diff --git a/tests/e2e/router/test_reliability_context_window_fallback_e2e.py b/tests/e2e/router/test_reliability_context_window_fallback_e2e.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2dd9f08f605
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/router/test_reliability_context_window_fallback_e2e.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+"""Live e2e: a prompt too large for a deployment's context window is rerouted to
+the configured context-window fallback.
+
+The primary is a real `openai/gpt-4` deployment, chosen for the smallest context
+window OpenAI still serves (8k), so a prompt can overflow it for a few cents;
+`gpt-5.5`, the model the rest of this suite runs on, has a million-token window
+that no affordable prompt reaches. The overflow is therefore real: OpenAI itself
+rejects the call with a context-length error, which is the trigger
+`context_window_fallbacks` exists for.
+
+The same oversized prompt is sent twice. The first call carries no fallback and
+must come back as a context-window rejection, which is what proves the prompt
+genuinely overflows the primary instead of the deployment being broken some other
+way. The second names `gpt-5.5` as the context-window fallback and must come back
+200, served by a different deployment than the primary, with the proxy reporting
+the attempted fallback.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+from complexity_router_client import ComplexityRouterClient
+from e2e_config import unique_marker
+from e2e_http import StreamingResponse
+from lifecycle import ResourceManager
+from models import ChatMessage, LiteLLMParamsBody, ReliabilityChatBody, RouterSettingsOverride
+from proxy_client import ProxyClient
+from reliability_support import REAL_KEY, REAL_MODEL
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.e2e
+
+SMALL_CONTEXT_MODEL = "openai/gpt-4"
+LARGE_CONTEXT_GROUP = "gpt-5.5"
+FILLER_SENTENCE = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. "
+FILLER_REPEATS = 900
+ANSWER_TOKENS = 256
+
+
+def _oversized_prompt() -> str:
+    """Roughly ten thousand tokens of filler: past gpt-4's 8k window, and unique per
+    call so the proxy's response cache never answers it from an earlier run."""
+    return f"{FILLER_SENTENCE * FILLER_REPEATS} summarize the text above [{unique_marker()}]"
+
+
+def _summarize(
+    proxy: ProxyClient, key: str, group: str, override: RouterSettingsOverride | None = None
+) -> StreamingResponse:
+    """Ask `group` to summarize an oversized prompt, optionally with a fallback wired
+    for this one request. The answer budget is generous on purpose: gpt-5.5 spends
+    tokens on reasoning before it writes anything, and a budget it cannot finish in
+    is its own error, which would muddy the context-window one under test."""
+    return proxy.transport.send(
+        "/chat/completions",
+        headers=proxy.transport.bearer(key),
+        json=ReliabilityChatBody(
+            model=group,
+            messages=[ChatMessage(role="user", content=_oversized_prompt())],
+            max_tokens=ANSWER_TOKENS,
+            router_settings_override=override,
+        ),
+    )
+
+
+class TestReliabilityContextWindowFallback:
+    @pytest.mark.covers("reliability.fallback.context_window.routes_to_fallback")
+    def test_context_window_overflow_routes_to_fallback(
+        self, client: ComplexityRouterClient, resources: ResourceManager, scoped_key: str
+    ) -> None:
+        primary = f"reliability-ctx-{unique_marker()}"
+        model_id = client.proxy.create_model(
+            primary, LiteLLMParamsBody(model=SMALL_CONTEXT_MODEL, api_key=REAL_KEY)
+        )
+        resources.defer(lambda: client.proxy.delete_model(model_id))
+
+        rejected = _summarize(client.proxy, scoped_key, primary)
+        assert rejected.status_code == 400, (
+            f"the oversized prompt should be rejected by {SMALL_CONTEXT_MODEL} with a 400, got "
+            f"{rejected.status_code}: {rejected.body[:300]}"
+        )
+        assert "context length" in rejected.body.lower(), (
+            f"the rejection should name the context length, got: {rejected.body[:300]}"
+        )
+
+        rerouted = _summarize(
+            client.proxy,
+            scoped_key,
+            primary,
+            RouterSettingsOverride(context_window_fallbacks=[{primary: [LARGE_CONTEXT_GROUP]}]),
+        )
+        assert rerouted.status_code == 200, (
+            f"the same prompt should be served by the context-window fallback, got "
+            f"{rerouted.status_code}: {rerouted.body[:300]}"
+        )
+        served = rerouted.headers.get("x-litellm-model-id")
+        assert served is not None and served != model_id, (
+            f"the fallback answer came from the deployment that could not fit the prompt "
+            f"({model_id}); x-litellm-model-id={served!r}"
+        )
+        assert rerouted.headers.get("x-litellm-model-name") == REAL_MODEL, (
+            f"the fallback should have been served by a {REAL_MODEL} deployment, but "
+            f"x-litellm-model-name is {rerouted.headers.get('x-litellm-model-name')!r}"
+        )
+        attempted = rerouted.headers.get("x-litellm-attempted-fallbacks")
+        assert attempted is not None and int(attempted) >= 1, (
+            f"the proxy should report at least one attempted fallback, got {attempted!r}"
+        )
diff --git a/tests/e2e/router/test_reliability_routing_e2e.py b/tests/e2e/router/test_reliability_routing_e2e.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8c54a0722f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/router/test_reliability_routing_e2e.py
@@ -0,0 +1,302 @@
+"""Live e2e: each routing strategy picks the deployment that strategy implies.
