diff --git a/model-engine/README.md b/model-engine/README.md
index 3f6b9579..385afd9a 100644
--- a/model-engine/README.md
+++ b/model-engine/README.md
@@ -42,6 +42,41 @@ Run `mypy . --install-types` to set up mypy.
 Most of the business logic in Model Engine should contain unit tests, located in
 [`tests/unit`](./tests/unit). To run the tests, run `pytest`.
 
+### Testing the http_forwarder
+
+First have some endpoint running on port 5005
+```sh
+(llm-engine-vllm) ➜  vllm git:(dmchoi/vllm_batch_upgrade) ✗ export IMAGE=692474966980.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/vllm:0.10.1.1-rc2
+(llm-engine-vllm) ➜  vllm git:(dmchoi/vllm_batch_upgrade) ✗ export MODEL=meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct && export MODEL_PATH=/data/model_files/$MODEL
+(llm-engine-vllm) ➜  vllm git:(dmchoi/vllm_batch_upgrade) ✗ export REPO_PATH=/mnt/home/dmchoi/repos/scale
+(llm-engine-vllm) ➜  vllm git:(dmchoi/vllm_batch_upgrade) ✗ docker kill vlll; docker rm vllm; docker run \
+    --runtime nvidia \
+    --shm-size=16gb \
+    --gpus '"device=0,1,2,3"' \
+    -v $MODEL_PATH:/workspace/model_files:ro \
+    -v ${REPO_PATH}/llm-engine/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/vllm/vllm_server.py:/workspace/vllm_server.py \
+    -p 5005:5005 \
+    --name vllm \
+    ${IMAGE} \
+    python -m vllm_server --model model_files  --port 5005 --disable-log-requests --max-model-len 4096 --max-num-seqs 16 --enforce-eager
+```
+
+Then you can run the forwarder locally like this
+```sh
+GIT_TAG=test python model_engine_server/inference/forwarding/http_forwarder.py \
+    --config model_engine_server/inference/configs/service--http_forwarder.yaml \
+    --num-workers 1 \
+    --set "forwarder.sync.extra_routes=['/v1/chat/completions','/v1/completions']" \
+    --set "forwarder.stream.extra_routes=['/v1/chat/completions','/v1/completions']" \
+    --set "forwarder.sync.healthcheck_route=/health" \
+    --set "forwarder.stream.healthcheck_route=/health"
+```
+
+Then you can hit the forwarder like this
+```sh
+ curl -X POST localhost:5000/v1/chat/completions  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{\"args\": {\"model\":\"$MODEL\", \"messages\":[{\"role\": \"systemr\", \"content\": \"Hey, what's the temperature in Paris right now?\"}],\"max_tokens\":100,\"temperature\":0.2,\"guided_regex\":\"Sean.*\"}}"
+```
+
 ## Generating OpenAI types
 We've decided to make our V2 APIs OpenAI compatible. We generate the
 corresponding Pydantic models:
diff --git a/model-engine/model_engine_server/domain/entities/model_bundle_entity.py b/model-engine/model_engine_server/domain/entities/model_bundle_entity.py
index 172f84f2..2a5a4863 100644
--- a/model-engine/model_engine_server/domain/entities/model_bundle_entity.py
+++ b/model-engine/model_engine_server/domain/entities/model_bundle_entity.py
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ class RunnableImageLike(BaseModel, ABC):
     protocol: Literal["http"]  # TODO: add support for other protocols (e.g. grpc)
     readiness_initial_delay_seconds: int = 120
     extra_routes: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
+    routes: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
     forwarder_type: Optional[str] = ForwarderType.DEFAULT.value
     worker_command: Optional[List[str]] = None
     worker_env: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None
diff --git a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/forwarding/http_forwarder.py b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/forwarding/http_forwarder.py
index d0d9a1bd..eb32b180 100644
--- a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/forwarding/http_forwarder.py
+++ b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/forwarding/http_forwarder.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ def get_forwarder_loader(destination_path: Optional[str] = None) -> LoadForwarde
     config = get_config()["sync"]
     if "extra_routes" in config:
         del config["extra_routes"]
+    if "routes" in config:
+        del config["routes"]
     if destination_path:
         config["predict_route"] = destination_path
     if "forwarder_type" in config:
@@ -55,6 +57,8 @@ def get_streaming_forwarder_loader(
     config = get_config()["stream"]
     if "extra_routes" in config:
         del config["extra_routes"]
+    if "routes" in config:
+        del config["routes"]
     if destination_path:
         config["predict_route"] = destination_path
     if "forwarder_type" in config:
@@ -276,14 +280,34 @@ async def init_app():
     def healthcheck():
         return "OK"
 
