diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml
index 536b284..8f0495b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/cicd-start.yaml
@@ -127,64 +127,51 @@ jobs:
             CANDIDATE_API_BASES+=("http://${GITEA_REGISTRY_IP}:3001/api/v1")
           fi
 
+          ensure_curl() {
+            if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              return 0
+            fi
+
+            if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+              apt-get update -qq
+              apt-get install -y -qq curl ca-certificates
+            fi
+
+            if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              return 0
+            fi
+
+            echo "❌ curl is required for dispatch and could not be installed"
+            return 1
+          }
+
+          ensure_curl
+
           dispatched=false
           for API_BASE in "${CANDIDATE_API_BASES[@]}"; do
             DISPATCH_URL="${API_BASE}/repos/${REPO_OWNER}/${REPO_NAME}/actions/workflows/${TARGET_WORKFLOW}/dispatches"
 
-            HTTP_RESULT=$(
-              printf '%s\n' \
-                'import os' \
-                'import sys' \
-                'import urllib.error' \
-                'import urllib.request' \
-                '' \
-                'url = os.environ["DISPATCH_URL"]' \
-                'token = os.environ["DISPATCH_TOKEN"]' \
-                'payload = os.environ["DISPATCH_PAYLOAD"]' \
-                '' \
-                'request = urllib.request.Request(' \
-                '    url,' \
-                '    data=payload.encode("utf-8"),' \
-                '    headers={' \
-                '        "Authorization": "token " + token,' \
-                '        "Content-Type": "application/json" ,' \
-                '        "User-Agent": "plex-playlist-cicd-start" ,' \
-                '    },' \
-                '    method="POST",' \
-                ')' \
-                '' \
-                'try:' \
-                '    with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=20) as response:' \
-                '        sys.stdout.write(f"{response.status}\\n")' \
-                '        body = response.read().decode("utf-8", "replace")' \
-                '        if body:' \
-                '            sys.stdout.write(body)' \
-                'except urllib.error.HTTPError as error:' \
-                '    sys.stdout.write(f"{error.code}\\n")' \
-                '    body = error.read().decode("utf-8", "replace")' \
-                '    if body:' \
-                '        sys.stdout.write(body)' \
-                'except Exception as error:' \
-                '    sys.stdout.write(f"000\\n{error}\\n")' \
-              | DISPATCH_URL="${DISPATCH_URL}" \
-                DISPATCH_TOKEN="${DISPATCH_TOKEN}" \
-                DISPATCH_PAYLOAD="${payload}" \
-                python3 -
-            )
+            RESPONSE_FILE="/tmp/dispatch-response.txt"
+            : > "${RESPONSE_FILE}"
 
-            HTTP_CODE=$(printf '%s\n' "${HTTP_RESULT}" | sed -n '1p')
-            RESPONSE_BODY=$(printf '%s\n' "${HTTP_RESULT}" | sed '1d')
+            HTTP_CODE=$(curl -sS --connect-timeout 5 --max-time 20 -o "${RESPONSE_FILE}" -w "%{http_code}" -X POST \
+              -H "Authorization: token ${DISPATCH_TOKEN}" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+              -H "User-Agent: plex-playlist-cicd-start" \
+              "${DISPATCH_URL}" \
+              -d "${payload}" || true)
 
-            if [ "${HTTP_CODE}" -ge 200 ] && [ "${HTTP_CODE}" -lt 300 ]; then
+            if [[ "${HTTP_CODE}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] && [ "${HTTP_CODE}" -ge 200 ] && [ "${HTTP_CODE}" -lt 300 ]; then
               echo "✓ Dispatch succeeded via ${API_BASE}"
               dispatched=true
               break
             fi
 
             echo "Dispatch attempt failed via ${API_BASE} (HTTP ${HTTP_CODE})"
-            if [ -n "${RESPONSE_BODY}" ]; then
+            if [ -s "${RESPONSE_FILE}" ]; then
               echo "Response body:"
-              printf '%s\n' "${RESPONSE_BODY}"
+              cat "${RESPONSE_FILE}"
             fi
           done