diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/test_pr.yml b/.gitea/workflows/test_pr.yml
index ee459ef..cfd1a1f 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/test_pr.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/test_pr.yml
@@ -46,24 +46,26 @@ jobs:
           # show container status to aid debugging
           docker ps -a --filter name=semapform-test || true
 
-            # perform a readiness loop and then run the repo test script to exercise the API
-            docker exec semapform-test python - << 'PY'
-            import time, urllib.request, sys
-            url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8001/health'
-            for i in range(20):
-              try:
-                with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=2) as r:
-                  print('ready', i, 'status', r.status)
-                  if 200 <= r.status < 300:
-                    sys.exit(0)
-              except Exception as e:
-                print('ready attempt', i, 'failed:', e)
-                time.sleep(1)
-            print('service did not become ready')
-            sys.exit(1)
-            PY
+            # perform a readiness loop (try container-local /health) using small execs
+            echo "waiting for service to become ready inside container"
+            set -e
+            READY=0
+            for i in $(seq 1 20); do
+              echo "ready attempt $i"
+              if docker exec semapform-test python -c 'import urllib.request,sys; urllib.request.urlopen("http://127.0.0.1:8001/health", timeout=1); print("ok")' ; then
+                READY=1
+                break
+              fi
+              sleep 1
+            done
+            if [ "$READY" -ne 1 ]; then
+              echo "service did not become ready"
+              docker logs semapform-test --tail 200 || true
+              exit 1
+            fi
 
             # Run the repository smoke-test script inside the container and surface its output
+            echo "running test_api.py inside container"
             docker exec semapform-test python test_api.py || true
 
             # dump the last 200 lines of logs so this step always displays useful output