diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/backend-ecr-modal.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/backend-ecr-modal.yaml
index 75f809e..3d11bbd 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/backend-ecr-modal.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/backend-ecr-modal.yaml
@@ -105,11 +105,8 @@ jobs:
           DEPLOY_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_WEBHOOK_URL }}
           WEBHOOK_SECRET: ${{ secrets.WEBHOOK_SECRET }}
         run: |
-          echo "check the webhook URL ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_WEBHOOK_URL }}" | base64
-          cat <<EOF | curl -X POST "${DEPLOY_WEBHOOK_URL}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -H "X-Gitea-Signature: sha256=$(echo -n '@-' | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "${WEBHOOK_SECRET}" | cut -d' ' -f2)" \
-            -d @-
+          PAYLOAD=$(mktemp)
+          cat > "$PAYLOAD" <<EOF
           {
             "service": "cv-inference-server",
             "image": "${{ env.ECR_REGISTRY }}/${{ env.ECR_REPOSITORY }}:${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}",
@@ -122,4 +119,11 @@ jobs:
               "ECR_PUBLIC_REGISTRY_ALIAS": "${{ vars.ECR_PUBLIC_REGISTRY_ALIAS }}"
             }
           }
-          EOF
\ No newline at end of file
+          EOF
+          SIG="sha256=$(openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "${WEBHOOK_SECRET}" "$PAYLOAD" | cut -d' ' -f2)"
+          echo "check the webhook URL ${DEPLOY_WEBHOOK_URL}" | base64
+          curl -X POST "${DEPLOY_WEBHOOK_URL}" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -H "X-Gitea-Signature: ${SIG}" \
+            --data-binary "@${PAYLOAD}"
+          rm -f "$PAYLOAD"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/Dockerfile b/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/Dockerfile
index 4274d00..59cd19d 100644
--- a/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/Dockerfile
+++ b/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/Dockerfile
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     g++ \
     make \
     libglib2.0-0 \
+    zlib1g \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Create virtual environment so we can copy a single tree to runtime
@@ -135,6 +136,7 @@ COPY --from=builder /usr/local/lib/ /usr/local/lib/
 
 # Drop our extracted dynamic system C-libraries into the system runtime path
 COPY --from=builder /opt/venv/libglib-2.0.so.0 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0
+COPY --from=builder /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1
 
 # Step 3: Use the exact matching numeric IDs for --chown
 # COPY --from=builder --chown=999:999 /opt/venv /opt/venv
diff --git a/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/smoke_test_backend_image.sh b/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/smoke_test_backend_image.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab6fec2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/workspace/sprint_1_2/CODEBASE/deps/implementation/backend_deploy/smoke_test_backend_image.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Smoke test for published ECR image:
+# public.ecr.aws/i9a4e3f6/msk-cv-inference-server:latest
+#
+# Validates:
+#   1. Image pulls successfully
+#   2. Container starts
+#   3. /health responds 200
+#   4. /docs or /openapi.json is reachable
+#
+# Usage:
+#   bash scripts/smoke_test_backend_image.sh
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+IMAGE="public.ecr.aws/i9a4e3f6/msk-cv-inference-server:latest"
+CONTAINER_NAME="cv-inference-server-smoke"
+PORT=8001
+HEALTH_URL="http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}/health"
+
+echo "==> Pulling image: ${IMAGE}"
+docker pull "${IMAGE}"
+
+echo "==> Removing old container if exists"
+docker rm -f "${CONTAINER_NAME}" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+echo "==> Starting container"
+docker run -d \
+  --name "${CONTAINER_NAME}" \
+  -p "${PORT}:${PORT}" \
+  -e TRITON_ENDPOINT="http://dummy-triton:8000" \
+  -e CV_INFERENCE_HOST="0.0.0.0" \
+  -e CV_INFERENCE_PORT="${PORT}" \
+  "${IMAGE}"
+
+cleanup() {
+  echo "==> Cleaning up"
+  docker rm -f "${CONTAINER_NAME}" 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+echo "==> Waiting for container to be ready"
+for i in {1..60}; do
+  if curl -sf "${HEALTH_URL}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "==> Health check passed on attempt ${i}"
+    break
+  fi
+  if [ "$i" -eq 60 ]; then
+    echo "==> FAIL: /health did not respond in time"
+    docker logs "${CONTAINER_NAME}" || true
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  sleep 2
+done
+
+echo "==> Checking /openapi.json"
+if curl -sf "${HEALTH_URL%/*}/openapi.json" | head -c 50 >/dev/null; then
+  echo "==> /openapi.json reachable"
+else
+  echo "==> WARN: /openapi.json not reachable (non-fatal)"
+fi
+
+echo ""
+echo "==> SUCCESS: Image ${IMAGE} is functional"
+echo "    Health: ${HEALTH_URL}"
+echo ""