diff --git a/api/Account.py b/api/Account.py
index acdfbf1..92e312f 100644
--- a/api/Account.py
+++ b/api/Account.py
@@ -12,3 +12,21 @@ def handle_account(account_msg: dict, procurement_api: ProcurementApi):
 
     account = procurement_api.get_account(account_id)
     logger.debug("got account", account=account)
+    if account and settings.private_offers_only:
+            approval = None
+            for account_approval in account["approvals"]:
+                if account_approval["name"] == "signup":
+                    approval = account_approval
+                    break
+            logger.debug("found approval", approval=approval)
+
+            if approval:
+                if approval["state"] == "PENDING":
+                    logger.debug("approving account in procurementApi")
+                    procurement_api.approve_account(account_id)
+
+                elif approval["state"] == "APPROVED":
+                    logger.info("account is already approved, no action performed")
+            else:
+                logger.debug("no approval found")
+                # The account has been deleted
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/README.md b/api/README.md
index 5eb9772..da0e832 100644
--- a/api/README.md
+++ b/api/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@ From the api directory you can build and publish the app using the following com
 
     gcloud builds submit  --tag <registry path>/doit-easily:1.0  .
 
+# Running the application locally
+
+    cd api
+    docker build . -t doit-easily:local 
+    gcloud auth login --cred-file='path/to/SA_key.json' 
+    gcloud auth application-default login --impersonate-service-account=doit-easily@<GCP-PROJECT-ID>.iam.gserviceaccount.com
+    docker run -e PORT=8080 -v ./default_settings.toml:/config/custom-settings.toml -e GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/creds.json -v $GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS:/creds.json -p 8080:8080 -e LOG_LEVEL=debug docker.io/library/doit-easily:local
 
 # Configuration
 
diff --git a/api/api.py b/api/api.py
index 3fc5d06..8525207 100644
--- a/api/api.py
+++ b/api/api.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ def entitlements():
 
         return render_template("index.html", **page_context)
     except Exception as e:
+        logger.debug("an exception occurred loading index", exception=traceback.format_exc())
         logger.error(e)
         return {"error": "Loading failed"}, 500
 
@@ -76,10 +77,19 @@ def show_account(account_id):
         logger.error(e)
         return {"error": "Loading failed"}, 500 
 
+
 @app.route("/login", methods=["POST"])
 @app.route("/activate", methods=["POST"])
+@app.route("/login", methods=["GET"])
+@app.route("/activate", methods=["GET"])
 def login():
     add_request_context_to_log(str(uuid.uuid4()))
+    if settings.private_offers_only:
+        return "This listing is only sold through custom pricing. Please contact the vendor.", 200
+
+    if request.method == "GET":
+        return "This integration is running.", 200
+    
     encoded = request.form.get("x-gcp-marketplace-token")
     logger.debug('encoded token', token=encoded)
     if not encoded:
diff --git a/api/config.py b/api/config.py
index ef594fb..c1bdeee 100644
--- a/api/config.py
+++ b/api/config.py
@@ -16,11 +16,14 @@
     Validator("marketplace_project", must_exist=True, is_type_of=str),
     # the domain that hosts your product, such as `example-pro.com`
     Validator("audience", must_exist=True, is_type_of=str),
+    Validator("private_offers_only", must_exist=True, is_type_of=bool),
+    # optional. If set, slack notifications will be sent.
     Validator("auto_approve_entitlements", must_exist=True, is_type_of=bool),
     # optional. If set, slack notifications will be sent.
     Validator("slack_webhook", eq=None) | Validator("slack_webhook", is_type_of=str),
     # optional. If set, google pubsub will be used.
     Validator("event_topic", eq=None) | Validator("event_topic", is_type_of=str),
+
 )
 
 settings.validators.validate_all()
diff --git a/api/default_settings.toml b/api/default_settings.toml
index db752a8..e744804 100644
--- a/api/default_settings.toml
+++ b/api/default_settings.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 [default]
 marketplace_project = '@none None' # This should be set to the name of the project you want to use, otherwise an error will be thrown.
 auto_approve_entitlements = false  # This should be set to true if you want to auto-approve entitlements.
+private_offers_only = false  # This should be set to true if you want to auto-approve accounts and are only offering private offers.
 event_topic = '@none None'         # Optional. The name of the topic to publish events to.
 slack_webhook = '@none None'       # Optional. The webhook URL to send Slack messages to.
 audience = 'api.dns_zone_name'
diff --git a/api/requirements.txt b/api/requirements.txt
index 2b45698..d71ddca 100644
--- a/api/requirements.txt
+++ b/api/requirements.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-Flask==2.0.2
+Flask==2.3.2
 gunicorn==20.1.0
 google-cloud-pubsub==2.18.0
 pg8000==1.24.0
 structlog==21.5.0
-requests==2.31.0
+requests==2.32.0
 google-api-python-client==2.94.0
 ratelimit==2.2.1
 backoff==2.1.2
 dynaconf==3.1.9
 pyjwt[crypto]==2.3.0
-Werkzeug==2.0.3
\ No newline at end of file
+Werkzeug==3.0.3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/test/requirements.txt b/api/test/requirements.txt
index e503079..7ef7602 100644
--- a/api/test/requirements.txt
+++ b/api/test/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-werkzeug==2.0.3
\ No newline at end of file
+werkzeug==3.0.3
\ No newline at end of file