diff --git a/app/ai-service/config/legacy_redirects.yaml b/app/ai-service/config/legacy_redirects.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a5481e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/ai-service/config/legacy_redirects.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+legacy_to_v1:
+  "/ai/inference": "/v1/ai/inference"
+  "/ai/proof-of-life": "/v1/ai/proof-of-life"
+  "/ai/anonymize": "/v1/ai/anonymize"
+  "/ai/humanitarian/verify": "/v1/ai/humanitarian/verify"
+
+legacy_prefix_map:
+  - legacy_prefix: "/ai/status/"
+    v1_prefix: "/v1/ai/status/"
+  - legacy_prefix: "/ai/task/"
+    v1_prefix: "/v1/ai/task/"
diff --git a/app/ai-service/main.py b/app/ai-service/main.py
index b067e438..0c5a5e79 100644
--- a/app/ai-service/main.py
+++ b/app/ai-service/main.py
@@ -250,17 +250,49 @@ async def _log_rejection(
 # the ocr_router) need an explicit redirect entry here.  The OCR route is
 # still served by the legacy router above so no redirect is needed for it.
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-_LEGACY_TO_V1: dict = {
-    "/ai/inference": "/v1/ai/inference",
-    "/ai/proof-of-life": "/v1/ai/proof-of-life",
-    "/ai/anonymize": "/v1/ai/anonymize",
-    "/ai/humanitarian/verify": "/v1/ai/humanitarian/verify",
-}
-
-# Prefix-based redirects for parameterised routes (matched in order).
+import os
+from typing import Dict, List, Tuple, Type
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+from pydantic_settings import (
+    BaseSettings,
+    PydanticBaseSettingsSource,
+    SettingsConfigDict,
+    YamlConfigSettingsSource,
+)
+
+class LegacyPrefixMapItem(BaseModel):
+    legacy_prefix: str
+    v1_prefix: str
+
+class LegacyRedirectsConfig(BaseSettings):
+    legacy_to_v1: Dict[str, str]
+    legacy_prefix_map: List[LegacyPrefixMapItem]
+
+    model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
+        yaml_file=os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "config", "legacy_redirects.yaml"),
+        yaml_file_encoding='utf-8'
+    )
+
+    @classmethod
+    def settings_customise_sources(
+        cls,
+        settings_cls: Type[BaseSettings],
+        init_settings: PydanticBaseSettingsSource,
+        env_settings: PydanticBaseSettingsSource,
+        dotenv_settings: PydanticBaseSettingsSource,
+        file_secret_settings: PydanticBaseSettingsSource,
+    ) -> Tuple[PydanticBaseSettingsSource, ...]:
+        return (YamlConfigSettingsSource(settings_cls),)
+
+_legacy_yaml_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "config", "legacy_redirects.yaml")
+if not os.path.exists(_legacy_yaml_path):
+    raise RuntimeError(f"Required configuration file not found: {_legacy_yaml_path}")
+
+_legacy_config = LegacyRedirectsConfig()
+
+_LEGACY_TO_V1: dict = _legacy_config.legacy_to_v1
 _LEGACY_PREFIX_MAP: list = [
-    ("/ai/status/", "/v1/ai/status/"),
-    ("/ai/task/", "/v1/ai/task/"),
+    (item.legacy_prefix, item.v1_prefix) for item in _legacy_config.legacy_prefix_map
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/app/ai-service/requirements-prod.txt b/app/ai-service/requirements-prod.txt
index bc945c50..52046624 100644
--- a/app/ai-service/requirements-prod.txt
+++ b/app/ai-service/requirements-prod.txt
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ uvicorn[standard]==0.27.0
 gunicorn==21.2.0
 
 # Data validation and settings management
-pydantic==2.5.3
-pydantic-settings==2.1.0
+pydantic==2.9.2
+pydantic-settings[yaml]==2.6.1
 
 # Environment variable management
 python-dotenv==1.0.0
diff --git a/app/ai-service/requirements.txt b/app/ai-service/requirements.txt
index c45f9070..2f95be39 100644
--- a/app/ai-service/requirements.txt
+++ b/app/ai-service/requirements.txt
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ uvicorn[standard]==0.27.0
 python-multipart==0.0.6
 
