diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index a7c07e0e..ed0d2c13 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -8,5 +8,7 @@ AllCops:
   NewCops: enable
 
 Metrics/BlockLength:
+  Exclude:
+    - Rakefile
   ExcludedMethods:
     - route
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 29258623..30f8f945 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ENV RACK_ENV=production
 ENV PATH="/app/bin:${PATH}"
 
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30m --timeout=60s --start-period=5s \
-  CMD curl -f http://localhost:3000/health_check.txt || exit 1
+  CMD curl -f http://${HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME}:${HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD}@localhost:3000/health_check.txt || exit 1
 
 RUN apk add --no-cache \
   'git=~2' \
@@ -23,16 +23,16 @@ ARG UID=991
 ARG GID=991
 
 RUN mkdir /app \
-    && addgroup --gid "$GID" "$USER" \
-    && adduser \
-    --disabled-password \
-    --gecos "" \
-    --home "/app" \
-    --ingroup "$USER" \
-    --no-create-home \
-    --uid "$UID" \
-    "$USER" \
-    && chown "$USER":"$USER" -R /app
+  && addgroup --gid "$GID" "$USER" \
+  && adduser \
+  --disabled-password \
+  --gecos "" \
+  --home "/app" \
+  --ingroup "$USER" \
+  --no-create-home \
+  --uid "$UID" \
+  "$USER" \
+  && chown "$USER":"$USER" -R /app
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ USER html2rss
 
 COPY --chown=html2rss:html2rss Gemfile Gemfile.lock ./
 RUN gem install bundler:'<3' \
-    && bundle config set --local without 'development test' \
-    && bundle install --retry=5 --jobs=7 \
-    && bundle binstubs bundler html2rss
+  && bundle config set --local without 'development test' \
+  && bundle install --retry=5 --jobs=7 \
+  && bundle binstubs bundler html2rss
 
 COPY --chown=html2rss:html2rss . .
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 332b681a..bcd3e9b4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ services:
         read_only: true
     environment:
       - RACK_ENV=production
+      - HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME=health
+      - HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD=please-set-YOUR-OWN-veeeeeery-l0ng-aNd-h4rd-to-gue55-Passw0rd!
   watchtower:
     image: containrrr/watchtower
     volumes:
@@ -71,13 +73,14 @@ html2rss-web comes with many feed configs out of the box. [See file list of all
 
 To use a config from there, build the URL like this:
 
-The _feed config_ you'd like to use:  
-`lib/html2rss/configs/domainname.tld/whatever.yml`  
-`‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^`
+Build the URL of the _feed config_ you'd like to use like this:
 
-The corresponding URL:  
-`http://localhost:3000/domainname.tld/whatever.rss`  
-`‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^`
+|                          |                               |
+| -----------------------: | :---------------------------- |
+|  `lib/html2rss/configs/` | `domainname.tld/whatever.yml` |
+|  Would becomes this URL: |                               |
+| `http://localhost:3000/` | `domainname.tld/whatever.rss` |
+|                          | `^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^` |
 
 ## How to build your RSS feeds
 
@@ -112,24 +115,31 @@ If you're going to host a public instance, _please please please_:
 
 ### Supported ENV variables
 
-| Name                           | Description            |
-| ------------------------------ | ---------------------- |
-| `PORT`                         | default: 3000          |
-| `RACK_ENV`                     | default: 'development' |
-| `RACK_TIMEOUT_SERVICE_TIMEOUT` | default: 15            |
-| `WEB_CONCURRENCY`              | default: 2             |
-| `WEB_MAX_THREADS`              | default: 5             |
+| Name                           | Description                      |
+| ------------------------------ | -------------------------------- |
+| `PORT`                         | default: 3000                    |
+| `RACK_ENV`                     | default: 'development'           |
+| `RACK_TIMEOUT_SERVICE_TIMEOUT` | default: 15                      |
+| `WEB_CONCURRENCY`              | default: 2                       |
+| `WEB_MAX_THREADS`              | default: 5                       |
+| `HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME`        | default: auto generated on start |
+| `HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD`        | default: auto generated on start |
 
 ### Runtime monitoring via `GET /health_check.txt`
 
-It is recommended to setup a monitoring of the `/health_check.txt` endpoint. With that, you can be notified when one of _your own_ configs break.
+It is recommended to setup a monitoring of the `/health_check.txt` endpoint. With that, you can find out when one of _your own_ configs break. The endpoint uses HTTP Basic authentication.
 
-The `GET /health_check.txt` endpoint responds with:
+First, set username and password via these environment variables: `HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME` and `HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD`. If these are not set, html2rss-web will generate a new random username and password on _each_ start.
 