+
+Every test builds its own model group of real `openai/gpt-5.5` deployments that
+differ in exactly one dimension the strategy under test reads - configured price,
+tpm ceiling, shuffle weight, or recorded latency - so only one
+deployment can win and the pick is a statement about the strategy rather than
+about luck. The strategy is selected per request through a
+`router_settings_override` on the /chat/completions body, so one long-lived proxy
+serves every strategy, and the deployment that actually served a call is read
+back from the x-litellm-model-id response header.
+
+Every prompt carries a unique marker: the proxy under test has its response cache
+on, and a repeated prompt would be answered from cache before the router ever
+routed it.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import time
+from typing import Literal
+
+import pytest
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict
+
+from complexity_router_client import ComplexityRouterClient
+from e2e_config import unique_marker
+from e2e_http import StreamingResponse, unwrap
+from lifecycle import ResourceManager
+from models import ChatBody, ChatMessage, LiteLLMParamsBody, ModelInfoBody, ModelNewResponse
+from proxy_client import ProxyClient
+from reliability_support import REAL_KEY, REAL_MODEL
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.e2e
+
+StrategyName = Literal[
+    "simple-shuffle",
+    "usage-based-routing-v2",
+    "latency-based-routing",
+    "cost-based-routing",
+]
+
+PRICEY_PER_TOKEN = 1e-3
+CHEAP_PER_TOKEN = 1e-9
+EXHAUSTED_TPM = 1
+UNREACHABLE_BASE = "http://127.0.0.1:9/v1"
+UNMEETABLE_DEADLINE_SECONDS = 0.001
+
+ANSWER_TOKENS = 256
+SHUFFLE_CALLS = 4
+
+GROUP_READY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 30.0
+GROUP_READY_POLL_SECONDS = 0.5
+
+SHORT_PROMPT = "answer in one word: what colour is a clear midday sky?"
+
+
+class RoutingParams(LiteLLMParamsBody):
+    """/model/new litellm_params plus the two per-deployment routing knobs the
+    shared body does not model: the tpm ceiling usage-based routing reads, and the
+    pick weight simple-shuffle reads."""
+
+    tpm: int | None = None
+    weight: int | None = None
+
+
+class RoutingModelNewBody(BaseModel):
+    """POST /model/new carrying RoutingParams.
+
+    The shared ModelNewBody types `litellm_params` as LiteLLMParamsBody, and pydantic
+    serializes a field by its declared type, so handing it a RoutingParams would drop
+    tpm and weight from the request body without a word - every routing strategy
+    would then see two identical deployments."""
+
+    model_config = ConfigDict(protected_namespaces=())
+    model_name: str
+    litellm_params: RoutingParams
+    model_info: ModelInfoBody = ModelInfoBody()
+
+
+class StrategyOverride(BaseModel):
+    """The `router_settings_override` that picks a routing strategy for one call,
+    and optionally the deadline that call is held to."""
+
+    routing_strategy: StrategyName
+    timeout: float | None = None
+
+
+class StrategyChatBody(ChatBody):
+    """A /chat/completions body routed by one strategy. Composes ChatBody."""
+
+    router_settings_override: StrategyOverride
+
+
+def _group_size(client: ComplexityRouterClient, group: str) -> int:
+    return sum(1 for entry in client.proxy.model_info() if entry.model_name == group)
+
+
+def _await_group_size(client: ComplexityRouterClient, group: str, size: int) -> None:
+    """Block until the proxy serves `size` deployments under `group`.
