diff --git a/services/logging_config.py b/services/logging_config.py
index 04b11d9..6eb0797 100644
--- a/services/logging_config.py
+++ b/services/logging_config.py
@@ -5,30 +5,109 @@
 import logging
 import json
 import sys
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Tuple
+
 
 class JsonFormatter(logging.Formatter):
-    def format(self, record):
-        log_record = {
+    """Formatter that outputs JSON lines with a minimal structured schema.
+
+    It safely serializes record attributes and includes any extra attributes
+    supplied via the ``extra`` parameter on logging calls.
+    """
+
+    def formatTime(self, record: logging.LogRecord, datefmt: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
+        # Always use UTC ISO-8601 with milliseconds
+        dt = datetime.fromtimestamp(record.created, tz=timezone.utc)
+        return dt.isoformat(timespec="milliseconds")
+
+    def format(self, record: logging.LogRecord) -> str:  # type: ignore[override]
+        log_record: Dict[str, Any] = {
             "level": record.levelname,
             "time": self.formatTime(record, self.datefmt),
-            "name": record.name,
+            "logger": record.name,
             "message": record.getMessage(),
         }
-        # Optionally add extra context if present
-        if hasattr(record, "request_id"):
-            log_record["request_id"] = record.request_id
-        if hasattr(record, "user"):
-            log_record["user"] = record.user
-        if hasattr(record, "document_id"):
-            log_record["document_id"] = record.document_id
-        return json.dumps(log_record)
-
-
-def setup_logging(level=logging.INFO):
-    handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
-    handler.setFormatter(JsonFormatter())
+
+        # Include standard exception info if present
+        if record.exc_info:
+            # Use the built-in formatter to render exception text but don't
+            # include it in the machine-readable payload. Keep a short flag.
+            log_record["exc_text"] = self.formatException(record.exc_info)
+
+        # Attach any extra attributes provided via ``extra={...}``
+        for key, value in record.__dict__.items():
+            if key in ("name", "msg", "args", "levelname", "levelno", "pathname", "filename",
+                       "module", "exc_info", "exc_text", "stack_info", "lineno", "funcName",
+                       "created", "msecs", "relativeCreated", "thread", "threadName", "processName",
+                       "process"):
+                continue
+            # Only include JSON-serializable extras; fall back to str()
+            try:
+                json.dumps({key: value})
+                log_record[key] = value
+            except Exception:
+                log_record[key] = str(value)
+
+        # Ensure deterministic output order for readability in logs
+        try:
+            return json.dumps(log_record, ensure_ascii=False, separators=(",", ":"))
+        except Exception:
+            # Fallback to a safe string representation
+            return json.dumps({"level": record.levelname, "message": record.getMessage()})
+
+
+def setup_logging(level: int = logging.INFO, *, force: bool = False) -> None:
+    """Configure root logger to emit JSON logs to stdout.
+
+    Args:
+        level: Logging level for the root logger.
+        force: If True, replace existing handlers. Default False (adds a handler only
+            if no stream handler is present).
+
+    Notes:
+        Call this once at application startup (for example from `main.py`).
+    """
+
     root_logger = logging.getLogger()
     root_logger.setLevel(level)
-    root_logger.handlers = [handler]
 
-# Call setup_logging() at app startup (e.g., in main.py or api/__init__.py)
+    # Detect existing StreamHandler(s) that write to stdout specifically.
+    stdout_handlers = [h for h in root_logger.handlers
+                       if isinstance(h, logging.StreamHandler) and getattr(h, 'stream', None) is sys.stdout]
+
+    # If a stdout handler already exists and we're not forcing an update, do nothing.
+    if stdout_handlers and not force:
+        return
+
+    # If forcing, remove existing StreamHandler(s) (but leave file/syslog handlers intact).
+    if force:
+        root_logger.handlers = [h for h in root_logger.handlers if not isinstance(h, logging.StreamHandler)]
+
+    # Only add the stdout JSON handler if one isn't already present (avoid duplicates).
+    stdout_already = any(isinstance(h, logging.StreamHandler) and getattr(h, 'stream', None) is sys.stdout
+                         for h in root_logger.handlers)
+    if not stdout_already:
+        handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
+        handler.setFormatter(JsonFormatter())
+        root_logger.addHandler(handler)
+
+
+class RequestLoggerAdapter(logging.LoggerAdapter):
+    """Convenience adapter to attach contextual info (like request_id) to logs.
+
+    Usage:
+        logger = RequestLoggerAdapter(logging.getLogger(__name__), {"request_id": rid})
+        logger.info("started")
+    """
+
+    def process(self, msg: str, kwargs: Dict[str, Any]) -> Tuple[str, Dict[str, Any]]:
+        extra = kwargs.setdefault("extra", {})
+        # Merge adapter's context without overwriting existing keys
+        for k, v in (self.extra or {}).items():
+            extra.setdefault(k, v)
+        return msg, kwargs
+
+
+# Example: Call `setup_logging()` at app startup (e.g., in main.py or api/__init__.py)
+