diff --git a/.cursorrules b/.cursorrules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..709fddd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.cursorrules
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+# ivatar/libravatar Project Rules
+
+## Project Overview
+ivatar is a Django-based federated avatar service that serves as an alternative to Gravatar. It provides avatar images for email addresses and OpenID URLs, with support for the Libravatar federation protocol.
+
+## Core Functionality
+- Avatar service for email addresses and OpenID URLs
+- Federated compatibility with Libravatar protocol
+- Multiple authentication methods (OpenID, OpenID Connect/Fedora, Django auth)
+- Image upload, cropping, and management
+- External avatar import (Gravatar, other Libravatar instances)
+- Bluesky handle integration
+- Multiple theme support (default, clime, green, red)
+- Internationalization (15+ languages)
+
+## Technical Stack
+- **Framework**: Django 4.2+ with Python 3.x
+- **Database**: SQLite (development), MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL (production)
+- **Image Processing**: PIL/Pillow for image manipulation
+- **Authentication**: django-openid-auth, social-auth-app-django
+- **Caching**: Memcached and filesystem caching
+- **Email**: Mailgun integration via django-anymail
+- **Testing**: pytest with custom markers
+
+## Key Models
+- `Photo`: Stores uploaded avatar images with format detection and access counting
+- `ConfirmedEmail`: Verified email addresses with assigned photos and Bluesky handles
+- `ConfirmedOpenId`: Verified OpenID URLs with assigned photos and Bluesky handles
+- `UserPreference`: User theme preferences
+- `UnconfirmedEmail`: Email verification workflow
+- `UnconfirmedOpenId`: OpenID verification workflow
+
+## Security Features
+- File upload validation and sanitization
+- EXIF data removal (ENABLE_EXIF_SANITIZATION)
+- Malicious content scanning (ENABLE_MALICIOUS_CONTENT_SCAN)
+- Comprehensive security logging
+- File size limits and format validation
+- Trusted URL validation for external avatar sources
+
+## Development Workflow Rules
+
+### Testing
+- **MANDATORY: Run pre-commit hooks and tests before any changes** - this is an obligation
+- Use `./run_tests_local.sh` for local development (skips Bluesky tests requiring API credentials)
+- Run `python3 manage.py test -v2` for full test suite including Bluesky tests
+- **MANDATORY: When adding new code, always write tests to increase code coverage** - never decrease coverage
+- Use pytest markers appropriately:
+  - `@pytest.mark.bluesky`: Tests requiring Bluesky API credentials
+  - `@pytest.mark.slow`: Long-running tests
+  - `@pytest.mark.integration`: Integration tests
+  - `@pytest.mark.unit`: Unit tests
+
+### Code Quality
+- Always check for linter errors after making changes using `read_lints`
+- Follow existing code style and patterns
+- Maintain comprehensive logging (use `logger = logging.getLogger("ivatar")`)
+- Consider security implications of any changes
+- Follow Django best practices and conventions
+
+### Database Operations
+- Use migrations for schema changes: `./manage.py migrate`
+- Support multiple database backends (SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL)
+- Use proper indexing for performance (see existing model indexes)
+
+### Image Processing
+- Support multiple formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP
+- Maximum image size: 512x512 pixels (AVATAR_MAX_SIZE)
+- Maximum file size: 10MB (MAX_PHOTO_SIZE)
+- JPEG quality: 85 (JPEG_QUALITY)
+- Always validate image format and dimensions
+
+## Configuration Management
+- Main settings in `ivatar/settings.py` and `config.py`
+- Local overrides in `config_local.py` (not in version control)
+- Environment variables for sensitive data (database credentials, API keys)
+- Support for multiple deployment environments (development, staging, production)
+
+## Authentication & Authorization
+- Multiple backends: Django auth, OpenID, Fedora OIDC
+- Social auth pipeline with custom steps for email confirmation
+- User account creation and management
+- Email verification workflow
+
+## Caching Strategy
+- Memcached for general caching
+- Filesystem cache for generated images
+- 5-minute cache for resized images (CACHE_IMAGES_MAX_AGE)
+- Cache invalidation on photo updates
+
+## Internationalization
+- Support for 15+ languages
+- Use Django's translation framework
+- Template strings should be translatable
+- Locale-specific formatting
+
+## File Structure Guidelines
+- Main Django app: `ivatar/`
+- Account management: `ivatar/ivataraccount/`
+- Tools: `ivatar/tools/`
+- Static files: `ivatar/static/` and `static/`
+- Templates: `templates/` and app-specific template directories
+- Tests: Co-located with modules or in dedicated test files
+
+## Security Considerations
+- Always validate file uploads
+- Sanitize EXIF data from images
+- Use secure password hashing (Argon2 preferred, PBKDF2 fallback)
+- Implement proper CSRF protection
+- Use secure cookies in production
+- Log security events to dedicated security log
+
+## Performance Considerations
+- Use database indexes for frequently queried fields
+- Implement proper caching strategies
+- Optimize image processing operations
+- Monitor access counts for analytics
+- Use efficient database queries
+
+## Production Deployment & Infrastructure
+
+### Hosting & Sponsorship