+
+    /model/new answers before the new deployment is necessarily on the router that
+    serves the next call, and a group name shows up on /v1/models as soon as its
+    first deployment lands, so routing without this gate can credit a strategy for a
+    pick it never had a choice in."""
+    deadline = time.monotonic() + GROUP_READY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
+    while time.monotonic() < deadline:
+        if _group_size(client, group) >= size:
+            return
+        time.sleep(GROUP_READY_POLL_SECONDS)
+    raise AssertionError(
+        f"the proxy never reported {size} deployments under {group!r} within "
+        f"{GROUP_READY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS}s of registering them"
+    )
+
+
+def _deploy(
+    client: ComplexityRouterClient,
+    resources: ResourceManager,
+    group: str,
+    *,
+    tpm: int | None = None,
+    weight: int | None = None,
+    input_cost_per_token: float | None = None,
+    output_cost_per_token: float | None = None,
+    api_base: str | None = None,
+) -> str:
+    """Register one real gpt-5.5 deployment under `group`, wait for the proxy to
+    serve it alongside the group's existing deployments, delete it on teardown, and
+    return the model_id the router reports as the server of a call."""
+    expected = _group_size(client, group) + 1
+    model_id = unwrap(
+        client.proxy.transport.post(
+            "/model/new",
+            headers=client.proxy.transport.master,
+            json=RoutingModelNewBody(
+                model_name=group,
+                litellm_params=RoutingParams(
+                    model=REAL_MODEL,
+                    api_key=REAL_KEY,
+                    tpm=tpm,
+                    weight=weight,
+                    input_cost_per_token=input_cost_per_token,
+                    output_cost_per_token=output_cost_per_token,
+                    api_base=api_base,
+                ),
+            ),
+            response_type=ModelNewResponse,
+        )
+    ).model_id
+    resources.defer(lambda: client.proxy.delete_model(model_id))
+    _await_group_size(client, group, expected)
+    return model_id
+
+
+def _route(
+    proxy: ProxyClient,
+    key: str,
+    group: str,
+    strategy: StrategyName,
+    *,
+    prompt: str = SHORT_PROMPT,
+    max_tokens: int = ANSWER_TOKENS,
+    timeout: float | None = None,
+) -> StreamingResponse:
+    """Drive one real completion through `group` under `strategy`, returning the raw
+    outcome so the caller can read the deployment header off it."""
+    return proxy.transport.send(
+        "/chat/completions",
+        headers=proxy.transport.bearer(key),
+        json=StrategyChatBody(
+            model=group,
+            messages=[ChatMessage(role="user", content=f"{prompt} [{unique_marker()}]")],
+            max_tokens=max_tokens,
+            router_settings_override=StrategyOverride(routing_strategy=strategy, timeout=timeout),
+        ),
+    )
+
+
+def _served_by(resp: StreamingResponse) -> str:
+    """The model_id of the deployment that served a successful call."""
+    assert resp.status_code == 200, f"routed call failed with {resp.status_code}: {resp.body[:300]}"
+    model_id = resp.headers.get("x-litellm-model-id")
+    assert model_id, (
+        f"response carries no x-litellm-model-id, so the served deployment is unknowable; "
+        f"headers={sorted(resp.headers)}"
+    )
+    return model_id
+
+
+class TestReliabilityRoutingStrategies:
+    @pytest.mark.covers("reliability.routing.cost_based.picks_lowest_cost")
+    def test_cost_based_picks_lowest_cost(
+        self, client: ComplexityRouterClient, resources: ResourceManager, scoped_key: str
+    ) -> None:
+        """Two deployments of the same model priced a million-fold apart: cost-based
+        routing must spend the request on the cheap one."""
+        group = f"routing-cost-{unique_marker()}"
+        pricey = _deploy(
+            client,
+            resources,
+            group,
+            input_cost_per_token=PRICEY_PER_TOKEN,
+            output_cost_per_token=PRICEY_PER_TOKEN,
+        )
+        cheap = _deploy(
+            client,
+            resources,
+            group,
+            input_cost_per_token=CHEAP_PER_TOKEN,
+            output_cost_per_token=CHEAP_PER_TOKEN,
+        )
+
+        served = _served_by(_route(client.proxy, scoped_key, group, "cost-based-routing"))
+        assert served == cheap, (
+            f"cost-based routing served {served}, but the cheap deployment is {cheap} "
+            f"(the other, {pricey}, costs {PRICEY_PER_TOKEN / CHEAP_PER_TOKEN:.0e}x more per token)"
+        )
+
+    @pytest.mark.covers("reliability.routing.usage_based.picks_under_tpm")
+    def test_usage_based_picks_deployment_under_tpm(
+        self, client: ComplexityRouterClient, resources: ResourceManager, scoped_key: str
+    ) -> None:
+        """One deployment's tpm ceiling is a single token, so no real prompt fits under
+        it; usage-based routing must place the request on the deployment that has
+        token budget left rather than over-allocating the capped one."""
