diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index b2ccfea787c899e79a016d46aa80202eefb3ee47..afef8ecd5ea05432dadae913777e2a972ad64ddc 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ services:
       - CONFIG_SECRET_PATH=/var/run/secrets/secret.properties
     volumes:
       - ./config/application/secret.properties:/var/run/secrets/secret.properties
+      - ./config/application/pubkey.pem:/var/run/secrets/pubkey.pem
     depends_on:
       - "mariadb"
     deploy:
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/model/ValidationResponse.java b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/model/ValidationResponse.java
index fbd297a143bacee72b1643d7602b3a7a998322de..54a9f8219eca39e5a104ad8ed0961e8d36568eae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/model/ValidationResponse.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/model/ValidationResponse.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public abstract class ValidationResponse {
 
     /** @param error message to add to the API response */
     public void addError(String hash, String error, APIStatusCode code) {
-        if (getTrackedProject()) {
+        if (this.getTrackedProject() || this.getStrictMode()) {
             getCommits().computeIfAbsent(getHashKey(hash), k -> CommitStatus.builder().build()).addError(error, code);
         } else {
             addWarning(hash, error, code);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/resource/GithubWebhooksResource.java b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/resource/GithubWebhooksResource.java
index 96cebffb4ba3534a8ed8a109a71244f8a3733111..fd87bdf7d1e57f4edc43ad03294f1a94bdba8f7c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/resource/GithubWebhooksResource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/eclipsefoundation/git/eca/resource/GithubWebhooksResource.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import javax.ws.rs.Path;
 import javax.ws.rs.PathParam;
 import javax.ws.rs.core.MultivaluedMap;
 import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
+import javax.ws.rs.core.Response.Status;
 
 import org.eclipse.microprofile.config.inject.ConfigProperty;
 import org.eclipse.microprofile.rest.client.inject.RestClient;
@@ -170,7 +171,7 @@ public class GithubWebhooksResource {
         sb.append("/pull/");
         sb.append(tracking.getPullRequestNumber());
         // redirect to the pull request page on successful trigger of the webhook
-        return Response.temporaryRedirect(URI.create(sb.toString())).build();
+        return Response.status(Status.FOUND).location(URI.create(sb.toString())).build();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -303,6 +304,7 @@ public class GithubWebhooksResource {
                 .builder()
                 .setProvider(ProviderType.GITHUB)
                 .setRepoUrl(URI.create(repositoryUrl))
+                .setStrictMode(true)
                 .setCommits(commits
                         .stream()
                         .map(c -> Commit