diff --git a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/doc/intro.adoc b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/doc/intro.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3038cd5a6b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/doc/intro.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Spring Boot auto-configuration bundling the Camel observability services: metrics, tracing and health.
+
+The starter pulls in `camel-micrometer`, `micrometer-registry-prometheus`, `camel-opentelemetry2` and
+`camel-management`, and contributes a set of defaults so that a Camel application exposes a Prometheus
+scrape endpoint and Kubernetes-shaped liveness and readiness probes without any configuration.
+
+The defaults are registered as the lowest precedence property source, so anything you set in
+`application.properties`, in an environment variable or on the command line overrides them.
diff --git a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/doc/usage.adoc b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/doc/usage.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bba4aec5c42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/doc/usage.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+Add the starter to the classpath and the endpoints below are available on a separate management listener,
+bound to loopback on port `9876`:
+
+[width="100%",cols="3,5",options="header"]
+|===
+| Endpoint | Purpose
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/health` | Aggregate health
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/health/live` | Kubernetes liveness probe
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/health/ready` | Kubernetes readiness probe
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/metrics` | Prometheus scrape endpoint
+|===
+
+=== Injected defaults
+
+This is the full set of properties the starter contributes. Every one of them can be overridden by your own
+configuration:
+
+[width="100%",cols="4,2,4",options="header"]
+|===
+| Property | Value | Notes
+| `management.server.port` | `9876` | Management endpoints run on their own listener, separate from the application port.
+| `management.server.address` | `127.0.0.1` | The listener binds to loopback. See <<Exposing the management listener>>.
+| `management.endpoints.web.exposure.include` | `health,prometheus` | Only these two endpoints are exposed.
+| `management.endpoints.web.base-path` | `/observe` | Replaces the `/actuator` base path.
+| `management.endpoints.web.path-mapping.prometheus` | `metrics` | Serves the Prometheus endpoint at `/observe/metrics`.
+| `camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown` | `true` | Dumps a metrics summary to the log when the application stops.
+| `camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-filters` | `app.info,camel.exchanges.*,process.cpu.usage,jvm.memory.max,jvm.memory.used` | Which metrics that summary contains.
+| `camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-format` | `prometheus` | Format of that summary.
+| `camel.opentelemetry2.enabled` | `true` | Enables the OpenTelemetry tracing instrumentation.
+| `management.endpoint.health.probes.enabled` | `true` | Enables the liveness and readiness health groups.
+| `management.health.livenessState.enabled` | `true` | Registers the `livenessState` indicator.
+| `management.health.readinessState.enabled` | `true` | Registers the `readinessState` indicator.
+| `management.endpoint.health.show-details` | `when-authorized` | See <<Health detail exposure>>.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.live.include` | `livenessState,camelLivenessState` | Contents of `/observe/health/live`.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.live.show-details` | `always` | See <<Health detail exposure>>.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.ready.include` | `readinessState,camelReadinessState` | Contents of `/observe/health/ready`.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.ready.show-details` | `always` | See <<Health detail exposure>>.
+|===
+
+=== Exposing the management listener
+
+The management listener binds to `127.0.0.1`, so out of the box the health and metrics endpoints are reachable
+from the same host only. This matches the Spring Boot baseline, which ships no separate management listener at
+all: opening one on every interface should be a decision you make, not one the starter makes for you.
+
+A Kubernetes deployment whose kubelet probes or Prometheus scrapers reach the pod over the network has to widen
+the bind address:
+
+[source,properties]
+----
+management.server.address = 0.0.0.0
+----
+
+Pair that with a `NetworkPolicy`, or with authentication in front of the management port, so the endpoints are
+only reachable from your probes and your scrapers.
+
+=== Health detail exposure
+
+`/observe/health` uses `when-authorized`, the setting that shows the individual health indicators to an
+authenticated caller and the overall status alone to everybody else. Camel health checks report on the
+resources a route talks to — broker connections, data sources, remote endpoints — and their detail can
+identify those resources, so it is not something to hand to an unauthenticated caller. With no Spring Security
+on the classpath there is no authenticated caller, and the endpoint behaves as `never`.
+
+To restore the previous behaviour of showing the details to anyone who asks:
+
+[source,properties]
+----
+management.endpoint.health.show-details = always
+----
+
+The `live` and `ready` groups keep `always`. The kubelet reaches them unauthenticated, and it puts the response
+body into the probe-failure event, so `kubectl describe pod` names the indicator that took the pod down. Both
+groups contain availability-state indicators only — `livenessState`, `readinessState` and their Camel
+counterparts report a status and carry no data — so there is nothing in those responses beyond the indicator
+names and their state.
