diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 3f9ed4e..2526bfa 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -39,22 +39,19 @@ lint:
         exit 0; 
       }
 
-deploy:
-  stage: deploy
-  only:
-    - main
-  variables:
-    CI: "true"        # Mark this as a CI run
-    ENVIRONMENT: test  # Use test environment settings
-    PORT: 8081
-  script:
-    - echo "Setting up Python dependencies..."
-    - source $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/activate
-    - pip install -r requirements.txt
-    - echo "Starting the application to test startup with SSL..."
-    - cd backend
-    - python -m main  # App will start, validate, and exit
-    - echo "Application startup validation completed successfully."
+   deploy:
+     stage: deploy
+     variables:
+       CI: "true"        # Mark this as a CI run
+       ENVIRONMENT: test  # Use test environment settings
+       PORT: 8081
+     script:
+       - echo "Setting up Python dependencies..."
+       - source $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/activate
+       - pip install -r requirements.txt
+       - echo "Starting the application to test startup with SSL..."
+       - cd $CI_PROJECT_DIR/backend  # Use GitLab-provided dynamic root path
+       - python -m main              # Run the main module dynamically
 
 release:
   stage: release
diff --git a/backend/main.py b/backend/main.py
index 430ce77..9d4c825 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/backend/main.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import sys
 import os
 import json
+import tomllib
 from pathlib import Path
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
@@ -25,24 +26,21 @@ from app.database import Base, engine, SessionLocal, load_sample_data
 
 # Utility function to fetch metadata from pyproject.toml
 def get_project_metadata():
-    from pathlib import Path
-    import tomllib
+    # Start from the current script's directory and search for pyproject.toml
+    script_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+    for parent in script_dir.parents:
+        pyproject_path = parent / "pyproject.toml"
+        if pyproject_path.exists():
+            with open(pyproject_path, "rb") as f:
+                pyproject = tomllib.load(f)
+                name = pyproject["project"]["name"]
+                version = pyproject["project"]["version"]
+                return name, version
 
-    # Dynamically resolve the project root folder correctly.
-    # Assume that `pyproject.toml` is located in the heidi-v2 root folder
-    root_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent
-    pyproject_path = root_dir / "heidi-v2" / "pyproject.toml"
-
-    print(f"Looking for pyproject.toml at: {pyproject_path}")  # Debugging output
-
-    if not pyproject_path.exists():
-        raise FileNotFoundError(f"{pyproject_path} not found")
-
-    with open(pyproject_path, "rb") as f:
-        pyproject = tomllib.load(f)
-        name = pyproject["project"]["name"]
-        version = pyproject["project"]["version"]
-        return name, version
+    # If no pyproject.toml is found, raise FileNotFoundError
+    raise FileNotFoundError(
+        f"pyproject.toml not found in any parent directory of {script_dir}"
+    )
 
 
 # Get project metadata from pyproject.toml
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1f4cdb5..48c3a32 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ dependencies = [
     "mysqlclient~=2.1.1",
     "python-multipart~=0.0.6",
     "uvicorn==0.23.1",
-    "python-dateutil~=2.8.2"
-
+    "python-dateutil~=2.8.2",
+    "tomli>=2.0.1"
 ]
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 norecursedirs = ["backend/python-client"]