+- **Hosted by Fedora Project** - Free infrastructure provided due to heavy usage by Fedora community
+- **Scale**: Handles millions of requests daily for 30k+ users with 33k+ avatar images
+- **Performance**: High-performance system optimized for dynamic content (CDN difficult due to dynamic sizing)
+
+### Production Architecture
+- **Redis**: Session storage (potential future caching expansion)
+- **Monitoring Stack**:
+  - Prometheus + Alertmanager for metrics and alerting
+  - Loki for log aggregation
+  - Alloy for observability
+  - Grafana for visualization
+  - Custom exporters for application metrics
+- **Apache HTTPD**:
+  - SSL termination
+  - Load balancer for Gunicorn containers
+  - Caching (memory/socache and disk cache - optimization ongoing)
+- **PostgreSQL**: Main production database
+- **Gunicorn**: 2 containers running Django application
+- **Containerization**: **Podman** (not Docker) - always prefer podman when possible
+
+### Development Environment
+- **Dev Instance**: dev.libravatar.org (auto-deployed from 'devel' branch via Puppet)
+- **Limitation**: Aging CentOS 7 host with older Python 3.x and Django versions
+- **Compatibility**: Must maintain backward compatibility with older versions
+
+### CI/CD & Version Control
+- **GitLab**: Self-hosted OSS/Community Edition on git.linux-kernel.at
+- **CI**: GitLab CI extensively used
+- **CD**: GitLab CD on roadmap (part of libravatar-ansible project)
+- **Deployment**: Separate libravatar-ansible project handles production deployments
+- **Container Management**: Ansible playbooks rebuild custom images and restart containers as needed
+
+### Deployment Considerations
+- Production requires proper database setup (PostgreSQL, not SQLite)
+- Static file collection required: `./manage.py collectstatic`
+- Environment-specific configuration via environment variables
+- Custom container images with automated rebuilds
+- High availability and performance optimization critical
+
+## Common Commands
+```bash
+# Development server
+./manage.py runserver 0:8080
+
+# Run local tests (recommended for development)
+./run_tests_local.sh
+
+# Run all tests
+python3 manage.py test -v2
+
+# Database migrations
+./manage.py migrate
+
+# Collect static files
+./manage.py collectstatic -l --no-input
+
+# Create superuser
+./manage.py createsuperuser
+```
+
+## Code Style Guidelines
+- Use descriptive variable and function names
+- Add comprehensive docstrings for classes and methods
+- **MANDATORY: Include type hints for ALL new code** - this is a strict requirement
+- Follow PEP 8 and Django coding standards
+- Use meaningful commit messages
+- Add comments for complex business logic
+
+## Error Handling
+- Use proper exception handling with specific exception types
+- Log errors with appropriate levels (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR)
+- Provide user-friendly error messages
+- Implement graceful fallbacks where possible
+
+## API Compatibility
+- Maintain backward compatibility with existing avatar URLs
+- Support Libravatar federation protocol
+- Ensure Gravatar compatibility for imports
+- Preserve existing URL patterns and parameters
+
+## Monitoring & Logging
+- Use structured logging with appropriate levels
+- Log security events to dedicated security log
+- Monitor performance metrics (access counts, response times)
+- Implement health checks for external dependencies
+- **Robust logging setup**: Automatically tests directory writeability and falls back gracefully
+- **Fallback hierarchy**: logs/ → /tmp/libravatar-logs → user-specific temp directory
+- **Permission handling**: Handles cases where logs directory exists but isn't writable
+
+## GitLab CI/CD Monitoring
+- **MANDATORY: Check GitLab pipeline status regularly** during development
+- Monitor pipeline status for the current working branch (typically `devel`)
+- Use `glab ci list --repo git.linux-kernel.at/oliver/ivatar --per-page 5` to check recent pipelines
+- Verify all tests pass before considering work complete
+- Check pipeline logs with `glab ci trace <pipeline-id> --repo git.linux-kernel.at/oliver/ivatar` if needed
+- Address any CI failures immediately before proceeding with new changes
+- Pipeline URL: https://git.linux-kernel.at/oliver/ivatar/-/pipelines
+
+## Deployment Verification
+- **Automatic verification**: GitLab CI automatically verifies dev.libravatar.org deployments on `devel` branch
+- **Manual verification**: Production deployments on `master` branch can be verified manually via CI
+- **Version endpoint**: `/deployment/version/` provides commit hash, branch, and deployment status
+- **Security**: Version endpoint uses cached git file reading (no subprocess calls) to prevent DDoS attacks
+- **Performance**: Version information is cached in memory to avoid repeated file system access
+- **SELinux compatibility**: No subprocess calls that might be blocked by SELinux policies
+- **Manual testing**: Use `./scripts/test_deployment.sh` to test deployments locally
+- **Deployment timing**: Dev deployments via Puppet may take up to 30 minutes to complete
+- **Verification includes**: Version matching, avatar endpoint, stats endpoint functionality
+
+Remember: This is a production avatar service handling user data and images. Security, performance, and reliability are paramount. Always consider the impact of changes on existing users and federated services.
