diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 3c66f3f..5f7e5a8 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -26,5 +26,12 @@
 	"workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=${localWorkspaceFolder},type=bind",
 	"mounts": [
 		"source=${localEnv:HOME}/.cache/pip,target=/home/vscode/.cache/pip,type=bind"
-	]
+	],
+	"customizations": {
+		"vscode": {
+			"extensions": [
+				"charliermarsh.ruff"
+			]
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index adc4220..8850973 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,10 +1,101 @@
 .DS_Store
-.idea
-__pycache__
-venv
-venv-test
 tmp_cat.log
 # skip the custom envs
 #envs
 # skip the models directory
-models
\ No newline at end of file
+models
+!models/examples
+models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack
+
+## Default Python .dockerignore
+# Git
+.git
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+
+# CI
+.codeclimate.yml
+.travis.yml
+.taskcluster.yml
+
+# Docker
+docker/
+docker-compose.yml
+Dockerfile
+.docker
+.dockerignore
+
+# Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
+**/__pycache__/
+**/*.py[cod]
+
+# C extensions
+*.so
+
+# Distribution / packaging
+.Python
+env/
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
+
+# PyInstaller
+#  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
+#  before PyInstaller builds the exe, so as to inject date/other infos into it.
+*.manifest
+*.spec
+
+# Installer logs
+pip-log.txt
+pip-delete-this-directory.txt
+
+# Unit test / coverage reports
+htmlcov/
+.tox/
+.coverage
+.cache
+nosetests.xml
+coverage.xml
+
+# Translations
+*.mo
+*.pot
+
+# Django stuff:
+*.log
+
+# Sphinx documentation
+docs/_build/
+
+# PyBuilder
+target/
+
+# Virtual environment
+.env
+.venv/
+venv/
+
+# PyCharm
+.idea
+
+# Python mode for VIM
+.ropeproject
+**/.ropeproject
+
+# Vim swap files
+**/*.swp
+
+# VS Code
+.vscode/
+.devcontainer
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index 7978135..476d36a 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ on:
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      image_version: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
     steps:        
       - name: Log in to Docker Hub
         uses: docker/login-action@v1
@@ -79,4 +81,27 @@ jobs:
           cache-to: type=registry,ref=cogstacksystems/medcat-service-gpu:buildcache,mode=max
           
       - name: Image digest
-        run: echo ${{ steps.docker_build.outputs.digest }}
\ No newline at end of file
+        run: echo ${{ steps.docker_build.outputs.digest }}
+  integration_test:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: build
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Run Test with example model pack
+        run: |
+          echo "🧪 Running Examples test..."
+          export IMAGE_TAG=${{ needs.build.outputs.image_version }} # Improve by running exact digest instead
+          echo "Running with image tag ${IMAGE_TAG}"
+          bash scripts/test_examples.sh
+          
+      - name: Report test result
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+            echo "✅ Integration test PASSED"
+          else
+            echo "❌ Integration test FAILED"
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
index 45541eb..fb6f16b 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
@@ -27,18 +27,26 @@ jobs:
       - name: checkout repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v2
 
+      - name: Cache MedMen Model
+        id: cache-medmen
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: models/medmen
+          key: medmen-${{ hashFiles('scripts/download_medmen.sh') }}
+
       - name: Install Python 3
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v1
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: 3.9
+          cache: 'pip' # caching pip dependencies
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
           sudo apt-get install -y isort flake8
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
           python -m pip install virtualenv setuptools
-          python -m pip install isort flake8 mypy stubs types-Flask types-simplejson types-setuptools
-          python -m pip install -r ./requirements.txt
+          python -m pip install isort flake8 mypy stubs types-Flask types-simplejson types-setuptools types-requests
+          python -m pip install -r ./requirements.txt --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/;
 
       - name: Check linting and types
         run: |
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4dd9bc4..4e37395 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ __pycache__
 # skip the models directory
 models/*
 !models/*.sh
+!models/examples
+models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack
 