-- if the feeds are generatable: it will respond with `success` .
-- otherwise: it states the broken config names.
+An authenticated `GET /health_check.txt` request will be responded with:
 
-[UptimeRobot's free plan](https://uptimerobot.com/) is sufficent for basic monitoring every 5 minutes. Create a monitor of type _Keyword_ with this information:
+- if the feeds are generatable: `success`.
+- otherwise: the names of the broken configs.
+
+To get notified when one of your configs breaks, setup a monitoring of this endpoint.
+
+[UptimeRobot's free plan](https://uptimerobot.com/) is sufficent for basic monitoring (every 5 minutes).
+Create a monitor of type _Keyword_ with this information and make it aware of your username and password:
 
 ![A screenshot showing the Keyword Monitor: a name, the instance's URL to /health_check.txt and an interval.](docs/uptimerobot_monitor.jpg)
 
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 0085d87e..2e4f7e81 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,28 +1,67 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+##
+# Helper methods used during :test run
+module Output
+  module_function
+
+  def describe(msg)
+    puts ''
+    puts '*' * 80
+    puts "* #{msg}"
+    puts '*' * 80
+    puts ''
+  end
+
+  def wait(seconds, message:)
+    print message if message
+
+    seconds.times do |i|
+      putc ' '
+      putc (i + 1).to_s
+      sleep 1
+    end
+    puts '. Time is up.'
+  end
+end
+
 task default: %w[test]
 
 desc 'Build and run docker image/container, and send requests to it'
+
 task :test do
   current_dir = ENV.fetch('GITHUB_WORKSPACE', __dir__)
 
+  Output.describe 'Building and running'
   sh 'docker build -t gilcreator/html2rss-web -f Dockerfile .'
   sh ['docker run',
       '-d',
       '-p 3000:3000',
       '--env PUMA_LOG_CONFIG=1',
+      '--env HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME=username',
+      '--env HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD=password',
       "--mount type=bind,source=#{current_dir}/config,target=/app/config",
       '--name html2rss-web-test',
       'gilcreator/html2rss-web'].join(' ')
 
-  # wait for container to run and accept connections
-  sleep 5
-  sh 'docker ps -a'
+  Output.wait 5, message: 'Waiting for container to start:'
+
+  Output.describe 'Listing docker containers matching html2rss-web-test filter'
+  sh 'docker ps -a --filter name=html2rss-web-test'
+
+  Output.describe 'Generating feed from a html2rss-configs config'
+  sh 'curl -f http://127.0.0.1:3000/github.com/releases.rss\?username=html2rss\&repository=html2rss || exit 1'
+
+  Output.describe 'Generating example feed from feeds.yml'
+  sh 'curl -f http://127.0.0.1:3000/example.rss || exit 1'
+
+  Output.describe 'Authenticated request to GET /health_check.txt'
+  sh 'curl -f http://username:password@127.0.0.1:3000/health_check.txt || exit 1'
 
-  sh 'curl -f http://127.0.0.1:3000/github.com/releases.rss\?username=nuxt\&repository=nuxt.js || exit 1'
-  sh 'curl -f http://127.0.0.1:3000/health_check.txt || exit 1'
+  Output.describe 'Print output of `html2rss help`'
   sh 'docker exec html2rss-web-test html2rss help'
 ensure
+  Output.describe 'Cleaning up'
   sh 'docker logs --tail all html2rss-web-test'
   sh 'docker stop html2rss-web-test'
   sh 'docker rm html2rss-web-test'
diff --git a/app.rb b/app.rb
index 126782c2..0473a10e 100644
--- a/app.rb
+++ b/app.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 require_relative './app/local_config'
 require_relative './app/html2rss_facade'
 
+require_relative 'roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth'
+
 module App
   ##
   # This app uses html2rss and serves the feeds via HTTP.
@@ -70,6 +72,7 @@ class App < Roda
     plugin :public
     plugin :render, escape: true, layout: 'layout'
     plugin :typecast_params
+    plugin :basic_auth
 
     route do |r|
       path = RequestPath.new(request)
@@ -83,7 +86,11 @@ class App < Roda
       r.get 'health_check.txt' do |_|
         HttpCache.expires_now(response)
 
-        HealthCheck.run
+        with_basic_auth(realm: HealthCheck,
+                        username: HealthCheck::Auth.username,
+                        password: HealthCheck::Auth.password) do
+          HealthCheck.run
+        end
       end
 