+
+=== Camel health exposure level
+
+`camel.health.exposure-level` is left at its Camel default of `default`, which filters health check metadata —
+endpoint URIs, route and consumer identifiers — out of the health response while keeping the check names,
+error messages and stack traces that tell you what failed.
+
+If you want the metadata as well, opt in:
+
+[source,properties]
+----
+camel.health.exposure-level = full
+----
diff --git a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor.java b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor.java
index cea919ed3a8..ff0d1cfa9c3 100644
--- a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor.java
+++ b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor.java
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
  * Contributes the opinionated observability defaults as the lowest precedence property source so that any
  * user-provided configuration (application.properties, environment variables, system properties, ...) overrides them
  * following the standard Spring Boot precedence rules.
+ * <p>
+ * The defaults stay within the Spring Boot baseline: the management listener binds to loopback, and the aggregate
+ * health endpoint only shows its details to an authorized caller. The {@code live} and {@code ready} probe groups
+ * keep {@code show-details=always} because they are consumed unauthenticated by the kubelet, and the indicators
+ * they contain report an availability state and nothing else.
  */
 public class ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor implements EnvironmentPostProcessor, Ordered {
 
@@ -38,6 +43,8 @@ public class ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor implements Environmen
     public void postProcessEnvironment(ConfigurableEnvironment environment, SpringApplication application) {
         Map<String, Object> defaults = new LinkedHashMap<>();
         defaults.put("management.server.port", "9876");
+        // bind the management listener to loopback; exposing it beyond the host is a conscious step
+        defaults.put("management.server.address", "127.0.0.1");
         defaults.put("management.endpoints.web.exposure.include", "health,prometheus");
         defaults.put("management.endpoints.web.base-path", "/observe");
         defaults.put("management.endpoints.web.path-mapping.prometheus", "metrics");
@@ -48,15 +55,15 @@ public void postProcessEnvironment(ConfigurableEnvironment environment, SpringAp
         // Opentelemetry
         defaults.put("camel.opentelemetry2.enabled", "true");
         // Health
-        defaults.put("camel.health.exposure-level", "full");
         defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.probes.enabled", "true");
         defaults.put("management.health.readinessState.enabled", "true");
         defaults.put("management.health.livenessState.enabled", "true");
-        defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.show-details", "always");
-        // /observe/health/live remap
+        defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.show-details", "when-authorized");
+        // /observe/health/live remap; the group carries availability states only, and the kubelet reads it
+        // unauthenticated, so its details stay visible
         defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.group.live.include", "livenessState,camelLivenessState");
         defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.group.live.show-details", "always");
-        // /observe/health/ready remap
+        // /observe/health/ready remap; see the note on the live group above
         defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.group.ready.include", "readinessState,camelReadinessState");
         defaults.put("management.endpoint.health.group.ready.show-details", "always");
 
diff --git a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessorTest.java b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessorTest.java
index 77c4c623960..d27752f7736 100644
--- a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessorTest.java
+++ b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessorTest.java
@@ -16,12 +16,18 @@
  */
 package org.apache.camel.observability.services.springboot;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
 import org.springframework.core.env.ConfigurableEnvironment;
+import org.springframework.core.env.EnumerablePropertySource;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
 @SpringBootTest(classes = ObservabilityServicesTestApplication.class)
@@ -42,19 +48,68 @@ public void defaultsAreApplied() {
                 environment.getProperty("camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-filters"));
         assertEquals("prometheus",
                 environment.getProperty("camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-format"));
-        assertEquals("full", environment.getProperty("camel.health.exposure-level"));
         assertEquals("true", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.probes.enabled"));
         assertEquals("true", environment.getProperty("management.health.readinessState.enabled"));
         assertEquals("true", environment.getProperty("management.health.livenessState.enabled"));
-        assertEquals("always", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.show-details"));
         assertEquals("livenessState,camelLivenessState",
                 environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.group.live.include"));
-        assertEquals("always", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.group.live.show-details"));
         assertEquals("readinessState,camelReadinessState",
                 environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.group.ready.include"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void managementListenerBindsToLoopback() {
+        // the port alone would put a second listener on every interface