 # tmp folder
 tmp/*
diff --git a/.ruff.toml b/.ruff.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a52c44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ruff.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+line-length = 120
+indent-width = 4
+
+[lint]
+# 1. Enable flake8-bugbear (`B`) rules, in addition to the defaults.
+select = [
+    # pycodestyle
+    "E",
+    # Pyflakes
+    "F",
+    # pyupgrade
+    "UP",
+    # flake8-bugbear
+    "B",
+    # flake8-simplify
+    "SIM",
+    # isort
+    "I",
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 79b2608..cbb779b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -5,14 +5,22 @@ ENV CRYPTOGRAPHY_DONT_BUILD_RUST=1
 # Set the python path and preapre the base layer
 WORKDIR /cat
 COPY ./requirements.txt /cat
-RUN pip install --upgrade pip
 
-# Install requirements for the app
-RUN pip3 install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
+# Install Python dependencies
+ARG USE_CPU_TORCH=true
+# NOTE: Allow building without GPU so as to lower image size (GPU is disabled by default)
+RUN pip install -U pip && \
+    if [ "${USE_CPU_TORCH}" = "true" ]; then \
+        echo "Installing Torch for CPU, without GPU support " && \
+        pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/; \
+    else \
+        echo "Installing Torch with GPU support" && \
+        pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt; \
+    fi
 
 # Get the spacy model
 ARG SPACY_MODELS="en_core_web_sm en_core_web_md en_core_web_lg"
-RUN for spacy_model in ${SPACY_MODELS}; do python -m spacy download $spacy_model; done
+RUN for spacy_model in $SPACY_MODELS; do python -m spacy download $spacy_model; done
 
 # Copy the remaining files
 COPY . /cat
diff --git a/Dockerfile_gpu b/Dockerfile_gpu
index aa738f9..2638ca7 100644
--- a/Dockerfile_gpu
+++ b/Dockerfile_gpu
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
 # Get the spacy model
 ARG SPACY_MODELS="en_core_web_sm en_core_web_md en_core_web_lg"
-RUN for spacy_model in ${SPACY_MODELS}; do python -m spacy download $spacy_model; done
+RUN for spacy_model in $SPACY_MODELS; do python -m spacy download $spacy_model; done
 
 # Copy the remaining files
 COPY . /cat
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 90d56e2..c275978 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ There are two scripts provided implementing starting the application:
 ## Running in a Docker container
 
 The recommended way to run the application is to use the provided Docker image. The Docker image can be either downloaded from the Docker Hub (`cogstacksystems/medcat-service:latest`) or build manually using the provided `Dockerfile`. 
-Please note that by default the built docker image will run the Flask application in 'production' mode running `start-service-prod.sh` script.
+Please note that by default the built docker image will run the Flask application in 'production' mode running `start_service_production.sh` script.
 
 To build the Docker image manually:
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ If you have a gpu and wish to use it, please change the `docker/docker-compose.y
 ### <span style="color:red">IMPORTANT !</span>
 If you wish to run this docker service manually, use the docker/docker-compose.yml file, execute `docker compose up -d` whilst in the `docker` folder. 
 
-Alternatively, an example script `./docker/run_example_medmen.sh` was provided to run the Docker container with MedCAT service. The script will download an example model (using the `./models/download_medmen.sh` script),it will use an example environment configuration, then it will build and start the service using the provided Docker Compose file, the service <b><span style="color:red">WONT WORK</span></b> without the model being present.
+Alternatively, an example script `./docker/run_example_medmen.sh` was provided to run the Docker container with MedCAT service. The script will download an example model (using the `./scripts/download_medmen.sh` script),it will use an example environment configuration, then it will build and start the service using the provided Docker Compose file, the service <b><span style="color:red">WONT WORK</span></b> without the model being present.
 
 All models should be mounted from the `models/` folder.
 
