diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 0fde57e..62c7481 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+    - name: Install YQ
+      run: |
+        sudo wget https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/latest/download/yq_linux_amd64 -O /usr/bin/yq &&\
+          sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/yq
     - name: Generate Certs
       run: |
         export GOPATH=/opt/go
@@ -23,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
         export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$PATH
         go install github.com/cloudflare/cfssl/cmd/cfssl@v1.6.3
         go install github.com/cloudflare/cfssl/cmd/cfssljson@v1.6.3
-        make gencert
+        make certs
     - name: Build Container
       run: |
         make container
@@ -32,10 +36,3 @@ jobs:
         mkdir -p ${HOME}/.aws && cp data/credentials ${HOME}/.aws/
         export AWS_REGION=us-west-2
         go test ./pkg/api ./pkg/grpc ./pkg/pubsub ./pkg/storage
-
-# TODO: need to disable for now, as this fails and I can't figure out why
-#    - name: Test CLI
-#      run: |
-#        mkdir -p ${HOME}/.fsm/certs
-#        cp certs/ca.pem ${HOME}/.fsm/certs/
-#        RELEASE=$(make version) BASEDIR=$(pwd) go test ./client
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 60b3a80..6e5d86a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,107 +1,87 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2022 AlertAvert.com.  All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2022-2024 AlertAvert.com.  All rights reserved.
 # Created by M. Massenzio, 2022-03-14
 
-
-GOOS ?= $(shell uname -s | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")
-GOARCH ?= amd64
-GOMOD := $(shell go list -m)
-
-version := v0.13.1
-release := $(version)-g$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
-out := build/bin
-server := fsm-server-$(version)_$(GOOS)-$(GOARCH)
-cli := fsm-cli-$(version)_$(GOOS)-$(GOARCH)
-
-# CLI Configuration
-cli_config := ${HOME}/.fsm
-
-image := massenz/statemachine
-compose := docker/compose.yaml
-dockerfile := docker/Dockerfile
+include thirdparty/common.mk
+bin := $(appname)-$(release)_$(GOOS)-$(GOARCH)
 
 # Source files & Test files definitions
-#
-# Edit only the packages list, when adding new functionality,
-# the rest is deduced automatically.
-#
-pkgs := pkg/api pkg/grpc pkg/pubsub pkg/storage pkg/internal
+pkgs := $(shell find pkg -mindepth 1 -type d)
 all_go := $(shell for d in $(pkgs); do find $$d -name "*.go"; done)
 test_srcs := $(shell for d in $(pkgs); do find $$d -name "*_test.go"; done)
 srcs := $(filter-out $(test_srcs),$(all_go))
 
 ##@ General
-
-# The help target prints out all targets with their descriptions organized
-# beneath their categories. The categories are represented by '##@' and the
-# target descriptions by '##'. The awk commands is responsible for reading the
-# entire set of makefiles included in this invocation, looking for lines of the
-# file as xyz: ## something, and then pretty-format the target and help. Then,
-# if there's a line with ##@ something, that gets pretty-printed as a category.
-# More info on the usage of ANSI control characters for terminal formatting:
-# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR_parameters
-# More info on the awk command:
-# http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_adv_awk.php
-
-.PHONY: help
-help: ## Display this help.
-	@awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*##"; printf "\nUsage:\n  make \033[36m<target>\033[0m\n"} /^[a-zA-Z_0-9-]+:.*?##/ { printf "  \033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2 } /^##@/ { printf "\n\033[1m%s\033[0m\n", substr($$0, 5) } ' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
-
 .PHONY: clean
 img=$(shell docker images -q --filter=reference=$(image))
-clean: ## Cleans up the binary, container image and other data
-	@rm $(out)/$(server) $(out)/$(cli)
-	@[ ! -z $(img) ] && docker rmi $(img) || true
-	@rm -rf certs
+clean: clean-cert  ## Cleans up the binary, container image and other data
+	@rm -rf build/*
+	@find . -name "*.out" -exec rm {} \;
+ifneq (,$(img))
+	@docker rmi $(img) || true
+endif
 
 version: ## Displays the current version tag (release)
-	@echo $(release)
+	@echo v$(version)
 
 fmt: ## Formats the Go source code using 'go fmt'
 	@go fmt $(pkgs) ./cmd fsm-cli/client fsm-cli/cmd
 