+        assertEquals("127.0.0.1", environment.getProperty("management.server.address"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void aggregateHealthDetailsRequireAuthorization() {
+        assertEquals("when-authorized", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.show-details"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void probeGroupsKeepTheirDetails() {
+        // the kubelet reads these unauthenticated and surfaces the body in a probe-failure event; the groups
+        // hold availability-state indicators only, which report a status and no data
+        assertEquals("always", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.group.live.show-details"));
         assertEquals("always", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.group.ready.show-details"));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void camelHealthExposureLevelIsNotForced() {
+        // 'full' is an opt-in; left alone, Camel's own 'default' level applies and filters health check metadata
+        assertNull(environment.getProperty("camel.health.exposure-level"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void injectedPropertiesAreTheDocumentedSet() {
+        EnumerablePropertySource<?> source = (EnumerablePropertySource<?>) environment.getPropertySources()
+                .get(ObservabilityServicesEnvironmentPostProcessor.PROPERTY_SOURCE_NAME);
+
+        Set<String> expected = new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(
+                "management.server.port",
+                "management.server.address",
+                "management.endpoints.web.exposure.include",
+                "management.endpoints.web.base-path",
+                "management.endpoints.web.path-mapping.prometheus",
+                "camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown",
+                "camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-filters",
+                "camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-format",
+                "camel.opentelemetry2.enabled",
+                "management.endpoint.health.probes.enabled",
+                "management.health.readinessState.enabled",
+                "management.health.livenessState.enabled",
+                "management.endpoint.health.show-details",
+                "management.endpoint.health.group.live.include",
+                "management.endpoint.health.group.live.show-details",
+                "management.endpoint.health.group.ready.include",
+                "management.endpoint.health.group.ready.show-details"));
+
+        // keep this in sync with the table in src/main/doc/usage.adoc
+        assertEquals(expected, new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(source.getPropertyNames())));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void userApplicationPropertiesOverrideDefaults() {
         // these values are set in src/test/resources/application.properties and must win
diff --git a/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesOptInOverridesTest.java b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesOptInOverridesTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ea51c4a3530
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components-starter/camel-observability-services-starter/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/observability/services/springboot/ObservabilityServicesOptInOverridesTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.camel.observability.services.springboot;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
+import org.springframework.core.env.ConfigurableEnvironment;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+/**
+ * Verifies that the wider settings the starter no longer ships by default can be opted back into, which is what
+ * a deployment reached over the pod network has to do.
+ */
+@SpringBootTest(classes = ObservabilityServicesTestApplication.class,
+                properties = {
+                        "management.server.address=0.0.0.0",
+                        "management.endpoint.health.show-details=always",
+                        "camel.health.exposure-level=full" })
+public class ObservabilityServicesOptInOverridesTest {
+
+    @Autowired
+    private ConfigurableEnvironment environment;
+
+    @Test
+    public void bindAddressCanBeWidened() {
+        assertEquals("0.0.0.0", environment.getProperty("management.server.address"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void healthDetailsCanBeAlwaysShown() {
+        assertEquals("always", environment.getProperty("management.endpoint.health.show-details"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void camelHealthExposureLevelCanBeSetToFull() {
+        assertEquals("full", environment.getProperty("camel.health.exposure-level"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docs/spring-boot/modules/ROOT/pages/starters/observability-services.adoc b/docs/spring-boot/modules/ROOT/pages/starters/observability-services.adoc
index 3a383c14cca..93a054b48c2 100644
--- a/docs/spring-boot/modules/ROOT/pages/starters/observability-services.adoc
+++ b/docs/spring-boot/modules/ROOT/pages/starters/observability-services.adoc
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@
 = Observability Services
 :artifactid: camel-observability-services-starter
 
+Spring Boot auto-configuration bundling the Camel observability services: metrics, tracing and health.
+
+The starter pulls in `camel-micrometer`, `micrometer-registry-prometheus`, `camel-opentelemetry2` and
+`camel-management`, and contributes a set of defaults so that a Camel application exposes a Prometheus
+scrape endpoint and Kubernetes-shaped liveness and readiness probes without any configuration.
+
+The defaults are registered as the lowest precedence property source, so anything you set in
+`application.properties`, in an environment variable or on the command line overrides them.