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose-example-medmen.yml b/docker/docker-compose-example-medmen.yml
index 848a6d1..75563b8 100755
--- a/docker/docker-compose-example-medmen.yml
+++ b/docker/docker-compose-example-medmen.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ services:
       - http_proxy=$HTTP_PROXY
       - https_proxy=$HTTPS_PROXY
       - no_proxy=$no_proxy
+      - ENABLE_MODEL_DOWNLOAD=true
+      - MODEL_NAME=medmen
+      - MODEL_VOCAB_URL=https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/vocab.dat 
+      - MODEL_CDB_URL=https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/cdb-medmen-v1.dat 
+      - MODEL_META_URL=https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/mc_status.zip 
     env_file:
       - ../env/app.env
       - ../env/medcat.env
@@ -21,27 +26,7 @@ services:
     networks:
       - cognet
 
-  nlp-medcat-service-production-deid:
-    ### Multiple images available:
-    ## default image, only CPU support: cogstacksystems/medcat-service:latest 
-    ## GPU support: cogstacksystems/medcat-service-gpu:latest
-    image: cogstacksystems/medcat-service:latest
-    restart: always
-    environment:
-      - http_proxy=$HTTP_PROXY
-      - https_proxy=$HTTPS_PROXY
-      - no_proxy=$no_proxy
-    env_file:
-      - ../env/app_deid.env
-      - ../env/medcat_deid.env
-    volumes:
-    - ../models:/cat/models/
-    ports:
-      - "5556:5000"
-    networks:
-      - cognet
-      
+
 networks:
   cognet:
-    driver: bridge
     name: cogstack-net
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.example.yml b/docker/docker-compose.example.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9af029f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.example.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+name: cogstack-medcat-service
+services:
+  medcat-service:
+    image: cogstacksystems/medcat-service:${IMAGE_TAG-latest}
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    environment:
+      # Uses a preloaded model pack example inside the image
+      - APP_MEDCAT_MODEL_PACK=/cat/models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack.zip 
+    ports:
+      - "5555:5000"
diff --git a/docker/run_example_medmen.sh b/docker/run_example_medmen.sh
index 98831ea..5aa6f41 100755
--- a/docker/run_example_medmen.sh
+++ b/docker/run_example_medmen.sh
@@ -1,43 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-
-( cd ../models && bash download_medmen.sh )
-
-echo "Running docker-compose"
-DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE="docker-compose-example-medmen.yml"
-docker compose -f ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE} up -d
-
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE="docker-compose.example-medmen.yml"
 # To run in a container run "export LOCALHOST_NAME=host.docker.internal"
 LOCALHOST_NAME=${LOCALHOST_NAME:-localhost}
 
-API="http://${LOCALHOST_NAME}:5555/api/info"
-
-MAX_RETRIES=12
-RETRY_DELAY=5
-COUNT=0
-
-while [ $COUNT -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; do
-  echo "Checking service health on $API (Attempt $((COUNT+1))/$MAX_RETRIES)"
-  sleep $RETRY_DELAY
-  IS_READY=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" $API)
-  
-  if [ "$IS_READY" = "200" ]; then
-    echo "Service is ready!"
-    break
-  else
-    echo "Attempt $((COUNT+1))/$MAX_RETRIES: Not ready (HTTP $IS_READY)."
-    docker compose -f ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE} logs
-    COUNT=$((COUNT+1))
-  fi
-done
-
-if [ $COUNT -eq $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
-  echo "❌ Service did not become ready after $MAX_RETRIES attempts."
-  exit 1
-fi
+echo "Running docker-compose"
+docker compose -f ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE} up -d
 