 ##@ Development
-.PHONY: build test container cov clean fmt
-$(out)/$(server): cmd/main.go $(srcs)
-	@mkdir -p $(out)
-	GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) go build \
-		-ldflags "-X $(GOMOD)/pkg/api.Release=$(release)" \
-		-o $(out)/$(server) cmd/main.go
-
 .PHONY: build
-build: $(out)/$(server) ## Builds the Statemachine server binary
-
-.PHONY: cli
-cli: fsm-cli/cmd/main.go  ## Builds the CLI client used to connect to the server
-	@mkdir -p $(out)
-	cd fsm-cli && GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) go build \
-		-ldflags "-X main.Release=$(version)" \
-		-o ../$(out)/$(cli) cmd/main.go
-
-.PHONY: cli-test
-cli-test: ## Run tests for the CLI Client
-	@mkdir -p $(cli_config)/certs
-	@cp certs/ca.pem $(cli_config)/certs || true
-	cd fsm-cli && RELEASE=$(release) BASEDIR=$(shell pwd) \
-		CLI_TEST_COMPOSE=$(shell pwd)/docker/cli-test-compose.yaml \
-		ginkgo test ./client
-
-test: $(srcs) $(test_srcs)  ## Runs all tests
-	ginkgo $(pkgs)
-
-cov: $(srcs) $(test_srcs)  ## Runs the Test Coverage and saves the coverage report to out/reports/cov.out
-	@mkdir -p out/reports
-	@go test -coverprofile=out/reports/cov.out $(pkgs)
-	@echo "Coverage report at out/reports/cov.out"
+build: cmd/main.go $(srcs)  ## Builds the binary
+	@mkdir -p build/bin
+	@echo "Building rel. $(release); OS/Arch: $(GOOS)/$(GOARCH) - Pkg: $(GOMOD)"
+	@GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) go build \
+		-ldflags "-X $(GOMOD)/api.Release=$(release)" \
+		-o build/bin/$(bin) cmd/main.go
+	@echo "$(GREEN)[SUCCESS]$(RESET) Binary $(shell basename $(bin)) built"
+
+build/bin/$(bin): build
+
+.PHONY: test
+test: $(srcs) $(test_srcs)  check_certs  ## Runs all tests
+	@mkdir -p build/reports
+	ginkgo -keepGoing -cover -coverprofile=coverage.out -outputdir=build/reports $(pkgs)
+    # Clean up the coverage files (they are not needed once the
+    # report is generated)
+	@find ./pkg -name "coverage.out" -exec rm {} \;
+
+.PHONY: watch
+watch: $(srcs) $(test_srcs)  ## Runs all tests every time a source or test file changes
+	ginkgo watch -p $(pkgs)
+
+build/reports/coverage.out: test ## Runs all tests and generates the coverage report
+
+.PHONY: coverage
+coverage: build/reports/coverage.out ## Shows the coverage report in the browser
+	@go tool cover -html=build/reports/coverage.out
+
+.PHONY: all
+all: build gencert test ## Builds the binary and runs all tests
+
+PORT ?= 7398
+.PHONY: dev
+dev: build ## Runs the server binary in development mode
+    # FIXME: this currently does not work and should be adjusted
+	build/bin/$(bin) -debug -grpc-port $(PORT)
 
 ##@ Container Management
 # Convenience targets to run locally containers and
 # setup the test environments.
+image := massenz/$(appname)
+compose := docker/compose.yaml
+dockerfile := docker/Dockerfile
 
-container: ## Builds the container image
-	docker build -f $(dockerfile) -t $(image):$(release) .
+.PHONY: container
+container: build/bin/$(bin) ## Builds the container image
+	docker build -f $(dockerfile) \
+		--build-arg="VERSION=$(version)" \
+		-t $(image):$(release) .
+	@echo "$(GREEN)[SUCCESS]$(RESET) Container image $(YELLOW)$(image):$(release)$(RESET) built"
 
 .PHONY: start
-start: ## Starts the Redis and LocalStack containers, and Creates the SQS Queues in LocalStack
+start: ## Runs the container locally
+	@echo "$(GREEN)[STARTING]$(RESET) Stopping containers"
 	@RELEASE=$(release) BASEDIR=$(shell pwd) docker compose -f $(compose) --project-name sm up redis localstack -d
 	@sleep 3
 	@for queue in events notifications; do \
@@ -109,39 +89,72 @@ start: ## Starts the Redis and LocalStack containers, and Creates the SQS Queues
 			--region us-west-2 \
  			sqs create-queue --queue-name $$queue; done
 	@RELEASE=$(release) BASEDIR=$(shell pwd) docker compose -f $(compose) --project-name sm up server
+	@echo "$(GREEN)[SUCCESS]$(RESET) Containers started"
 