+
 == Maven coordinates
 
 [source,xml]
@@ -13,3 +22,95 @@
 </dependency>
 ----
 
+== Usage
+
+Add the starter to the classpath and the endpoints below are available on a separate management listener,
+bound to loopback on port `9876`:
+
+[width="100%",cols="3,5",options="header"]
+|===
+| Endpoint | Purpose
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/health` | Aggregate health
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/health/live` | Kubernetes liveness probe
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/health/ready` | Kubernetes readiness probe
+| `http://127.0.0.1:9876/observe/metrics` | Prometheus scrape endpoint
+|===
+
+=== Injected defaults
+
+This is the full set of properties the starter contributes. Every one of them can be overridden by your own
+configuration:
+
+[width="100%",cols="4,2,4",options="header"]
+|===
+| Property | Value | Notes
+| `management.server.port` | `9876` | Management endpoints run on their own listener, separate from the application port.
+| `management.server.address` | `127.0.0.1` | The listener binds to loopback. See <<Exposing the management listener>>.
+| `management.endpoints.web.exposure.include` | `health,prometheus` | Only these two endpoints are exposed.
+| `management.endpoints.web.base-path` | `/observe` | Replaces the `/actuator` base path.
+| `management.endpoints.web.path-mapping.prometheus` | `metrics` | Serves the Prometheus endpoint at `/observe/metrics`.
+| `camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown` | `true` | Dumps a metrics summary to the log when the application stops.
+| `camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-filters` | `app.info,camel.exchanges.*,process.cpu.usage,jvm.memory.max,jvm.memory.used` | Which metrics that summary contains.
+| `camel.metrics.log-metrics-on-shutdown-format` | `prometheus` | Format of that summary.
+| `camel.opentelemetry2.enabled` | `true` | Enables the OpenTelemetry tracing instrumentation.
+| `management.endpoint.health.probes.enabled` | `true` | Enables the liveness and readiness health groups.
+| `management.health.livenessState.enabled` | `true` | Registers the `livenessState` indicator.
+| `management.health.readinessState.enabled` | `true` | Registers the `readinessState` indicator.
+| `management.endpoint.health.show-details` | `when-authorized` | See <<Health detail exposure>>.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.live.include` | `livenessState,camelLivenessState` | Contents of `/observe/health/live`.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.live.show-details` | `always` | See <<Health detail exposure>>.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.ready.include` | `readinessState,camelReadinessState` | Contents of `/observe/health/ready`.
+| `management.endpoint.health.group.ready.show-details` | `always` | See <<Health detail exposure>>.
+|===
+
+=== Exposing the management listener
+
+The management listener binds to `127.0.0.1`, so out of the box the health and metrics endpoints are reachable
+from the same host only. This matches the Spring Boot baseline, which ships no separate management listener at
+all: opening one on every interface should be a decision you make, not one the starter makes for you.
+
+A Kubernetes deployment whose kubelet probes or Prometheus scrapers reach the pod over the network has to widen
+the bind address:
+
+[source,properties]
+----
+management.server.address = 0.0.0.0
+----
+
+Pair that with a `NetworkPolicy`, or with authentication in front of the management port, so the endpoints are
+only reachable from your probes and your scrapers.
+
+=== Health detail exposure
+
+`/observe/health` uses `when-authorized`, the setting that shows the individual health indicators to an
+authenticated caller and the overall status alone to everybody else. Camel health checks report on the
+resources a route talks to — broker connections, data sources, remote endpoints — and their detail can
+identify those resources, so it is not something to hand to an unauthenticated caller. With no Spring Security
+on the classpath there is no authenticated caller, and the endpoint behaves as `never`.
+
+To restore the previous behaviour of showing the details to anyone who asks:
+
+[source,properties]
+----
+management.endpoint.health.show-details = always
+----
+
+The `live` and `ready` groups keep `always`. The kubelet reaches them unauthenticated, and it puts the response
+body into the probe-failure event, so `kubectl describe pod` names the indicator that took the pod down. Both
+groups contain availability-state indicators only — `livenessState`, `readinessState` and their Camel
+counterparts report a status and carry no data — so there is nothing in those responses beyond the indicator
+names and their state.
+
+=== Camel health exposure level
+
+`camel.health.exposure-level` is left at its Camel default of `default`, which filters health check metadata —
+endpoint URIs, route and consumer identifiers — out of the health response while keeping the check names,
+error messages and stack traces that tell you what failed.
+
+If you want the metadata as well, opt in:
+
+[source,properties]
+----
+camel.health.exposure-level = full
+----
+