-cat <<EOF
------------------------------------------------------------------
-MedCATService running on http://${LOCALHOST_NAME}:5555/
------------------------------------------------------------------
-EOF
+echo "Running test"
+source ../scripts/integration_test_functions.sh
+smoketest_medcat_service $LOCALHOST_NAME $DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/run_example_simple.sh b/docker/run_example_simple.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8b4654d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/run_example_simple.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE="docker-compose.example.yml"
+# To run in a container run "export LOCALHOST_NAME=host.docker.internal"
+LOCALHOST_NAME=${LOCALHOST_NAME:-localhost}
+
+echo "Running docker-compose"
+docker compose -f ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE} up -d
+
+echo "Running test"
+source ../scripts/integration_test_functions.sh
+smoketest_medcat_service $LOCALHOST_NAME $DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE
+
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "Failed basic smoketest"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Test the deployment
+integration_test_medcat_service $LOCALHOST_NAME
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "Failed integration test"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+cat <<EOF
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+MedCATService running on http://${LOCALHOST_NAME}:5555/
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+EOF
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/models/download_medmen.sh b/models/download_medmen.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 9e9a387..0000000
--- a/models/download_medmen.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-set -e
-
-# output model files
-MEDMEN_DIR=./medmen
-MODEL_CDB=$MEDMEN_DIR/cdb.dat
-MODEL_VCB=$MEDMEN_DIR/vocab.dat
-MODEL_META=$MEDMEN_DIR/Status
-
-if [[ ! -f "$MODEL_CDB"  || ! -f "$MODEL_VCB" ]]; then
-  echo "Downloading model: MedMentions"
-  if [[ ! -d $MEDMEN_DIR ]]; then
-    mkdir $MEDMEN_DIR
-  fi
-  
-  # download the model as described in the MedCAT repo
-  curl https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/vocab.dat > $MODEL_VCB
-  curl https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/cdb-medmen-v1.dat > $MODEL_CDB
-else
-  echo "MedMentions model already present -- skipping download"
-fi
-
-if [[ ! -d "$MODEL_META" ]]; then
-  echo "Downloading meta model: status"
-  curl https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/mc_status.zip > $MEDMEN_DIR/mc_status.zip && \
-    (cd $MEDMEN_DIR && unzip mc_status.zip) && \
-    rm $MEDMEN_DIR/mc_status.zip
-else
-  echo "Meta model already present -- skipping download"
-fi
diff --git a/models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack.zip b/models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ff6e84
Binary files /dev/null and b/models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack.zip differ
diff --git a/models/examples/examples.md b/models/examples/examples.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fca65ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/examples/examples.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Example Model Packs
+
+## [example-medcat-v1-model-pack][(models/examples/example-medcat-v1-model-pack.zip)
+- This model pack is built by running the MedCAT V1 Tutorial Part 3.1.
+- https://github.com/CogStack/MedCATtutorials/blob/5a07e4d77da404631cc16b47d3f1c6bd028de396/notebooks/introductory/Part_3_1_Building_a_Concept_Database_and_Vocabulary.ipynb
+
+It isn't a trained model, but has the concepts "Kidney Failure" and "Failure of Kidneys" built in
+
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 65bade2..7ff331a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -8,4 +8,5 @@ werkzeug==3.1.3
 setuptools-rust==1.11.0
 medcat==1.16.0
 # pinned because of issues with de-id models and past models (it will not do any de-id)
-transformers>=4.34.0,<5.0.0
\ No newline at end of file
+transformers>=4.34.0,<5.0.0
+requests==2.32.4
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/run_tests.sh b/run_tests.sh
index 8a6ed9e..bf0e9e3 100644
--- a/run_tests.sh
+++ b/run_tests.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 set -e
 
 # download the sci-scpacy language model
-python3 -m pip install -r ./requirements.txt
+python3 -m pip install -r ./requirements.txt --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/;
 python3 -m spacy download en_core_web_sm
 python3 -m spacy download en_core_web_md
 python3 -m spacy download en_core_web_lg
 
