diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index f3d3a67..e6aaa01 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -185,132 +185,97 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Deploy to production (Local Test)
         run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
           echo "🚀 Testing ${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }} deployment locally..."
-
+          
+          # Create a dedicated network so we can resolve by container name
+          docker network create ci_net || true
+          
           # Pull the built image
           docker pull ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }}
-
-          # Stop any existing containers
-          docker stop ping-river-monitor-test || true
-          docker rm ping-river-monitor-test || true
-
-          # Start the container for testing
+          
+          # Stop & remove any existing container
+          docker rm -f ping-river-monitor-test 2>/dev/null || true
+          
+          # Start the container on the user-defined network
           docker run -d \
             --name ping-river-monitor-test \
+            --network ci_net \
             -p 8080:8000 \
             -e LOG_LEVEL=INFO \
             -e DB_TYPE=sqlite \
             ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ needs.create-release.outputs.version }}
-
+          
           echo "✅ Container started for testing"
 
       - name: Health check after deployment
         run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
           echo "⏳ Waiting for application to start..."
-          sleep 30
-
-          echo "🔍 Running health checks against local container..."
-
-          # Check if container is running
-          docker ps | grep ping-river-monitor-test || echo "⚠️ Container not found in docker ps"
-
-          # Check container logs for any startup issues
-          echo "📋 Recent container logs:"
-          docker logs --tail 10 ping-river-monitor-test || true
-
-          # Wait for the application to be ready with more robust checking
-          echo "🔍 Testing application readiness..."
+          
+          # Pull a curl-only image for probing (keeps your app image slim)
+          docker pull curlimages/curl:8.10.1
+          
+          # Helper: curl via a sibling container on the SAME Docker network
+          probe() {
+            local url="$1"
+            docker run --rm --network ci_net curlimages/curl:8.10.1 \
+              -sS --max-time 5 --connect-timeout 3 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" "$url" || true
+          }
+          
+          # Wait for /health (up to ~3m 45s)
           for i in {1..15}; do
-            echo "⏳ Attempt $i/15: Testing health endpoint..."
+            echo "🔍 Attempt $i/15: checking http://ping-river-monitor-test:8000/health"
+            resp="$(probe http://ping-river-monitor-test:8000/health)"
+            code="$(echo "$resp" | sed -n 's/.*HTTP_CODE:\([0-9]\+\).*/\1/p')"
+            body="$(echo "$resp" | sed 's/HTTP_CODE:[0-9]*$//')"
             
-            # Test health endpoint with container networking
-            echo "Testing health endpoint..."
+            echo "HTTP: ${code:-<none>} | Body: ${body:-<empty>}"
             