+        group = f"routing-tpm-{unique_marker()}"
+        capped = _deploy(client, resources, group, tpm=EXHAUSTED_TPM)
+        uncapped = _deploy(client, resources, group)
+
+        served = _served_by(_route(client.proxy, scoped_key, group, "usage-based-routing-v2"))
+        assert served == uncapped, (
+            f"usage-based routing served {served}, but only {uncapped} had tpm budget for the "
+            f"request; {capped} is capped at {EXHAUSTED_TPM} tpm and cannot fit any prompt"
+        )
+
+    @pytest.mark.covers("reliability.routing.simple_shuffle.picks_healthy_deployment")
+    def test_simple_shuffle_picks_healthy_deployment(
+        self, client: ComplexityRouterClient, resources: ResourceManager, scoped_key: str
+    ) -> None:
+        """A zero-weight deployment pointed at an unreachable base sits next to the
+        healthy one: simple-shuffle's weighted pick must land every call on the
+        healthy deployment, so every call is answered instead of dying on a dead
+        connection."""
+        group = f"routing-shuffle-{unique_marker()}"
+        unreachable = _deploy(client, resources, group, weight=0, api_base=UNREACHABLE_BASE)
+        healthy = _deploy(client, resources, group, weight=1)
+
+        served = tuple(
+            _served_by(_route(client.proxy, scoped_key, group, "simple-shuffle"))
+            for _ in range(SHUFFLE_CALLS)
+        )
+        assert set(served) == {healthy}, (
+            f"simple-shuffle served {served}, but every call had to land on the healthy "
+            f"deployment {healthy}; {unreachable} carries weight 0 and an unreachable base"
+        )
+
+    @pytest.mark.covers("reliability.routing.latency_based.picks_lowest_latency")
+    def test_latency_based_picks_lowest_latency(
+        self, client: ComplexityRouterClient, resources: ResourceManager, scoped_key: str
+    ) -> None:
+        """The first deployment answers a request held to a deadline it cannot meet,
+        which is the router's worst latency observation; the second then joins the
+        group and answers normally. Both deployments are configured identically and
+        stay healthy - the deadline lived on the request, not on the deployment - so
+        the only thing separating them is the latency the router measured, and the
+        assertion call has to go to the deployment that was quick.
+
+        The simple-shuffle control in the middle is there to rule out the other reason
+        a router skips a deployment: it forces the pick onto the timed-out deployment
+        by weight and gets an answer, which no cooled-down deployment would give."""
+        group = f"routing-latency-{unique_marker()}"
+        timed_out = _deploy(client, resources, group, weight=1)
+
+        missed_deadline = _route(
+            client.proxy,
+            scoped_key,
+            group,
+            "latency-based-routing",
+            timeout=UNMEETABLE_DEADLINE_SECONDS,
+        )
+        assert missed_deadline.status_code == 408, (
+            f"the seeding call was meant to exceed its {UNMEETABLE_DEADLINE_SECONDS}s deadline on "
+            f"{timed_out}, got {missed_deadline.status_code}: {missed_deadline.body[:300]}"
+        )
+
+        quick = _deploy(client, resources, group, weight=0)
+        assert _served_by(_route(client.proxy, scoped_key, group, "latency-based-routing")) == quick, (
+            f"a deployment with no latency history is the router's lowest known latency, so this "
+            f"call should have gone to {quick}"
+        )
+
+        control = _route(client.proxy, scoped_key, group, "simple-shuffle")
+        assert _served_by(control) == timed_out, (
+            f"the weighted control call should have been served by {timed_out}, proving it is "
+            f"still healthy and selectable after its timeout"
+        )
+
+        served = _served_by(_route(client.proxy, scoped_key, group, "latency-based-routing"))
+        assert served == quick, (
+            f"latency-based routing served {served}, but {quick} answered in the time {timed_out} "
+            f"blew a deadline in, so it is the lower-latency deployment"
+        )