 # download the test MedCAT model
-( cd ./models && bash download_medmen.sh )
+bash ./scripts/download_medmen.sh
 export APP_CDB_MODEL="$PWD/models/medmen/cdb.dat"
 export APP_VOCAB_MODEL="$PWD/models/medmen/vocab.dat"
 
diff --git a/scripts/download_medmen.sh b/scripts/download_medmen.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ea1d1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/download_medmen.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
+
+export MODEL_NAME=medmen
+export MODEL_VOCAB_URL=https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/vocab.dat 
+export MODEL_CDB_URL=https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/cdb-medmen-v1.dat 
+export MODEL_META_URL=https://cogstack-medcat-example-models.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/medcat-example-models/mc_status.zip 
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+python ${SCRIPT_DIR}/download_model.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/download_model.py b/scripts/download_model.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83bf47e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/download_model.py
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import logging
+import os
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+from zipfile import ZipFile
+
+import requests
+
+# Required environment variables
+required_vars = {
+    "MODEL_NAME": "name of the model",
+    "MODEL_VOCAB_URL": "URL to vocab file",
+    "MODEL_CDB_URL": "URL to CDB file",
+    "MODEL_META_URL": "URL to meta file",
+}
+
+# Setup logging
+logging.basicConfig(
+    format="[%(asctime)s] [%(levelname)s] %(name)s: %(message)s",
+    level=logging.INFO,
+)
+log = logging.getLogger()
+
+log.info("Running MedCAT Model Downloader")
+
+# Check for missing env vars
+missing = [var for var in required_vars if not os.getenv(var)]
+if missing:
+    log.error("Missing Required environment variables:")
+    for var in missing:
+        log.error(f"  {var}")
+    log.info("Usage: set these environment variables before running the script:")
+    for var, desc in required_vars.items():
+        log.info(f"  {var:<16} - {desc}")
+
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+# Load env vars
+model_name = os.environ["MODEL_NAME"]
+vocab_url = os.environ["MODEL_VOCAB_URL"]
+cdb_url = os.environ["MODEL_CDB_URL"]
+meta_url = os.environ["MODEL_META_URL"]
+
+# Prepare paths
+script_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+model_dir = script_dir.parent / "models" / model_name
+model_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+vocab_file = model_dir / "vocab.dat"
+cdb_file = model_dir / "cdb.dat"
+meta_zip = model_dir / "mc_status.zip"
+meta_dir = model_dir / "Status"
+
+
+def download_file(url, dest_path):
+    log.info(f"Downloading from {url} to {dest_path}")
+    resp = requests.get(url, stream=True)
+    resp.raise_for_status()
+    total = int(resp.headers.get("content-length", 0))
+    downloaded = 0
+    chunk_size = 8192
+    last_logged_percent = 0
+
+    with open(dest_path, "wb") as f:
+        # Print status bar to the console
+        for chunk in resp.iter_content(chunk_size):
+            if chunk:
+                f.write(chunk)
+                downloaded += len(chunk)
+                if total:
+                    percent = int(downloaded * 100 / total)
+                    if percent - last_logged_percent >= 10 or percent == 100:
+                        last_logged_percent = percent
+                        done = int(50 * percent / 100)
+                        downloaded_mb = downloaded / (1024 * 1024)
+                        total_mb = total / (1024 * 1024)
+                        log.info(f"[{'=' * done:<50}] {percent:3d}% {downloaded_mb:.2f} MB / {total_mb:.2f} MB")
+    os.chmod(dest_path, 0o644)
+    log.info(f"Download complete to {dest_path}")
+
+
+# Download vocab and cdb if missing
+if vocab_file.exists() and cdb_file.exists():
+    log.info(
+        f"{model_name} model already present with Vocabulary: '{vocab_file}' and CDB: '{cdb_file}'. Skipping download"
+    )
+else:
+    log.info(f"Starting download of MedCAT Model '{model_name}'")
+    if not vocab_file.exists():
