diff --git a/.github/workflows/workflow.yml b/.github/workflows/workflow.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d96717
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/workflow.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+name: Spring Boot CI/CD
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ "dev", "feature/*", "fix/*", "test/*" ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ "main" ]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    services:
+      postgres:
+        image: postgres:latest
+        env:
+          POSTGRES_DB: smsdb_test
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: pass123
+          POSTGRES_USER: admin
+        ports:
+          - 5432:5432
+        options: >-
+          --health-cmd pg_isready
+          --health-interval 10s
+          --health-timeout 5s
+          --health-retries 5
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Setup Java 21
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          java-version: '21'
+          distribution: 'temurin'
+          cache: maven
+
+      - name: Test & Build
+        run: ./mvnw clean verify
+        env:
+          SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL: jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/smsdb_test
+          SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME: admin
+          SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD: pass123
+          SPRING_JPA_HIBERNATE_DDL_AUTO: create-drop
+
+  deploy:
+    needs: test
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Trigger Render Deployment
+        run: |
+          curl -X POST \
+            -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.RENDER_API_KEY }}" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -d '{}' \
+            https://api.render.com/v1/services/${{ secrets.RENDER_SERVICE_ID }}/deploys
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 667aaef..618189e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ target/
 !**/src/main/**/target/
 !**/src/test/**/target/
 
+# Environment files
+.env
+.env.local
+.env.*
+
 ### STS ###
 .apt_generated
 .classpath
@@ -30,4 +35,4 @@ build/
 !**/src/test/**/build/
 
 ### VS Code ###
-.vscode/
+.vscode/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 00f31bb..f463bca 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,22 +1,40 @@
-# Database Configuration
-spring.datasource.url=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL:jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/smsdb}
-spring.datasource.username=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME:admin}
-spring.datasource.password=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD:pass123}
+## Database Configuration
+#spring.datasource.url=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL:jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/smsdb}
+#spring.datasource.username=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME:admin}
+#spring.datasource.password=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD:pass123}
+#spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.postgresql.Driver
+#
+## JPA/Hibernate
+#spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=${SPRING_JPA_HIBERNATE_DDL_AUTO:update}
+#spring.jpa.show-sql=${SPRING_JPA_SHOW_SQL:false}
+#spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
+#spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.format_sql=true
+#
+## Server
+#server.port=8080
+#
+## Thymeleaf
+#spring.thymeleaf.prefix=classpath:/templates/
+#spring.thymeleaf.suffix=.html
+#spring.thymeleaf.cache=false
+#
+## Security (for development)
+#spring.security.filter.order=10
+
+# Database Configuration - Render provides these env vars
+spring.datasource.url=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL}
+spring.datasource.username=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME}
+spring.datasource.password=${SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD}
 spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.postgresql.Driver
 
 # JPA/Hibernate
 spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=${SPRING_JPA_HIBERNATE_DDL_AUTO:update}
 spring.jpa.show-sql=${SPRING_JPA_SHOW_SQL:false}
-spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
 spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.format_sql=true
 
-# Server
-server.port=8080
+# Server - Render sets PORT env var
+server.port=${PORT:8080}
 
 # Thymeleaf
-spring.thymeleaf.prefix=classpath:/templates/
-spring.thymeleaf.suffix=.html
 spring.thymeleaf.cache=false
 
-# Security (for development)
-spring.security.filter.order=10
\ No newline at end of file