-            # Get the container's IP address for direct communication
-            CONTAINER_IP=$(docker inspect -f '{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' ping-river-monitor-test)
-            echo "Container IP: $CONTAINER_IP"
-            
-            # Try multiple connection methods
-            response=""
-            
-            # Method 1: Try container IP directly
-            if [ -n "$CONTAINER_IP" ]; then
-              echo "Trying container IP: $CONTAINER_IP:8000"
-              response=$(curl -s --max-time 5 --connect-timeout 3 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" http://$CONTAINER_IP:8000/health 2>/dev/null || echo "TIMEOUT")
-            fi
-            
-            # Method 2: If container IP fails, try docker exec
-            if [[ "$response" == "TIMEOUT" ]] || [ -z "$response" ]; then
-              echo "Container IP failed, trying docker exec..."
-              response=$(docker exec ping-river-monitor-test curl -s --max-time 5 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" http://127.0.0.1:8000/health 2>/dev/null || echo "EXEC_FAILED")
-            fi
-            
-            # Method 3: If exec fails, try host networking
-            if [[ "$response" == "EXEC_FAILED" ]] || [ -z "$response" ]; then
-              echo "Docker exec failed, trying host networking..."
-              response=$(curl -s --max-time 5 --connect-timeout 3 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" http://127.0.0.1:8080/health 2>/dev/null || echo "HOST_FAILED")
-            fi
-            
-            http_code=$(echo "$response" | grep -o "HTTP_CODE:[0-9]*" | cut -d: -f2)
-            response_body=$(echo "$response" | sed 's/HTTP_CODE:[0-9]*$//')
-            
-            echo "HTTP Code: $http_code"
-            echo "Response Body: $response_body"
-            
-            if [ "$http_code" = "200" ] && [ -n "$response_body" ]; then
-              echo "✅ Health endpoint responding successfully!"
+            if [ "${code:-}" = "200" ] && [ -n "${body:-}" ]; then
+              echo "✅ Health endpoint responding successfully"
               break
-            else
-              echo "❌ Health check failed (HTTP: $http_code), waiting 15 seconds..."
-              # Show what's happening with the container
-              echo "Container status:"
-              docker ps | grep ping-river-monitor-test || echo "Container not found"
-              echo "Recent container logs:"
-              docker logs --tail 5 ping-river-monitor-test || true
-              sleep 15
-            fi
-          done
-
-          # Test API endpoints with container networking
-          echo "🧪 Testing API endpoints..."
-
-          # Get container IP for direct communication
-          CONTAINER_IP=$(docker inspect -f '{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' ping-river-monitor-test)
-          echo "Using container IP: $CONTAINER_IP"
-
-          endpoints=("health" "docs" "stations" "metrics")
-          for endpoint in "${endpoints[@]}"; do
-            echo "Testing /$endpoint..."
-            
-            # Try multiple connection methods for reliability
-            response=""
-            
-            # Try docker exec first (most reliable in containerized CI)
-            response=$(docker exec ping-river-monitor-test curl -s --max-time 5 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" http://127.0.0.1:8000/$endpoint 2>/dev/null || echo "EXEC_FAILED")
-            
-            # Fallback to container IP if exec fails
-            if [[ "$response" == "EXEC_FAILED" ]] && [ -n "$CONTAINER_IP" ]; then
-              response=$(curl -s --max-time 5 --connect-timeout 3 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" http://$CONTAINER_IP:8000/$endpoint 2>/dev/null || echo "IP_FAILED")
             fi
             
-            # Final fallback to host networking
-            if [[ "$response" == "IP_FAILED" ]] || [[ "$response" == "EXEC_FAILED" ]]; then
-              response=$(curl -s --max-time 5 --connect-timeout 3 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}" http://127.0.0.1:8080/$endpoint 2>/dev/null || echo "ALL_FAILED")
-            fi
+            echo "❌ Not ready yet. Showing recent logs…"
+            docker logs --tail 20 ping-river-monitor-test || true
+            sleep 15
             
-            http_code=$(echo "$response" | grep -o "HTTP_CODE:[0-9]*" | cut -d: -f2)
-            
-            if [ "$http_code" = "200" ]; then
-              echo "✅ /$endpoint: OK (HTTP $http_code)"
-            else
-              echo "❌ /$endpoint: FAILED (HTTP $http_code)"
-              echo "Response: $(echo "$response" | sed 's/HTTP_CODE:[0-9]*$//')"
+            if [ "$i" -eq 15 ]; then
+              echo "❌ Health never reached 200. Failing."
               exit 1
             fi
           done
-
+          
+          echo "🧪 Testing API endpoints…"
+          endpoints=("health" "docs" "stations" "metrics")
+          for ep in "${endpoints[@]}"; do
+            url="http://ping-river-monitor-test:8000/$ep"
+            resp="$(probe "$url")"
+            code="$(echo "$resp" | sed -n 's/.*HTTP_CODE:\([0-9]\+\).*/\1/p')"
+            
+            if [ "${code:-}" = "200" ]; then
+              echo "✅ /$ep: OK"
+            else
+              echo "❌ /$ep: FAILED (HTTP ${code:-<none>})"
+              echo "Response: $(echo "$resp" | sed 's/HTTP_CODE:[0-9]*$//')"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          done
+          
           echo "✅ All health checks passed!"
 
+      - name: (Fallback) Probe via host-published port
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # In case you also want to verify the host-published port from inside the job container:
+          HOST_GATEWAY="$(ip route | awk '/default/ {print $3}')"
+          echo "🔎 Host gateway is $HOST_GATEWAY — probing http://$HOST_GATEWAY:8080/health"
+          docker run --rm curlimages/curl:8.10.1 \
+            -sS --max-time 5 --connect-timeout 3 -w "HTTP_CODE:%{http_code}\n" \
+            "http://$HOST_GATEWAY:8080/health" || true
+
       - name: Container logs and cleanup
         if: always()
         run: |