diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/backend.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/backend.yaml
index c537cc6..a12133c 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/backend.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/backend.yaml
@@ -1,19 +1,30 @@
-name: Gitea Actions Demo
-run-name: ${{ gitea.actor }} is testing out Gitea Actions 🚀
+name: Backend Actions
+run-name: ${{ gitea.actor }} is running backend actions
 on: [push]
 
 jobs:
-  Explore-Gitea-Actions:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+  build:
+    runs-on: rust-latest
     steps:
-      - run: echo "🎉 The job was automatically triggered by a ${{ gitea.event_name }} event."
-      - run: echo "🐧 This job is now running on a ${{ runner.os }} server hosted by Gitea!"
-      - run: echo "🔎 The name of your branch is ${{ gitea.ref }} and your repository is ${{ gitea.repository }}."
-      - name: Check out repository code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - run: echo "💡 The ${{ gitea.repository }} repository has been cloned to the runner."
-      - run: echo "🖥️ The workflow is now ready to test your code on the runner."
-      - name: List files in the repository
-        run: |
-          ls ${{ gitea.workspace }}
-      - run: echo "🍏 This job's status is ${{ job.status }}."
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Load Cache
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        working-directory: ./backend
+        with:
+          path: |
+            ~/.cargo/registry
+            ~/.cargo/git
+            target
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-cargo--${{ hashFiles('Cargo.lock') }}
+      - name: Build Binary
+        working-directory: ./backend
+        run: cargo build --release
+      - name: Run Tests
+        working-directory: ./backend
+        run: ./scripts/test.sh
+      - name: Upload Test Logs
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        working-directory: ./backend
+        with:
+          name: nuchat-${{ hashFiles('src/**') }}-${{ hashFiles('tests/**') }}.log
+          path: logs/*
diff --git a/backend/Justfile b/backend/Justfile
index f14fbb6..713cbc1 100644
--- a/backend/Justfile
+++ b/backend/Justfile
@@ -8,9 +8,7 @@ start:
 	cargo run --features shutdown 2>&1 > logs/nuchat.log
 
 test:
-	cargo run --features shutdown -- --port 7001 2>&1 > logs/nuchat.log & 
-	cargo test
-	curl -s -X POST localhost:7001/admin/shutdown
+	./scripts/test.sh
 
 default := 'run'
 watch CMD=default:
diff --git a/backend/scripts/test.sh b/backend/scripts/test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59212b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/scripts/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# ensure server is not started
+curl -s -X POST localhost:7001/admin/shutdown 2>&1 > /dev/null
+
+# start server
+cargo run --features shutdown -- --port 7001 2>&1 > logs/nuchat.log & 
+
+# run tests
+cargo test | tee logs/test-output.log