-    def add_extra_sync_or_stream_routes(app: FastAPI):
-        """Read extra_routes from config and dynamically add routes to app"""
+    def add_sync_or_stream_routes(app: FastAPI):
+        """Read routes from config (both old extra_routes and new routes field) and dynamically add routes to app"""
         config = get_config()
         sync_forwarders: Dict[str, Forwarder] = dict()
         stream_forwarders: Dict[str, StreamingForwarder] = dict()
-        for route in config.get("sync", {}).get("extra_routes", []):
+
+        # Gather all sync routes from extra_routes and routes fields
+        sync_routes_to_add = set()
+        sync_routes_to_add.update(config.get("sync", {}).get("extra_routes", []))
+        sync_routes_to_add.update(config.get("sync", {}).get("routes", []))
+
+        # predict_route = config.get("sync", {}).get("predict_route", None)
+        # if predict_route:
+        #     sync_routes_to_add.add(predict_route)
+
+        # Gather all stream routes from extra_routes and routes fields
+        stream_routes_to_add = set()
+        stream_routes_to_add.update(config.get("stream", {}).get("extra_routes", []))
+        stream_routes_to_add.update(config.get("stream", {}).get("routes", []))
+
+        # stream_predict_route = config.get("stream", {}).get("predict_route", None)
+        # if stream_predict_route:
+        #     stream_routes_to_add.add(stream_predict_route)
+
+        # Load forwarders for all routes
+        for route in sync_routes_to_add:
             sync_forwarders[route] = load_forwarder(route)
-        for route in config.get("stream", {}).get("extra_routes", []):
+        for route in stream_routes_to_add:
             stream_forwarders[route] = load_streaming_forwarder(route)
 
         all_routes = set(list(sync_forwarders.keys()) + list(stream_forwarders.keys()))
@@ -327,7 +351,14 @@ def add_stream_passthrough_routes(app: FastAPI):
         config = get_config()
 
         passthrough_forwarders: Dict[str, PassthroughForwarder] = dict()
-        for route in config.get("stream", {}).get("extra_routes", []):
+
+        # Gather all routes from extra_routes and routes fields
+        stream_passthrough_routes_to_add = set()
+        stream_passthrough_routes_to_add.update(config.get("stream", {}).get("extra_routes", []))
+        stream_passthrough_routes_to_add.update(config.get("stream", {}).get("routes", []))
+
+        # Load passthrough forwarders for all routes
+        for route in stream_passthrough_routes_to_add:
             passthrough_forwarders[route] = load_stream_passthrough_forwarder(route)
 
         for route in passthrough_forwarders:
@@ -352,7 +383,13 @@ def add_sync_passthrough_routes(app: FastAPI):
         config = get_config()
 
         passthrough_forwarders: Dict[str, PassthroughForwarder] = dict()
-        for route in config.get("sync", {}).get("extra_routes", []):
+
+        # Handle legacy extra_routes configuration (backwards compatibility)
+        sync_passthrough_routes_to_add = set()
+        sync_passthrough_routes_to_add.update(config.get("sync", {}).get("extra_routes", []))
+        sync_passthrough_routes_to_add.update(config.get("sync", {}).get("routes", []))
+
+        for route in sync_passthrough_routes_to_add:
             passthrough_forwarders[route] = load_sync_passthrough_forwarder(route)
 
         for route in passthrough_forwarders:
@@ -380,7 +417,7 @@ def add_extra_routes(app: FastAPI):
         elif config.get("sync", {}).get("forwarder_type") == "passthrough":
             add_sync_passthrough_routes(app)
         else:
-            add_extra_sync_or_stream_routes(app)
+            add_sync_or_stream_routes(app)
 
     app.add_api_route(path="/healthz", endpoint=healthcheck, methods=["GET"])
     app.add_api_route(path="/readyz", endpoint=healthcheck, methods=["GET"])