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 29fb90e..94a4c78 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -124,6 +124,150 @@ semgrep:
     - gl-sast-report.json
     - semgrep.sarif
 
+# Deployment verification jobs
+verify_dev_deployment:
+  stage: deploy
+  image: alpine:latest
+  only:
+    - devel
+  variables:
+    DEV_URL: "https://dev.libravatar.org"
+    MAX_RETRIES: 30
+    RETRY_DELAY: 60
+  before_script:
+    - apk add --no-cache curl jq
+  script:
+    - echo "Waiting for dev.libravatar.org deployment to complete..."
+    - |
+      for i in $(seq 1 $MAX_RETRIES); do
+        echo "Attempt $i/$MAX_RETRIES: Checking deployment status..."
+
+        # Get current commit hash from GitLab
+        CURRENT_COMMIT="$CI_COMMIT_SHA"
+        echo "Expected commit: $CURRENT_COMMIT"
+
+        # Check if dev site is responding
+        if curl -sf "$DEV_URL/deployment/version/" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+          echo "Dev site is responding, checking version..."
+
+          # Get deployed version
+          DEPLOYED_VERSION=$(curl -sf "$DEV_URL/deployment/version/" | jq -r '.commit_hash // empty')
+
+          if [ "$DEPLOYED_VERSION" = "$CURRENT_COMMIT" ]; then
+            echo "✅ SUCCESS: Dev deployment verified!"
+            echo "Deployed version: $DEPLOYED_VERSION"
+            echo "Expected version: $CURRENT_COMMIT"
+
+            # Run basic functionality tests
+            echo "Running basic functionality tests..."
+
+            # Test avatar endpoint
+            if curl -sf "$DEV_URL/avatar/test@example.com" > /dev/null; then
+              echo "✅ Avatar endpoint working"
+            else
+              echo "❌ Avatar endpoint failed"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            # Test stats endpoint
+            if curl -sf "$DEV_URL/stats/" > /dev/null; then
+              echo "✅ Stats endpoint working"
+            else
+              echo "❌ Stats endpoint failed"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            echo "🎉 Dev deployment verification completed successfully!"
+            exit 0
+          else
+            echo "Version mismatch. Deployed: $DEPLOYED_VERSION, Expected: $CURRENT_COMMIT"
+          fi
+        else
+          echo "Dev site not responding yet..."
+        fi
+
+        if [ $i -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
+          echo "Waiting $RETRY_DELAY seconds before next attempt..."
+          sleep $RETRY_DELAY
+        fi
+      done
+
+      echo "❌ FAILED: Dev deployment verification timed out after $MAX_RETRIES attempts"
+      exit 1
+  allow_failure: false
+
+verify_prod_deployment:
+  stage: deploy
+  image: alpine:latest
+  only:
+    - master
+  when: manual
+  variables:
+    PROD_URL: "https://libravatar.org"
+    MAX_RETRIES: 10
+    RETRY_DELAY: 30
+  before_script:
+    - apk add --no-cache curl jq
+  script:
+    - echo "Verifying production deployment..."
+    - |
+      for i in $(seq 1 $MAX_RETRIES); do
+        echo "Attempt $i/$MAX_RETRIES: Checking production deployment..."
