diff --git a/sparkly-server.csproj b/sparkly-server.csproj
index b713321..90a6cbb 100644
--- a/sparkly-server.csproj
+++ b/sparkly-server.csproj
@@ -41,10 +41,12 @@
 
     <ItemGroup>
       <None Remove="Properties\launchSettings.json" />
+      <None Remove="sparkly-server.test\config\**" />
     </ItemGroup>
 
     <ItemGroup>
       <Content Include=".github\workflows\ci.yml" />
+      <Content Remove="sparkly-server.test\config\**" />
     </ItemGroup>
 
     <ItemGroup>
@@ -52,6 +54,11 @@
       <Compile Remove="sparkly-server.test\UserTest.cs" />
       <Compile Remove="sparkly-server.test\ProjectTest.cs" />
       <Compile Remove="sparkly-server.test\TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs" />
+      <Compile Remove="sparkly-server.test\config\**" />
+    </ItemGroup>
+
+    <ItemGroup>
+      <EmbeddedResource Remove="sparkly-server.test\config\**" />
     </ItemGroup>
 
 </Project>
diff --git a/sparkly-server.test/HealthzTest.cs b/sparkly-server.test/HealthzTest.cs
index 02926de..d989099 100644
--- a/sparkly-server.test/HealthzTest.cs
+++ b/sparkly-server.test/HealthzTest.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using System.Net;
+using sparkly_server.test.config;
+using System.Net;
 
 namespace sparkly_server.test
 {
diff --git a/sparkly-server.test/ProjectTest.cs b/sparkly-server.test/ProjectTest.cs
index ea1a740..e962267 100644
--- a/sparkly-server.test/ProjectTest.cs
+++ b/sparkly-server.test/ProjectTest.cs
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@
 using sparkly_server.Enum;
 using sparkly_server.Infrastructure;
 using sparkly_server.Services.Auth;
+using sparkly_server.test.config;
+using System.Net;
 using Xunit.Abstractions;
+using Xunit.Sdk;
 
 namespace sparkly_server.test
 {
@@ -76,7 +79,7 @@ private async Task<Guid> AuthenticateAsTestUserAsync()
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="projectName">The name of the project to create.</param>
         /// <returns>A <see cref="ProjectResponse"/> containing the details of the created project, or null if creation fails.</returns>
-        private async Task<ProjectResponse?> CreateProjectAsync(string projectName)
+        private async Task<ProjectResponse> CreateProjectAsync(string projectName)
         {
             var payload = new CreateProjectRequest(
                 ProjectName: projectName,
@@ -93,7 +96,9 @@ private async Task<Guid> AuthenticateAsTestUserAsync()
             response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
 
             var created = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<ProjectResponse>();
-            return created;
+            
+            return created ?? throw new XunitException("CreateProjectAsync: response body deserialized to null");
+
         }
 
         // Tests
@@ -107,7 +112,7 @@ public async Task CreateProject_Should_Create_Project_For_Authenticated_User()
             var created = await CreateProjectAsync(projectName);
             
             Assert.NotNull(created);
-            Assert.Equal(projectName, created!.ProjectName);
+            Assert.Equal(projectName, created.ProjectName);
             
