diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 654bf3e..7855d10 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -38,5 +38,4 @@ jobs:
           name: rohanbatrain/second_brain_database
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          registry: ghcr.io
-
+          registry: ghcr.io
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 42fa13b..e9836ca 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-# Use the official Python image
-FROM python:3.9-slim
+# Use a lightweight base image for production
+FROM python:3.9-slim as base
 
 # Set the working directory inside the container
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ COPY requirements.txt .
 # Install dependencies
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
+# Install curl for health checks
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
 # Create a non-root user and group named sbd_user with home directory
 RUN groupadd -r sbd_user && useradd -r -g sbd_user -d /sbd_user -m sbd_user
 
@@ -25,8 +28,6 @@ RUN chown -R sbd_user:sbd_user /app
 # Install your package (assuming setup.py or pyproject.toml exists)
 RUN pip install .
 
-RUN pip install second_brain_database
-
 # Switch to the non-root user
 USER sbd_user
 
@@ -36,6 +37,5 @@ ENV HOME=/sbd_user
 # Expose the port
 EXPOSE 5000
 
-# Run the app
-CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:5000", "second_brain_database.main"]
-# CMD ["python", "-m", "Second_Brain_Database.main"]
\ No newline at end of file
+# Use Gunicorn for production with optimized settings
+CMD ["gunicorn", "--workers=3", "--threads=2", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:5000", "second_brain_database.main:app"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dev-environment/docker-compose.yml b/dev-environment/docker-compose.yml
index 93122fd..e1ba07b 100644
--- a/dev-environment/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/dev-environment/docker-compose.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ services:
     networks:
       - proxy
       - default
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5000/health"]
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 10s
 
   nginx_proxy_manager:
     image: jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 728e28a..435b9fb 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ services:
     networks:
       - proxy
       - default
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5000/health"]
+      interval: 30s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 10s
 
   nginx_proxy_manager:
     image: jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest
diff --git a/src/second_brain_database/assets/banner.png b/src/second_brain_database/assets/banner.png
deleted file mode 100644
index af9130f..0000000
Binary files a/src/second_brain_database/assets/banner.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/src/second_brain_database/main.py b/src/second_brain_database/main.py
index 65c1f2d..0b06d46 100644
--- a/src/second_brain_database/main.py
+++ b/src/second_brain_database/main.py
@@ -46,19 +46,42 @@
     swallow_errors=True  # Prevent Flask from logging too many limit errors
 )
 
+# Global whitelist for IPs
+WHITELISTED_IPS = ["127.0.0.1", "localhost"]  # Replace with your list of whitelisted IPs
+
 @app.before_request
 def block_abusive_ips():
     """
     Block requests from IPs that are currently blocked in Redis.
+    Prevent blocking whitelisted IPs.
     Raises:
         403: If the IP is blocked.
     """
-    ip = request.remote_addr
+    ip = request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For", request.remote_addr).split(",")[0].strip()
+
+    if ip in WHITELISTED_IPS:
+        return  # Skip blocking and logging for whitelisted IPs
+
     blocked = r.get(f"blocked:{ip}")
     if blocked:
         print(f"Blocked request from IP: {ip}")
         abort(403, description="You are temporarily blocked.")
 
+@app.before_request
+def slow_down_attackers():
+    """
+    Introduce a delay for IPs with multiple failed attempts (tar-pitting).
+    """
+    ip = request.remote_addr
+
+    if ip in WHITELISTED_IPS:
+        return  # Skip delay for whitelisted IPs
+
+    failed_attempts = int(r.get(f"failed:{ip}") or 0)
+    if failed_attempts > 5:  # Delay only if user has failed 5+ times
+        print(f"Delaying request from IP {ip} due to {failed_attempts} failed attempts.")
+        time.sleep(2)  # 2-second delay before processing request
+
 @app.after_request
 def track_failed_attempts(response):
     """
@@ -68,8 +91,12 @@ def track_failed_attempts(response):
     Returns:
         flask.Response: The response object.
     """
+    ip = request.remote_addr
+
+    if ip in WHITELISTED_IPS:
+        return response  # Skip tracking for whitelisted IPs
+
     if response.status_code == 429:  # Too Many Requests
-        ip = request.remote_addr
         r.incr(f"failed:{ip}")  # Increment failure count
         attempts = int(r.get(f"failed:{ip}") or 0)
         if attempts > 10:  # Block IP after 10 failures
@@ -77,17 +104,6 @@ def track_failed_attempts(response):
             print(f"IP {ip} blocked for 1 hour after {attempts} failures.")
     return response
 
-@app.before_request
-def slow_down_attackers():
-    """
-    Introduce a delay for IPs with multiple failed attempts (tar-pitting).
-    """
-    ip = request.remote_addr
-    failed_attempts = int(r.get(f"failed:{ip}") or 0)
-    if failed_attempts > 5:  # Delay only if user has failed 5+ times
-        print(f"Delaying request from IP {ip} due to {failed_attempts} failed attempts.")
-        time.sleep(2)  # 2-second delay before processing request
-
 @app.route("/")
 def landing_page():
     """
@@ -104,7 +120,7 @@ def landing_page():
   <title>Welcome to Second Brain Database</title>
 
   <!-- Tailwind CSS -->
-  <script src="https://cdn.tailwindcss.com"></script>
+  <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/tailwindcss@2.2.19/dist/tailwind.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
   <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@300;400;600;700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
 
   <style>
@@ -160,7 +176,6 @@ def landing_page():
 
 </body>
 </html>
-
 """
 
 @app.route("/login")
@@ -182,6 +197,16 @@ def register_page():
     return """<html><head><title>Register</title></head>
     <body><h1>Register Page</h1></body></html>"""
 
+@app.route("/health")
+@limiter.limit("1 per 10 seconds")
+def health_check():
+    """
+    Health check route to verify the application is running.
+    Returns:
+        str: JSON response indicating the application status.
+    """
+    return {"status": "ok", "message": "Application is healthy."}, 200
+
 @app.errorhandler(404)
 def not_found_error(error):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     """
@@ -222,8 +247,10 @@ def forbidden_error(error):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         tuple: HTML content and status code.
     """
     return (
-        """<html><head><title>403 Forbidden</title></head><body><h1>403 - Forbidden</h1>"
-        "</body></html>""",
+        """
+        <html><head><title>403 Forbidden</title></head><body><h1>403 - Forbidden</h1>"
+        "</body></html>
+        """,
         403,
     )