (${ELAPSED}s elapsed): $STATUS"
+
+            PENDING=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.pending // 0')
+            ACTIVE=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.active // 0')
+
+            if [ "$PENDING" = "0" ] && [ "$ACTIVE" = "0" ]; then
+              echo "All tests completed"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+
+            sleep $INTERVAL
+            ELAPSED=$((ELAPSED + INTERVAL))
+          done
+          echo "Timed out waiting for tests to complete after ${TIMEOUT}s"
+          exit 1
+
+      - name: Print LiteLLM logs on failure
+        if: failure()
+        run: |
+          docker logs litellm-rc
+          cat /tmp/cloudflared.log 2>/dev/null || true
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c43df98a9e..76cf6fdba2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ tests/test_custom_dir/*
 test.py
 
 litellm_config.yaml
+!.github/observatory/litellm_config.yaml
 .cursor
 .vscode/launch.json
 litellm/proxy/to_delete_loadtest_work/*