+        download_file(vocab_url, vocab_file)
+    if not cdb_file.exists():
+        download_file(cdb_url, cdb_file)
+
+# Download and unzip meta if missing
+if not meta_dir.exists():
+    log.info("Downloading meta model: status")
+    download_file(meta_url, meta_zip)
+    with ZipFile(meta_zip, "r") as zip_ref:
+        zip_ref.extractall(model_dir)
+    meta_zip.unlink()
+else:
+    log.info(f"Meta model already present in {meta_dir} -- skipping download")
+
+log.info(f"Completed downloading model '{model_name}'")
diff --git a/scripts/integration_test_functions.sh b/scripts/integration_test_functions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9feaea3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/integration_test_functions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+smoketest_medcat_service() {
+    local localhost_name="$1"
+    local docker_compose_file="$2"
+
+    if [ -z "$localhost_name" ] || [ -z "$docker_compose_file" ]; then
+        echo "Invalid arguments. Usage: health_check <localhost_name> <docker_compose_file>" >&2
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    API="http://${localhost_name}:5555/api/info"
+
+    MAX_RETRIES=12
+    RETRY_DELAY=5
+    COUNT=0
+
+    while [ $COUNT -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; do
+    echo "Checking service health on $API (Attempt $((COUNT+1))/$MAX_RETRIES)"
+    sleep $RETRY_DELAY
+    IS_READY=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" $API)
+    
+    if [ "$IS_READY" = "200" ]; then
+        echo "Service is ready!"
+        break
+    else
+        echo "Attempt $((COUNT+1))/$MAX_RETRIES: Not ready (HTTP $IS_READY)."
+        docker compose -f ${DOCKER_COMPOSE_FILE} logs
+        COUNT=$((COUNT+1))
+    fi
+    done
+
+    if [ $COUNT -eq $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
+    echo "❌ Service did not become ready after $MAX_RETRIES attempts."
+    exit 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "Service passed basic smoke test"
+
+}
+
+
+integration_test_medcat_service() {
+  local localhost_name=$1
+  local api="http://${localhost_name}:5555/api/process"
+  local input_text="The patient was diagnosed with Kidney Failure"
+  local input_payload="{\"content\":{\"text\":\"${input_text}\"}}"
+  local expected_annotation="Kidney Failure"
+
+  echo "Calling POST $api with payload '$input_payload'"
+  local actual
+  actual=$(curl -s -X POST $api \
+    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+    -d "$input_payload")
+
+  echo "Recieved result '$actual'"
+
+  local actual_annotation
+  actual_annotation=$(echo "$actual" | jq -r '.result.annotations[0]["0"].pretty_name')
+
+  if [[ "$actual_annotation" == "$expected_annotation" ]]; then
+    echo "Service working and extracting annotations"
+  else
+    echo "Expected: $expected_annotation, Got: $actual_annotation"
+    echo -e "Actual response was:\n${actual}"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/test_examples.sh b/scripts/test_examples.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c2bfa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/test_examples.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Integration test of medcat service docker image
+echo "Running integration test of medcat service"
+
+if [ -n "$IMAGE_TAG" ]; then
+  echo "Testing image tag $IMAGE_TAG"
+fi
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+
+cd ${SCRIPT_DIR}/../docker
+bash run_example_simple.sh
+
+# Check if health check was successful
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "✅ Success! Medcat service passed integration tests"
+    docker compose -f docker-compose.example.yml down
+    exit 0
+else
+    echo "❌ Failure. Medcat service failed tests"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
diff --git a/start_service_production.sh b/start_service_production.sh
index ef8fbd9..2c20dec 100644
--- a/start_service_production.sh
+++ b/start_service_production.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+echo "Starting MedCAT Service"
+
+# Optionally download model before server startup
+if [[ "$ENABLE_MODEL_DOWNLOAD" == "true" ]]; then
+  python -u /cat/scripts/download_model.py
+fi
 
 # check the gunicorn config params
 #