+
+        # Get current commit hash from GitLab
+        CURRENT_COMMIT="$CI_COMMIT_SHA"
+        echo "Expected commit: $CURRENT_COMMIT"
+
+        # Check if prod site is responding
+        if curl -sf "$PROD_URL/deployment/version/" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+          echo "Production site is responding, checking version..."
+
+          # Get deployed version
+          DEPLOYED_VERSION=$(curl -sf "$PROD_URL/deployment/version/" | jq -r '.commit_hash // empty')
+
+          if [ "$DEPLOYED_VERSION" = "$CURRENT_COMMIT" ]; then
+            echo "✅ SUCCESS: Production deployment verified!"
+            echo "Deployed version: $DEPLOYED_VERSION"
+            echo "Expected version: $CURRENT_COMMIT"
+
+            # Run basic functionality tests
+            echo "Running production functionality tests..."
+
+            # Test avatar endpoint
+            if curl -sf "$PROD_URL/avatar/test@example.com" > /dev/null; then
+              echo "✅ Production avatar endpoint working"
+            else
+              echo "❌ Production avatar endpoint failed"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            # Test stats endpoint
+            if curl -sf "$PROD_URL/stats/" > /dev/null; then
+              echo "✅ Production stats endpoint working"
+            else
+              echo "❌ Production stats endpoint failed"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+
+            echo "🎉 Production deployment verification completed successfully!"
+            exit 0
+          else
+            echo "Version mismatch. Deployed: $DEPLOYED_VERSION, Expected: $CURRENT_COMMIT"
+          fi
+        else
+          echo "Production site not responding..."
+        fi
+
+        if [ $i -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
+          echo "Waiting $RETRY_DELAY seconds before next attempt..."
+          sleep $RETRY_DELAY
+        fi
+      done
+
+      echo "❌ FAILED: Production deployment verification timed out after $MAX_RETRIES attempts"
+      exit 1
+  allow_failure: false
+
 include:
   - template: Jobs/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml
   - template: Jobs/Dependency-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
diff --git a/ivatar/settings.py b/ivatar/settings.py
index 38c213a..a3a9893 100644
--- a/ivatar/settings.py
+++ b/ivatar/settings.py
@@ -16,13 +16,38 @@ BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 # Logging directory - can be overridden in local config
 LOGS_DIR = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "logs")
 
-# Ensure logs directory exists - worst case, fall back to /tmp
-try:
-    os.makedirs(LOGS_DIR, exist_ok=True)
-except OSError:
+
+def _test_logs_directory_writeability(logs_dir):
+    """
+    Test if a logs directory is actually writable by attempting to create and write a test file
+    """
+    try:
+        # Ensure directory exists
+        os.makedirs(logs_dir, exist_ok=True)
+
+        # Test if we can actually write to the directory
+        test_file = os.path.join(logs_dir, ".write_test")
+        with open(test_file, "w") as f:
+            f.write("test")
+
+        # Clean up test file
+        os.remove(test_file)
+        return True
+    except (OSError, PermissionError):
+        return False
+
+
+# Ensure logs directory exists and is writable - worst case, fall back to /tmp
+if not _test_logs_directory_writeability(LOGS_DIR):
     LOGS_DIR = "/tmp/libravatar-logs"
-    os.makedirs(LOGS_DIR, exist_ok=True)
-    logger.warning(f"Failed to create logs directory {LOGS_DIR}, falling back to /tmp")
+    if not _test_logs_directory_writeability(LOGS_DIR):
+        # If even /tmp fails, use a user-specific temp directory
+        import tempfile
+
+        LOGS_DIR = os.path.join(tempfile.gettempdir(), f"libravatar-logs-{os.getuid()}")
+        _test_logs_directory_writeability(LOGS_DIR)  # This should always succeed
+
+    logger.warning(f"Failed to write to logs directory, falling back to {LOGS_DIR}")
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
 SECRET_KEY = "=v(+-^t#ahv^a&&e)uf36g8algj$d1@6ou^w(r0@%)#8mlc*zk"
diff --git a/ivatar/urls.py b/ivatar/urls.py
index 73c7fb3..0457c35 100644
--- a/ivatar/urls.py
+++ b/ivatar/urls.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from django.conf.urls.static import static
 from django.views.generic import TemplateView, RedirectView
 from ivatar import settings
 from .views import AvatarImageView, StatsView
-from .views import GravatarProxyView, BlueskyProxyView
+from .views import GravatarProxyView, BlueskyProxyView, DeploymentVersionView
 
 urlpatterns = [  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
     path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
@@ -69,6 +69,11 @@ urlpatterns = [  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
     ),
     path("talk_to_us/", RedirectView.as_view(url="/contact"), name="talk_to_us"),
     path("stats/", StatsView.as_view(), name="stats"),
+    path(
+        "deployment/version/",
+        DeploymentVersionView.as_view(),
+        name="deployment_version",
+    ),
 ]
 
 MAINTENANCE = False
diff --git a/ivatar/views.py b/ivatar/views.py
index 89ac32a..912a60e 100644
--- a/ivatar/views.py
+++ b/ivatar/views.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from io import BytesIO
 from os import path
 import hashlib
 import logging
+import threading
 from ivatar.utils import urlopen, Bluesky
 from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
 from ssl import SSLError
@@ -768,3 +769,136 @@ class StatsView(TemplateView, JsonResponse):
         }
 
         return JsonResponse(retval)
+
+
+# Thread-safe version cache
+_version_cache = None
