diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/ApiController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/ApiController.php
index 88ff036..30b27eb 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/ApiController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/ApiController.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace App\Http\Controllers;
 
 use App\Models\User;
+use Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse;
 
 class ApiController extends Controller
 {
@@ -27,14 +28,14 @@ public function authenticate(): \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse
 
         if ($attempt) {
             auth()->login($attempt);
-
-            return response()->json(['status' => true, 'message' => 'Authenticated']);
+            return new JsonResponse(['message' => 'Authenticated']);
         }
-        return response()->json(['status' => false, 'message' => 'Invalid credentials']);
+
+        return new JsonResponse(['message' => 'Unauthenticated'], 401);
     }
 
     public function users(): \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse
     {
-        return response()->json(['status' => true, 'message' => 'Authenticated', 'data' => User::all()]);
+        return new JsonResponse(['message' => 'Authenticated', 'data' => User::all()]);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/ApiAuthenticationTest.php b/tests/Feature/ApiAuthenticationTest.php
index 0160810..8ca031d 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/ApiAuthenticationTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/ApiAuthenticationTest.php
@@ -31,10 +31,8 @@ public function test_auth(): void
         $response = $this->postJson('/api/authenticate', ['api_key' => $this->apiKey, 'secret_key' => $this->secretKey]);
 
         $response
-            ->assertSuccessful()
-            ->assertJson([
-                'status' => true,
-            ]);
+            ->assertSuccessful();
+
     }
 
 
@@ -43,10 +41,7 @@ public function test_users(): void
         $response = $this->postJson('/api/app/users', data: [], headers: ['api_key' => $this->apiKey, 'secret_key' => $this->secretKey]);
 
         $response
-            ->assertSuccessful()
-            ->assertJson([
-                'status' => true,
-            ]);
+            ->assertSuccessful();
 
     }
 
@@ -84,7 +79,6 @@ public function test_error_handling(): void
         $response
             ->assertStatus(401)
             ->assertJson([
-                'status' => false,
                 'message' => 'APIKEY and SECRETKEY required!',
             ]);
     }