sungeer/waitress ? reverse-engineered prompt

Build me a small backend API called waitress using Starlette.

I want it to be easy to run locally with uvicorn on port 8848, and I’d like a simple app that says hello on the main route, plus a basic health check so I can tell it’s working. Keep it lightweight and clean, with a setup that fits a normal Python project and can also work with gunicorn if needed.

Please include a few basic tests for the main endpoints, a simple README that explains how to install and start it, and a .env.example for any settings that make sense. If you need to check the latest Starlette docs or best practices while wiring it up, go ahead and look them up.