+_version_cache_lock = threading.Lock()
+
+
+def _get_git_info_from_files():
+    """
+    Safely extract git information from .git files without subprocess calls
+    """
+    try:
+        # Get the project root directory
+        project_root = path.dirname(path.dirname(path.abspath(__file__)))
+        git_dir = path.join(project_root, ".git")
+
+        if not path.exists(git_dir):
+            return None
+
+        # Read HEAD to get current branch/commit
+        head_file = path.join(git_dir, "HEAD")
+        if not path.exists(head_file):
+            return None
+
+        with open(head_file, "r") as f:
+            head_content = f.read().strip()
+
+        # Parse HEAD content
+        if head_content.startswith("ref: "):
+            # We're on a branch
+            branch_ref = head_content[5:]  # Remove 'ref: '
+            branch_name = path.basename(branch_ref)
+
+            # Read the commit hash from the ref
+            ref_file = path.join(git_dir, branch_ref)
+            if path.exists(ref_file):
+                with open(ref_file, "r") as f:
+                    commit_hash = f.read().strip()
+            else:
+                return None
+        else:
+            # Detached HEAD state
+            commit_hash = head_content
+            branch_name = "detached"
+
+        # Try to get commit date from git log file (if available)
+        commit_date = None
+        log_file = path.join(git_dir, "logs", "HEAD")
+        if path.exists(log_file):
+            try:
+                with open(log_file, "r") as f:
+                    # Read last line to get most recent commit info
+                    lines = f.readlines()
+                    if lines:
+                        last_line = lines[-1].strip()
+                        # Git log format: <old_hash> <new_hash> <author> <timestamp> <timezone> <message>
+                        parts = last_line.split("\t")
+                        if len(parts) >= 2:
+                            # Extract timestamp and convert to readable date
+                            timestamp_part = parts[0].split()[-2]  # Get timestamp
+                            if timestamp_part.isdigit():
+                                import datetime
+
+                                timestamp = int(timestamp_part)
+                                commit_date = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(
+                                    timestamp
+                                ).strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z")
+            except (ValueError, IndexError):
+                pass
+
+        # Fallback: try to get date from commit object if available
+        if not commit_date and len(commit_hash) == 40:
+            try:
+                commit_dir = path.join(git_dir, "objects", commit_hash[:2])
+                commit_file = path.join(commit_dir, commit_hash[2:])
+                if path.exists(commit_file):
+                    # This would require decompressing the git object, which is complex
+                    # For now, we'll use a placeholder
+                    commit_date = "unknown"
+            except Exception:
+                commit_date = "unknown"
+
+        return {
+            "commit_hash": commit_hash,
+            "short_hash": commit_hash[:7] if len(commit_hash) >= 7 else commit_hash,
+            "branch": branch_name,
+            "commit_date": commit_date or "unknown",
+            "deployment_status": "active",
+            "version": f"{branch_name}-{commit_hash[:7] if len(commit_hash) >= 7 else commit_hash}",
+        }
+
+    except Exception as exc:
+        logger.warning(f"Failed to read git info from files: {exc}")
+        return None
+
+
+def _get_cached_version_info():
+    """
+    Get cached version information, loading it if not available
+    """
+    global _version_cache
+
+    with _version_cache_lock:
+        if _version_cache is None:
+            # Get version info from git files
+            _version_cache = _get_git_info_from_files()
+
+            # If that fails, return error
+            if _version_cache is None:
+                _version_cache = {
+                    "error": "Unable to determine version - .git directory not found",
+                    "deployment_status": "unknown",
+                }
+
+        return _version_cache
+
+
+class DeploymentVersionView(View):
+    """
+    View to return deployment version information for CI/CD verification
+    Uses cached version info to prevent DDoS attacks and improve performance
+    """
+
+    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Return cached deployment version information
+        """
+        version_info = _get_cached_version_info()
+
+        if "error" in version_info:
+            return JsonResponse(version_info, status=500)
+
+        return JsonResponse(version_info)
diff --git a/scripts/test_deployment.sh b/scripts/test_deployment.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..130b6c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/test_deployment.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Test deployment verification script
+
+set -e
+
+# Configuration
+DEV_URL="https://dev.libravatar.org"
+PROD_URL="https://libravatar.org"
+MAX_RETRIES=5
+RETRY_DELAY=10
+
+# Colors for output
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+
+# Function to test deployment
+test_deployment() {
+    local url=$1
+    local name=$2
+    local max_retries=$3
+
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Testing $name deployment at $url${NC}"
+
+    for i in $(seq 1 $max_retries); do
+        echo "Attempt $i/$max_retries: Checking $name deployment..."