 .PHONY: stop
-stop: ## Stops the Redis and LocalStack containers
+stop: ## Stops the running containers
+	@echo "$(RED)[STOPPING]$(RESET) Stopping containers"
 	@RELEASE=$(release) BASEDIR=$(shell pwd) docker compose -f $(compose) --project-name sm down
 
 
 ##@ TLS Support
 #
 # This section is WIP and subject to change
-
-config_dir := ssl-config
-ca-csr := $(config_dir)/ca-csr.json
-ca-config := $(config_dir)/ca-config.json
-server-csr := $(config_dir)/localhost-csr.json
-
-.PHONY: gencert
-gencert: $(ca-csr) $(ca-config) $(server-csr) ## Generates all certificates in the certs directory (requires cfssl and cfssl, see https://github.com/cloudflare/cfssl#installation)
-	cfssl gencert \
-		-initca $(ca-csr) | cfssljson -bare ca
-
-
-	cfssl gencert \
-		-ca=ca.pem \
-		-ca-key=ca-key.pem \
-		-config=$(ca-config) \
-		-profile=server \
-		$(server-csr)  | cfssljson -bare server
+# Dependency checks for the 'test' target
+.PHONY: check_certs
+check_certs:
+	@num_certs=$$(ls -1 certs/*.pem 2>/dev/null | wc -l); \
+	if [ $$num_certs != 4 ]; then \
+		echo "$(YELLOW)[WARN]$(RESET) No certificates found in $(shell pwd)/certs"; \
+		make certs; \
+		echo "$(GREEN)[SUCCESS]$(RESET) Certificates generated in $(shell pwd)/certs"; \
+	else \
+		echo "$(GREEN)[OK]$(RESET) Certificates found in $(shell pwd)/certs"; \
+	fi
+
+ssl_config := ../ssl-config
+ca-csr := $(ssl_config)/ca-csr.json
+ca-config := $(ssl_config)/ca-config.json
+server-csr := $(ssl_config)/localhost-csr.json
+
+.PHONY: certs
+certs:  ## Generates all certificates in the certs directory (requires cfssl, see https://github.com/cloudflare/cfssl#installation)
 	@mkdir -p certs
-	@mv *.pem certs/
-	@rm *.csr
-	@chmod a+r certs/*
-	@echo "Certificates generated in $(shell pwd)/certs"
+	@cd certs && \
+		cfssl gencert \
+			-initca $(ca-csr) 2>/dev/null | cfssljson -bare ca
+	@cd certs && \
+		cfssl gencert \
+			-ca=ca.pem \
+			-ca-key=ca-key.pem \
+			-config=$(ca-config) \
+			-profile=server \
+			$(server-csr)  2>/dev/null | cfssljson -bare server
+	@rm certs/*.csr
+	@chmod a+r certs/*.pem
+	@echo "$(GREEN)[SUCCESS]$(RESET) Certificates generated"
 
 .PHONY: clean-cert
 clean-cert:
 	@rm -rf certs
+
+##@ CLI Client
+# TODO: move to a separate Makefile in the subdirectory
+# See: https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Recursion.html
+# CLI Configuration
+cli := out/bin/$(appname)-cli-$(version)_$(GOOS)-$(GOARCH)
+cli_config := ${HOME}/.fsm
+.PHONY: cli
+cli: fsm-cli/cmd/main.go  ## Builds the CLI client used to connect to the server
+	@mkdir -p build/bin
+	cd fsm-cli && GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) go build \
+		-ldflags "-X main.Release=$(release)" \
+		-o ../build/bin/$(cli) cmd/main.go
+
+.PHONY: cli-test
+cli-test: ## Run tests for the CLI Client
+	@mkdir -p $(cli_config)/certs
+	@cp certs/ca.pem $(cli_config)/certs || true
+	cd fsm-cli && RELEASE=$(release) BASEDIR=$(shell pwd) \
+		CLI_TEST_COMPOSE=$(shell pwd)/docker/cli-test-compose.yaml \
+		ginkgo test ./client
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 55397a3..ddafe4c 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 # Copyright AlertAvert.com (c) 2023
 # Created by M. Massenzio, 2022-04-28
 
