diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/cicd-tests.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/cicd-tests.yaml
index 0fe7b64..d29c6ad 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/cicd-tests.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/cicd-tests.yaml
@@ -321,6 +321,43 @@ jobs:
           DB_PASSWORD="plex_password"
           DB_URL="postgresql://plex_user:${DB_PASSWORD}@${DB_CONTAINER}:5432/plex_playlist"
 
+          fetch_backend_endpoint() {
+            endpoint_path="$1"
+            output_file="$2"
+            probe_tmp="$(mktemp)"
+
+            if ! docker exec "${BACKEND_CONTAINER}" python -c "$(printf '%s\n' \
+              'import sys' \
+              'import urllib.error' \
+              'import urllib.request' \
+              'endpoint_path = sys.argv[1]' \
+              'url = f"http://127.0.0.1:8000{endpoint_path}"' \
+              'try:' \
+              '    with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=2) as response:' \
+              '        body = response.read().decode("utf-8", errors="replace")' \
+              '        print(response.status)' \
+              '        print(body)' \
+              'except urllib.error.HTTPError as err:' \
+              '    body = err.read().decode("utf-8", errors="replace")' \
+              '    print(err.code)' \
+              '    print(body)' \
+              'except Exception:' \
+              '    print("000")' \
+              '    print("")'
+            )" "${endpoint_path}" >"${probe_tmp}" 2>/dev/null
+            then
+              : >"${output_file}"
+              rm -f "${probe_tmp}"
+              echo "000"
+              return 0
+            fi
+
+            http_code="$(head -n 1 "${probe_tmp}")"
+            tail -n +2 "${probe_tmp}" >"${output_file}"
+            rm -f "${probe_tmp}"
+            echo "${http_code}"
+          }
+
           dump_failure_context() {
             echo "=== Runtime Integration Failure Context ==="
             docker ps -a || true
@@ -417,7 +454,7 @@ jobs:
                 exit 1
               fi
 
-              health_code="$(curl -sS -o /tmp/blackbox-health.json -w "%{http_code}" "http://127.0.0.1:18000/health" || true)"
+              health_code="$(fetch_backend_endpoint "/health" /tmp/blackbox-health.json)"
               if [ "${health_code}" = "200" ]; then
                 backend_ready=true
                 break
@@ -431,7 +468,7 @@ jobs:
               exit 1
             fi
 
-            root_code="$(curl -sS -o /tmp/blackbox-root.json -w "%{http_code}" "http://127.0.0.1:18000/" || true)"
+            root_code="$(fetch_backend_endpoint "/" /tmp/blackbox-root.json)"
             if [ "${root_code}" != "200" ] || ! grep -q 'Plex Playlist Backend API' /tmp/blackbox-root.json; then
               echo "❌ Root endpoint validation failed"
               cat /tmp/blackbox-root.json 2>/dev/null || true
@@ -439,7 +476,7 @@ jobs:
               exit 1
             fi
 
-            compatibility_code="$(curl -sS -o /tmp/blackbox-compatibility.json -w "%{http_code}" "http://127.0.0.1:18000/compatibility" || true)"
+            compatibility_code="$(fetch_backend_endpoint "/compatibility" /tmp/blackbox-compatibility.json)"
             if [ "${compatibility_code}" != "200" ] || ! grep -q '"ok":true' /tmp/blackbox-compatibility.json; then
               echo "❌ Compatibility endpoint validation failed"
               cat /tmp/blackbox-compatibility.json 2>/dev/null || true
@@ -447,7 +484,7 @@ jobs:
               exit 1
             fi
 
-            health_code="$(curl -sS -o /tmp/blackbox-health.json -w "%{http_code}" "http://127.0.0.1:18000/health" || true)"
+            health_code="$(fetch_backend_endpoint "/health" /tmp/blackbox-health.json)"
             if [ "${health_code}" != "200" ] || ! grep -q '"status":"healthy"' /tmp/blackbox-health.json; then
               echo "❌ Health endpoint validation failed"
               cat /tmp/blackbox-health.json 2>/dev/null || true