+
+        # Check if site is responding
+        if curl -sf "$url/deployment/version/" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "$name site is responding, checking version..."
+
+            # Get deployed version info
+            VERSION_INFO=$(curl -sf "$url/deployment/version/")
+            echo "Version info: $VERSION_INFO"
+
+            # Extract commit hash
+            COMMIT_HASH=$(echo "$VERSION_INFO" | jq -r '.commit_hash // empty')
+            BRANCH=$(echo "$VERSION_INFO" | jq -r '.branch // empty')
+            VERSION=$(echo "$VERSION_INFO" | jq -r '.version // empty')
+
+            echo "Deployed commit: $COMMIT_HASH"
+            echo "Deployed branch: $BRANCH"
+            echo "Deployed version: $VERSION"
+
+            # Run basic functionality tests
+            echo "Running basic functionality tests..."
+
+            # Test avatar endpoint
+            if curl -sf "$url/avatar/test@example.com" >/dev/null; then
+                echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Avatar endpoint working${NC}"
+            else
+                echo -e "${RED}❌ Avatar endpoint failed${NC}"
+                return 1
+            fi
+
+            # Test stats endpoint
+            if curl -sf "$url/stats/" >/dev/null; then
+                echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Stats endpoint working${NC}"
+            else
+                echo -e "${RED}❌ Stats endpoint failed${NC}"
+                return 1
+            fi
+
+            echo -e "${GREEN}🎉 $name deployment verification completed successfully!${NC}"
+            return 0
+        else
+            echo "$name site not responding yet..."
+        fi
+
+        if [ $i -lt $max_retries ]; then
+            echo "Waiting $RETRY_DELAY seconds before next attempt..."
+            sleep $RETRY_DELAY
+        fi
+    done
+
+    echo -e "${RED}❌ FAILED: $name deployment verification timed out after $max_retries attempts${NC}"
+    return 1
+}
+
+# Main execution
+echo "Libravatar Deployment Verification Script"
+echo "=========================================="
+
+# Check if jq is available
+if ! command -v jq &>/dev/null; then
+    echo -e "${RED}Error: jq is required but not installed${NC}"
+    echo "Install with: brew install jq (macOS) or apt-get install jq (Ubuntu)"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Test dev deployment
+echo ""
+test_deployment "$DEV_URL" "Dev" $MAX_RETRIES
+DEV_RESULT=$?
+
+# Test production deployment
+echo ""
+test_deployment "$PROD_URL" "Production" $MAX_RETRIES
+PROD_RESULT=$?
+
+# Summary
+echo ""
+echo "=========================================="
+echo "Deployment Verification Summary:"
+echo "=========================================="
+
+if [ $DEV_RESULT -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Dev deployment: PASSED${NC}"
+else
+    echo -e "${RED}❌ Dev deployment: FAILED${NC}"
+fi
+
+if [ $PROD_RESULT -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✅ Production deployment: PASSED${NC}"
+else
+    echo -e "${RED}❌ Production deployment: FAILED${NC}"
+fi
+
+# Exit with error if any test failed
+if [ $DEV_RESULT -ne 0 ] || [ $PROD_RESULT -ne 0 ]; then
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo -e "${GREEN}🎉 All deployment verifications passed!${NC}"