-FROM golang:1.21 as builder
+FROM golang:1.22 as builder
 
 WORKDIR /server
 COPY . .
 RUN rm -rf certs data
+RUN wget https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/latest/download/yq_linux_amd64 \
+      -O /usr/bin/yq && chmod +x /usr/bin/yq
 RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 make build
 RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o build/bin/hc docker/grpc_health.go
 
diff --git a/docker/compose.yaml b/docker/compose.yaml
index c94a061..6836779 100644
--- a/docker/compose.yaml
+++ b/docker/compose.yaml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ services:
       - sm-net
     ports:
       - '7398:7398'
-    image: "massenz/statemachine:${RELEASE}"
+    image: "massenz/fsm-server:${RELEASE}"
     environment:
       AWS_ENDPOINT: "http://awslocal:4566"
       AWS_REGION: us-west-2
diff --git a/settings.yaml b/settings.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a31f43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/settings.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2023-2024 AlertAvert.com
+# All rights reserved.
+# Created by Marco Massenzio, 2023-07-13
+
+name: fsm-server
+version: 0.12.2
+description: A StateMachine gRPC server, backed by Redis storage
+author: Marco Massenzio (marco@alertavert.com)
+license: Apache-2.0
+url: https://alertavert.com/statemachine
diff --git a/thirdparty/README.md b/thirdparty/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f607773
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Third-Party Libraries
+
+## common.mk
+
+This file is a makefile that contains common rules for building and testing
+copied from the [`common-utils`](https://github.com/massenz/common-utils) repository.
+
+It needs to be copied here as it cannot be included in `Makefile` directly from the
+original repository.
diff --git a/thirdparty/common.mk b/thirdparty/common.mk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..187a33f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/common.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2024 AlertAvert.com.  All rights reserved.
+# Created by M. Massenzio, 2022-03-14
+
+# ANSI color codes
+GREEN=$(shell tput -Txterm setaf 2)
+YELLOW=$(shell tput -Txterm setaf 3)
+RED=$(shell tput -Txterm setaf 1)
+BLUE=$(shell tput -Txterm setaf 6)
+RESET=$(shell tput -Txterm sgr0)
+
+# Go platform management
+GOOS ?= $(shell uname -s | tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]")
+GOMOD := $(shell go list -m)
+
+UNAME_M := $(shell uname -m)
+ifeq ($(UNAME_M),x86_64)
+    GOARCH = amd64
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_M),aarch64)
+    GOARCH = arm64
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_M),armv6l)
+    GOARCH = arm
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_M),armv7l)
+    GOARCH = arm
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_M),armv8l)
+    GOARCH = arm64
+else
+    $(error Unsupported architecture $(UNAME_M))
+endif
+
+yq != which yq
+ifeq ($(strip $(yq)),)
+  $(error yq not installed)
+endif
+
+settings != find . -name settings.yaml
+ifeq ($(strip $(settings)),)
+  $(warning $(YELLOW)This makefile requires a settings.yaml file to define appname and version$(RESET))
+else
+  appname != yq -r .name settings.yaml
+  version != yq -r .version settings.yaml
+endif
+
+# Versioning
+# The `version` is a static value, set in settings.yaml, and ONLY used to tag the release,
+# `release` includes the git SHA and will be used to tag the binary and container.
+git_commit != git rev-parse --short HEAD
+ifndef version
+  $(error $(RED)version must be defined, use yq and settings.yaml, or define it before including this file$(RESET))
+endif
+release := v$(version)-g$(git_commit)
+
+
+# Certificates
+certs_dir := ssl-config
+ca-csr := $(certs_dir)/ca-csr.json
+ca-config := $(certs_dir)/ca-config.json
+server-csr := $(certs_dir)/localhost-csr.json
+
+# Dockerfile
+compose := docker/docker-compose.yaml
+dockerfile := docker/Dockerfile
+
+##@ Help
+#
+# The help target prints out all targets with their descriptions organized
+# beneath their categories.
+#
+# The categories are represented by '##@' and the target descriptions by '##'.
+#
+# A category is defined if there's a line starting with ##@ <CATEGORY>,
+# that gets pretty-printed as a category.
+# A target is defined by a trailing comment starting with ##.
+#
+# More info on the usage of ANSI control characters for terminal formatting:
+# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR_parameters
+#
+# More info on the awk command:
+# http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_adv_awk.php
+#
+.PHONY: help
+help: ## Display this help.
+	@awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*##"; printf "\nUsage:\n  make \033[36m<target>\033[0m\n"} /^[a-zA-Z_0-9-]+:.*?##/ { printf "  \033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2 } /^##@/ { printf "\n\033[1m%s\033[0m\n", substr($$0, 5) } ' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
+