diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index ecbcd2b1d..867691d9f 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ repos:
     hooks:
       - id: sync-plugin-versions
         name: Sync plugin versions
-        entry: python scripts/sync-plugin-versions.py
+        entry: python3 scripts/sync-plugin-versions.py
         language: system
         pass_filenames: false
         always_run: true
diff --git a/headroom/proxy/__init__.py b/headroom/proxy/__init__.py
index 3d1c39745..49c424dc7 100644
--- a/headroom/proxy/__init__.py
+++ b/headroom/proxy/__init__.py
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ Usage:
     Set base URL in Cursor settings to http://localhost:8787
 """
 
-from .server import create_app, run_server
-
 __all__ = ["create_app", "run_server"]
+
+
+def __getattr__(name: str) -> object:
+    if name in ("create_app", "run_server"):
+        from .server import create_app, run_server  # noqa: F811
+
+        globals()["create_app"] = create_app
+        globals()["run_server"] = run_server
+        return globals()[name]
+    raise AttributeError(f"module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}")
diff --git a/scripts/sync-plugin-versions.py b/scripts/sync-plugin-versions.py
index 347c61830..8870680c0 100644
--- a/scripts/sync-plugin-versions.py
+++ b/scripts/sync-plugin-versions.py
@@ -25,14 +25,18 @@ ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
 if str(ROOT) not in sys.path:
     sys.path.insert(0, str(ROOT))
 
-from headroom.release_version import (  # noqa: E402
-    compute_release_version,
-    determine_bump_level,
-    find_latest_release_tag,
-    get_canonical_version,
-    list_release_commits,
-    list_release_tags,
-)
+try:
+    from headroom.release_version import (  # noqa: E402
+        compute_release_version,
+        determine_bump_level,
+        find_latest_release_tag,
+        get_canonical_version,
+        list_release_commits,
+        list_release_tags,
+    )
+except ImportError:
+    print("skip: headroom deps not installed (run from a dev venv to enable)")
+    sys.exit(0)
 
 
 def compute_repo_semver(root: Path) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_package_init_lazy.py b/tests/test_package_init_lazy.py
index 72445f908..be56fee46 100644
--- a/tests/test_package_init_lazy.py
+++ b/tests/test_package_init_lazy.py
@@ -74,6 +74,31 @@ def test_version_prefers_source_tree_release_history() -> None:
     package_version.assert_not_called()
 
 
+def test_proxy_package_import_does_not_eagerly_load_server() -> None:
+    script = textwrap.dedent(
+        """
+        import json
+        import sys
+
+        import headroom.proxy
+
+        print(json.dumps({
+            "server_loaded": "headroom.proxy.server" in sys.modules,
+        }))
+        """
+    )
+
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-c", script],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+    )
+
+    data = json.loads(result.stdout.strip())
+    assert data["server_loaded"] is False
+
+
 def test_proxy_server_import_skips_litellm_backend() -> None:
     script = textwrap.dedent(
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_proxy_package_init.py b/tests/test_proxy_package_init.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..575828af6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_proxy_package_init.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+"""Unit tests for headroom.proxy lazy __getattr__ (PEP 562)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import importlib
+import sys
+import types
+
+import pytest
+
+
+def test_proxy_getattr_resolves_create_app_and_caches_it(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    sentinel = object()
+    fake_server = types.SimpleNamespace(create_app=sentinel, run_server=object())
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "headroom.proxy.server", fake_server)
+
+    import headroom.proxy as proxy
+
+    module = importlib.reload(proxy)
+    module.__dict__.pop("create_app", None)
+    module.__dict__.pop("run_server", None)
+    # Register teardown: monkeypatch notes these keys are absent now and will
+    # remove them after the test, preventing sentinel leakage to later tests.
+    monkeypatch.delitem(module.__dict__, "create_app", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delitem(module.__dict__, "run_server", raising=False)
+
+    result = module.__getattr__("create_app")
+    assert result is sentinel
+    assert module.__dict__["create_app"] is sentinel
+
+
+def test_proxy_getattr_resolves_run_server(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    sentinel = object()
+    fake_server = types.SimpleNamespace(create_app=object(), run_server=sentinel)
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "headroom.proxy.server", fake_server)
+
+    import headroom.proxy as proxy
+
+    module = importlib.reload(proxy)
+    module.__dict__.pop("create_app", None)
+    module.__dict__.pop("run_server", None)
+    monkeypatch.delitem(module.__dict__, "create_app", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delitem(module.__dict__, "run_server", raising=False)
+
+    result = module.__getattr__("run_server")
+    assert result is sentinel
+    assert module.__dict__["run_server"] is sentinel
+
+
+def test_proxy_getattr_raises_for_unknown_attribute() -> None:
+    import headroom.proxy as proxy
+
+    with pytest.raises(AttributeError, match="has no attribute 'nonexistent'"):
+        proxy.__getattr__("nonexistent")