             using var scope = _factory.Services.CreateScope();
             var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<AppDbContext>();
@@ -119,5 +124,47 @@ public async Task CreateProject_Should_Create_Project_For_Authenticated_User()
             Assert.Equal(projectName, project.ProjectName);
             Assert.Equal(userId, project.OwnerId);
         }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task CreateProject_Should_Fail_For_Unauthenticated_User()
+        {
+            var request = new CreateProjectRequest("MyTestProject", "Test project", ProjectVisibility.Public);
+            
+            var response = await _client.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/v1/projects/create", request);
+            
+            Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized, response.StatusCode);
+        }
+        
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task GetProjectById_Should_Return_Null_For_Nonexistent_Project()
+        {
+            var response = await _client.GetAsync("/api/v1/projects/1234567890abcdef");
+            
+            Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.NotFound, response.StatusCode);
+        }
+
+        // FIXME: Why NotFound??
+        // [Fact]
+        // public async Task GetProjectById_Should_Return_Project()
+        // {
+        //     await AuthenticateAsTestUserAsync();
+        //     var projectName = "MyTestProject1";
+        //
+        //     var project = await CreateProjectAsync(projectName);
+        //     var projectId = project.Id;
+        //
+        //     _output.WriteLine($"[Test] Created projectId = {projectId}");
+        //
+        //     using (var scope = _factory.Services.CreateScope())
+        //     {
+        //         var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<AppDbContext>();
+        //         var exists = await db.Projects.AnyAsync(p => p.Id == projectId);
+        //         _output.WriteLine($"[Test] Project exists in DB: {exists}");
+        //     }
+        //
+        //     var response = await _client.GetAsync($"/api/v1/projects/{projectId}");
+        //
+        //     Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.OK, response.StatusCode);
+        // }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sparkly-server.test/UserTest.cs b/sparkly-server.test/UserTest.cs
index 10c5829..87646e1 100644
--- a/sparkly-server.test/UserTest.cs
+++ b/sparkly-server.test/UserTest.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using sparkly_server.DTO.Auth;
 using sparkly_server.Infrastructure;
+using sparkly_server.test.config;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Text.Json;
 
diff --git a/sparkly-server.test/TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs b/sparkly-server.test/config/TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs
similarity index 95%
rename from sparkly-server.test/TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs
rename to sparkly-server.test/config/TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs
index b391291..296a834 100644
--- a/sparkly-server.test/TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs
+++ b/sparkly-server.test/config/TestWebAppliactionFactory.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Testing;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
 
-namespace sparkly_server.test
+namespace sparkly_server.test.config
 {
     public class TestWebApplicationFactory : WebApplicationFactory<Program>
     {
diff --git a/src/Controllers/Projects/ProjectsController.cs b/src/Controllers/Projects/ProjectsController.cs
index a567a45..bee89bc 100644
--- a/src/Controllers/Projects/ProjectsController.cs
+++ b/src/Controllers/Projects/ProjectsController.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ public async Task<IActionResult> GetRandomProjects([FromQuery] int take = 20, Ca
         public async Task<IActionResult> GetProjectById(Guid projectId, CancellationToken ct = default)
         {
             var project = await _projects.GetProjectByIdAsync(projectId, ct);
-            return Ok(project);
+
+            if (project is null)
+                return NotFound();
+
+            return Ok(new ProjectResponse(project));
         }
         
         // Create project
diff --git a/src/Services/Projects/IProjectService.cs b/src/Services/Projects/IProjectService.cs
index 7c2686e..e75e343 100644
--- a/src/Services/Projects/IProjectService.cs
+++ b/src/Services/Projects/IProjectService.cs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Task<Project> CreateProjectAsync(
             ProjectVisibility visibility,
             CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
         
-        Task<Project> GetProjectByIdAsync(
+        Task<Project?> GetProjectByIdAsync(
             Guid projectId, CancellationToken 
                 cancellationToken = default);
 
diff --git a/src/Services/Projects/ProjectService.cs b/src/Services/Projects/ProjectService.cs
index f229a0d..919e4ae 100644
--- a/src/Services/Projects/ProjectService.cs
+++ b/src/Services/Projects/ProjectService.cs
@@ -63,12 +63,9 @@ public async Task<Project> CreateProjectAsync(string name, string description, P
         /// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">
         /// Thrown if the project with the specified identifier is not found.
         /// </exception>
-        public async Task<Project> GetProjectByIdAsync(Guid projectId, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        public Task<Project?> GetProjectByIdAsync(Guid projectId, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
         {
-            var project = await _projects.GetByIdAsync(projectId, cancellationToken)
-                          ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Project not found");
-
-            return project;
+            return _projects.GetByIdAsync(projectId, cancellationToken);
         }
 
         /// <summary>