diff --git a/utils/__init__.py b/utils/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcbcb26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from .config import Settings, _args
+from .logging_setup import log_structured_entry
+
+__all__ = ['Settings', '_args', 'log_structured_entry']
diff --git a/utils/config.py b/utils/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07b5c01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import os
+import argparse
+from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, PydanticBaseSettingsSource, YamlConfigSettingsSource
+
+
+def _parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--transport",
+        choices=["stdio", "sse"],
+        default="stdio",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument("--host", default="0.0.0.0")
+    parser.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=8080)
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--config",
+        default=os.environ.get("CONFIG_FILE", "config.yaml"),
+    )
+    return parser.parse_args()
+
+
+_args = _parse_args()
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    """Server configuration populated from env vars and a YAML config file."""
+
+    model_config = {"env_file": ".env", "yaml_file": _args.config}
+
+    project_id: str
+    location: str
+    bucket: str
+    index_name: str
+    deployed_index_id: str
+    endpoint_name: str
+    endpoint_domain: str
+    embedding_model: str = "gemini-embedding-001"
+    search_limit: int = 10
+
+    @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 (
+            init_settings,
+            env_settings,
+            dotenv_settings,
+            YamlConfigSettingsSource(settings_cls),
+            file_secret_settings,
+        )
diff --git a/utils/logging_setup.py b/utils/logging_setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..686da1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/logging_setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+"""
+Centralized Cloud Logging setup.
+Uses CloudLoggingHandler (background thread) so logging does not add latency
+"""
+
+import logging
+from typing import Optional, Dict, Literal
+
+import google.cloud.logging
+from google.cloud.logging.handlers import CloudLoggingHandler
+
+from .config import Settings
+
+
+def _setup_logger() -> logging.Logger:
+    """Create or return the singleton evaluation logger."""
+    log_name = "va_agent-evaluation-logs"
+    logger = logging.getLogger(log_name)
+    cfg = Settings.model_validate({})
+    if any(isinstance(h, CloudLoggingHandler) for h in logger.handlers):
+        return logger
+
+    try:
+        client = google.cloud.logging.Client(project=cfg.project_id)
+        handler = CloudLoggingHandler(client, name=log_name)  # async transport
+        logger.addHandler(handler)
+        logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Fallback to console if Cloud Logging is unavailable (local dev)
+        logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+        logger = logging.getLogger(log_name)
+        logger.warning("Cloud Logging setup failed; using console. Error: %s", e)
+
+    return logger
+
+
+_eval_log = _setup_logger()
+
+
+def log_structured_entry(message: str, severity: Literal["INFO", "WARNING", "ERROR"], custom_log: Optional[Dict] = None) -> None:
+    """
+    Emit a JSON-structured log row.
+
+    Args:
+        message: Short label for the row (e.g., "Final agent turn").
+        severity: "INFO" | "WARNING" | "ERROR" etc.
+        custom_log: A dict with your structured payload.
+    """
+    level = getattr(logging, severity.upper(), logging.INFO)
+    _eval_log.log(level, message, extra={"json_fields": {"message": message, "custom": custom_log or {}}})