 # Data validation and settings management
-pydantic==2.5.3
-pydantic-settings==2.1.0
+pydantic==2.9.2
+pydantic-settings[yaml]==2.6.1
 
 # Environment variable management
 python-dotenv==1.0.0
diff --git a/app/ai-service/tests/test_legacy_redirects.py b/app/ai-service/tests/test_legacy_redirects.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a9e80220
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/ai-service/tests/test_legacy_redirects.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import os
+import yaml
+import pytest
+from fastapi.routing import APIRoute
+from main import app, _legacy_yaml_path, _LEGACY_TO_V1, _LEGACY_PREFIX_MAP
+
+def test_yaml_file_exists_and_loads():
+    assert os.path.exists(_legacy_yaml_path)
+    with open(_legacy_yaml_path, "r") as f:
+        data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+    assert "legacy_to_v1" in data
+    assert "legacy_prefix_map" in data
+
+def test_code_matches_yaml_exactly():
+    # Verify the code parsed it correctly
+    with open(_legacy_yaml_path, "r") as f:
+        data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        
+    assert _LEGACY_TO_V1 == data["legacy_to_v1"]
+    
+    yaml_prefixes = [(item["legacy_prefix"], item["v1_prefix"]) for item in data["legacy_prefix_map"]]
+    assert _LEGACY_PREFIX_MAP == yaml_prefixes
+
+def test_legacy_routes_are_covered_by_yaml():
+    """
+    Ensure that all legacy /ai/ routes (except metrics, ocr, and /v1) defined in code
+    are either directly mapped in legacy_to_v1 or covered by legacy_prefix_map.
+    """
+    # Find all legacy routes defined in main.py or its included routers
+    legacy_routes = set()
+    for route in app.routes:
+        if isinstance(route, APIRoute):
+            path = route.path
+            # We are looking for legacy routes: they start with /ai/ but not /v1/ai/
+            if path.startswith("/ai/") and not path.startswith("/v1/ai/"):
+                # Exclude metrics and ocr which are intentionally not redirected
+                if path not in ("/ai/metrics", "/ai/ocr", "/ai/ocr/process"):
+                    legacy_routes.add(path)
+
+    # Routes covered by exact match
+    exact_matches = set(_LEGACY_TO_V1.keys())
+    
+    for route_path in legacy_routes:
+        if route_path in exact_matches:
+            continue
+            
+        # Check prefix match
+        matched_prefix = False
+        for legacy_prefix, _ in _LEGACY_PREFIX_MAP:
+            # e.g. /ai/status/{task_id} starts with /ai/status/
+            # In FastAPI, the parameterized route looks like /ai/status/{task_id}
+            # We strip the parameter part to see if it starts with the prefix
+            if route_path.startswith(legacy_prefix):
+                matched_prefix = True
+                break
+                
+        assert matched_prefix, f"Legacy route {route_path} exists in code but is not covered by legacy_redirects.yaml"
+
+def test_no_extra_yaml_entries():
+    """
+    Ensure we don't have dangling entries in YAML that no longer map to any legacy route.
+    """
+    legacy_routes = set()
+    for route in app.routes:
+        if isinstance(route, APIRoute):
+            path = route.path
+            if path.startswith("/ai/") and not path.startswith("/v1/ai/"):
+                if path not in ("/ai/metrics", "/ai/ocr", "/ai/ocr/process"):
+                    legacy_routes.add(path)
+
+    # Check that every exact match in YAML actually corresponds to a defined legacy route
+    for legacy_path in _LEGACY_TO_V1.keys():
+        assert legacy_path in legacy_routes, f"YAML contains exact redirect for {legacy_path} but it is not defined in code"
+
+    # For prefix matches, ensure at least one legacy route matches it
+    for legacy_prefix, _ in _LEGACY_PREFIX_MAP:
+        matches = [r for r in legacy_routes if r.startswith(legacy_prefix)]
+        assert len(matches) > 0, f"YAML contains prefix redirect for {legacy_prefix} but no code route matches it"