       # Route for feeds from the local feeds.yml
diff --git a/app/health_check.rb b/app/health_check.rb
index 50f4909f..698092d5 100644
--- a/app/health_check.rb
+++ b/app/health_check.rb
@@ -4,8 +4,28 @@
 
 module App
   ##
-  # Checks if the local configs generate valid RSS feeds.
+  # Checks if the local configs are generatable.
   module HealthCheck
+    ##
+    # Contains logic to obtain username and password to be used with HealthCheck endpoint.
+    class Auth
+      def self.username
+        @username ||= ENV.delete('HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME') do
+          SecureRandom.base64(32).tap do |string|
+            puts "HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME env var. missing! Please set it. Using generated value instead: #{string}"
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
+      def self.password
+        @password ||= ENV.delete('HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD') do
+          SecureRandom.base64(32).tap do |string|
+            puts "HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD env var. missing! Please set it. Using generated value instead: #{string}"
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
     module_function
 
     ##
diff --git a/roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth.rb b/roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66b203a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'roda'
+require 'openssl'
+
+class Roda
+  ##
+  # Roda's plugin namespace
+  module RodaPlugins
+    ##
+    # Basic Auth plugin's namespace
+    module BasicAuth
+      def self.authorize(username, password, auth)
+        given_user, given_password = auth.credentials
+
+        secure_compare(username, given_user) & secure_compare(password, given_password)
+      end
+
+      def self.secure_compare(left, right)
+        left.bytesize == right.bytesize && OpenSSL.fixed_length_secure_compare(left, right)
+      end
+
+      ##
+      # Methods here become instance methods in the roda application.
+      module InstanceMethods
+        def with_basic_auth(realm:, username:, password:)
+          raise ArgumentError, 'realm must not be a blank string' if realm.to_s.strip == ''
+
+          response.headers['WWW-Authenticate'] = "Basic realm=#{realm}"
+
+          auth = Rack::Auth::Basic::Request.new(env)
+
+          if auth.provided? && Roda::RodaPlugins::BasicAuth.authorize(username, password, auth)
+            yield if block_given?
+          else
+            unauthorized
+          end
+        end
+
+        def unauthorized
+          response.status = 401
+          request.halt response.finish
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    register_plugin(:basic_auth, BasicAuth)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/app/health_check/auth_spec.rb b/spec/app/health_check/auth_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b9fed4ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/app/health_check/auth_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+require_relative '../../../app/health_check'
+
+RSpec.describe App::HealthCheck::Auth do
+  before do
+    allow(ENV).to receive(:delete).with(any_args).and_call_original
+  end
+
+  describe '.username' do
+    it 'deletes the ENV var', :aggregate_failures do
+      expect(described_class.username).to be_a String
+      expect(ENV).to have_received(:delete).with('HEALTH_CHECK_USERNAME').once
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '.password' do
+    it 'deletes the ENV var', :aggregate_failures do
+      expect(described_class.password).to be_a String
+      expect(ENV).to have_received(:delete).with('HEALTH_CHECK_PASSWORD').once
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth_spec.rb b/spec/roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ce1f5108
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+require 'rack'
+require_relative '../../../roda/roda_plugins/basic_auth'
+
+RSpec.describe Roda::RodaPlugins::BasicAuth do
+  before do
+    allow(Roda::RodaPlugins).to receive(:register_plugin).with(:basic_auth, described_class)
+  end
+
+  describe '.authorize(username, password, auth)' do
+    context 'with correct credentials' do
+      it {
+        username = 'foo'
+        password = 'bar'
+        auth = instance_double(Rack::Auth::Basic::Request, credentials: %w[foo bar])
+
+        expect(described_class.authorize(username, password, auth)).to be true
+      }
+    end
+
+    context 'with wrong credentials' do
+      it {
+        username = ''
+        password = ''
+        auth = instance_double(Rack::Auth::Basic::Request, credentials: %w[foo bar])
+
+        expect(described_class.authorize(username, password, auth)).to be false
+      }
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '.secure_compare(left, right)' do
+    context 'with left being same as right' do
+      let(:left) {  'something-asdf' }
+      let(:right) { 'something-asdf' }
+
+      it 'uses OpenSSL.fixed_length_secure_compare', :aggregate_failures do
+        allow(OpenSSL).to receive(:fixed_length_secure_compare).with(left, right).and_call_original
+
+        expect(described_class.secure_compare(left, right)).to be true
+
+        expect(OpenSSL).to have_received(:fixed_length_secure_compare).with(left, right)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'with left being different from right' do
+      it 'returns false', :aggregate_failures do
+        expect(described_class.secure_compare('left', 'right')).to be false
+        expect(described_class.secure_compare('lefty', 'right')).to be false
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end