diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/model-lab/app/main.py b/model-lab/app/main.py
index bb63904..03c6592 100644
--- a/model-lab/app/main.py
+++ b/model-lab/app/main.py
@@ -1,20 +1,34 @@
 from fastapi import FastAPI, File, UploadFile, HTTPException, Form
+from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+from pathlib import Path
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from PIL import Image
 import io
 import os
+import logging
+
 from app.model import Model
-from pathlib import Path
-from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# Load environment variables
 load_dotenv()
 
+# Configure logging
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# Initialize FastAPI app
 app = FastAPI(title="Face Sentiment API")
 
-# path to the model
+# ✅ Path to the model (fixed typo: onxx_models → onnx_models)
 BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
-MODEL_PATH = BASE_DIR / "models"/ "onxx_models" / "emotion-ferplus-8.onnx"
+MODEL_PATH = BASE_DIR / "models" / "onnx_models" / "emotion-ferplus-8.onnx"
+if not MODEL_PATH.exists():
+    raise FileNotFoundError(f"Model file not found: {MODEL_PATH}")
 
+# ✅ Validate CORS origins properly
 ALLOWED_ORIGINS = os.getenv("CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS", "http://localhost:3000").split(",")
+if not ALLOWED_ORIGINS or ALLOWED_ORIGINS == [""]:
+    raise RuntimeError("No allowed origins configured in CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS")
 
 app.add_middleware(
     CORSMiddleware,
@@ -23,16 +37,41 @@
     allow_headers=["Content-Type"],
 )
 
+# ✅ Pre-load both model options at startup to avoid race conditions
+emotion_models = {
+    1: Model(model_path=MODEL_PATH, model_option=1),  # HuggingFace ViT
+    2: Model(model_path=MODEL_PATH, model_option=2)   # ONNX with CV2
+}
+
+# ✅ Prediction endpoint with corrected error handling
 @app.post("/predict")
 async def predict(file: UploadFile = File(...), model_option: int = Form(1)):
+    # Validate file type
     if not file.content_type.startswith("image/"):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="File must be an image")
+
+    # Read file bytes
     file_bytes = await file.read()
     try:
         image = Image.open(io.BytesIO(file_bytes))
     except (OSError, ValueError) as err:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Invalid or corrupted image file") from err
-    emotion_model  = Model(model_path=MODEL_PATH, model_option=model_option)
-    emotion, prob = emotion_model.predict(pil_image=image)
-    
-    return {"emotion": emotion, "probabilities": prob}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    try:
+        # Validate model option
+        model = emotion_models.get(model_option)
+        if not model:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Invalid model option")
+
+        # Run prediction
+        prediction = model.predict(image)
+        return {"prediction": prediction}
+
+    except HTTPException:
+        # Preserve explicit HTTP errors
+        raise
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Log internal error for debugging
+        logger.exception("Unexpected error during prediction")
+        # Return generic message to client
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="Internal server error")