diff --git a/.github/workflows/cloud-pods.yml b/.github/workflows/cloud-pods.yml
index 5791bf1..b24a641 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cloud-pods.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cloud-pods.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           make install
 
+      - name: Install CDK
+        run: |
+          npm install -g aws-cdk-local aws-cdk
+          cdklocal --version
+
       - name: Start LocalStack
         uses: LocalStack/setup-localstack@main
         with:
@@ -47,8 +52,6 @@ jobs:
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: test
           AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: us-east-1
         run: |
-          make build
-          make bootstrap
           make deploy
 
       - name: Create Cloud Pod
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index fd30bcf..f0a2a84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           make install
 
+      - name: Install CDK
+        run: |
+          npm install -g aws-cdk-local aws-cdk
+          cdklocal --version
+
       - name: Start LocalStack
         uses: LocalStack/setup-localstack@v0.2.4
         with:
@@ -48,8 +53,6 @@ jobs:
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: test
           AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: us-east-1
         run: |
-          make build
-          make bootstrap
           make deploy
 
       - name: Integration Tests
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 06373ba..64e9801 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -7,40 +7,63 @@ SHELL := /bin/bash
 usage:
 		@fgrep -h "##" $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | fgrep -v fgrep | sed -e 's/\\$$//' | sed -e 's/##//'
 
+## Check if all required prerequisites are installed
+check:
+	@command -v docker > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "Docker is not installed. Please install Docker and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v node > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "Node.js is not installed. Please install Node.js and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v aws > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "AWS CLI is not installed. Please install AWS CLI and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v localstack > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "LocalStack is not installed. Please install LocalStack and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v cdk > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "CDK is not installed. Please install CDK and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v cdklocal > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "cdklocal is not installed. Please install cdklocal and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v aws > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "AWS CLI is not installed. Please install AWS CLI and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@command -v awslocal > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "awslocal is not installed. Please install awslocal and try again."; exit 1; }
+	@echo "All required prerequisites are available."
+
 ## Install dependencies
 install:
-		@which localstack || pip install localstack
-		@which awslocal || pip install awscli-local
-		@which cdklocal || npm install -g aws-cdk-local aws-cdk
+		@if [ ! -d "node_modules" ]; then \
+			echo "node_modules not found. Running npm install..."; \
+			npm install; \
+		fi
+		@if [ ! -d "demos/rds-query-fn-code/node_modules" ]; then \
+			echo "demos/rds-query-fn-code/node_modules not found. Running npm install..."; \
+			npm install --prefix demos/rds-query-fn-code; \
+		fi
+		@echo "All required dependencies are available."
 
 ## Deploy the infrastructure
-build:
-		npm install && cd demos/rds-query-fn-code && npm install
-
-## Bootstap the CDK sample
-bootstrap:
-		cdklocal bootstrap
-
-## Deploy the CDK sample
 deploy:
+		@echo "Bootstrapping CDK..."
+		cdklocal bootstrap
+		@echo "Deploying CDK..."
 		cdklocal deploy --require-approval never
+		@echo "CDK deployed successfully."
+
+## Run the tests
+test:
+		@echo "Running tests..."
+		npm test
+		@echo "Tests completed successfully."
 
 ## Start LocalStack in detached mode
 start:
-		RDS_MYSQL_DOCKER=1 localstack start -d
+		@echo "Starting LocalStack..."
+		@LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN=$(LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN) localstack start -d
+		@echo "LocalStack started successfully."
 
 ## Stop the Running LocalStack container
 stop:
-		@echo
-		localstack stop
+		@echo "Stopping LocalStack..."
+		@localstack stop
+		@echo "LocalStack stopped successfully."
 
 ## Make sure the LocalStack container is up
 ready:
 		@echo Waiting on the LocalStack container...
 		@localstack wait -t 30 && echo LocalStack is ready to use! || (echo Gave up waiting on LocalStack, exiting. && exit 1)
 
-## Save the logs in a separate file, since the LS container will only contain the logs of the last sample run.
+## Save the logs in a separate file
 logs:
 		@localstack logs > logs.txt
 
-.PHONY: usage install bootstrap build deploy deploy start stop ready logs
\ No newline at end of file
+.PHONY: usage check start ready install deploy test logs stop