diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ad187de..f7513ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Check for known security vulnerabilities
       run: |
-        safety check --json --output safety-report.json || true
-        safety check
+        safety check --output json 2>&1 | tee safety-report.json || true
 
     - name: Test import functionality
       run: |
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ceefef5..3863c32 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Choose between two powerful image delivery platforms:
 - **🔄 Multi-Provider Support**: Choose between Cloudinary and AWS CloudFront/S3
 - **📦 Batch Image Processing**: Download images from URLs and upload to your chosen provider
 - **🎯 Smart Optimization**: Automatic resizing, quality adjustment, and format conversion
-- **🎨 Format Intelligence**: Automatically chooses the best format (JPEG, PNG, WebP) for optimal file size
+- **🎨 Format Intelligence**: Automatically chooses the best format (JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF) for optimal file size
 - **⚡ Unique URLs**: Adds timestamps to prevent filename conflicts and ensure cache busting
 - **🤖 AI Alt Text Generation**: Generate descriptive alt text using AltText.ai API
 - **🔌 REST API**: HTTP endpoints for programmatic access
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ deactivate
 ### Requirements
 
 - **Python 3.9+** (Tested on 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13)
+- **AVIF support (optional)**: For CloudFront/S3 smart format conversion to AVIF, install `pillow-avif-plugin` (included in `requirements.txt`) and ensure your environment has AVIF codecs available (common on most modern Linux distributions).
 - **Provider Account**: Choose one or both:
   - **Cloudinary account** (recommended for most users)
   - **AWS account** with S3 and CloudFront access
diff --git a/cloudfront_provider.py b/cloudfront_provider.py
index ea1a89f..3d8ede3 100644
--- a/cloudfront_provider.py
+++ b/cloudfront_provider.py
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@
     from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
     from PIL import Image
 
+    # Optional: enable AVIF read/write support when pillow-avif-plugin is installed
+    try:
+        import pillow_avif  # noqa: F401
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
     BOTO3_AVAILABLE = True
 except ImportError:
     BOTO3_AVAILABLE = False
@@ -129,8 +135,8 @@ def _optimize_image(
     def _get_best_format(
         self, img: Image.Image, original_path: str, quality: int = 82
     ) -> Tuple[bool, str]:
-        """Determine the best format (JPEG, PNG, WebP) based on file size"""
-        formats_to_try = ["JPEG", "PNG", "WEBP"]
+        """Determine the best format (JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF) based on file size"""
+        formats_to_try = ["JPEG", "PNG", "WEBP", "AVIF"]
 
         # Skip testing if the image has transparency and we're considering JPEG
         has_transparency = img.mode in ("RGBA", "LA") or (
@@ -164,6 +170,10 @@ def _get_best_format(
                         test_img.save(temp_file, format=fmt, optimize=True)
                     elif fmt == "WEBP":
                         test_img.save(temp_file, format=fmt, quality=quality, method=6)
+                    elif fmt == "AVIF":
+                        # AVIF uses a quality parameter similar to WebP.
+                        # pillow-avif-plugin adds support for saving AVIF via Pillow.
+                        test_img.save(temp_file, format=fmt, quality=quality)
 
                     # Get file size
                     file_size = os.path.getsize(temp_file)
@@ -229,7 +239,9 @@ def upload_image(
         """Upload an image file with optimization"""
         try:
             # Check if it's an image file
-            if file_name.lower().endswith((".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp")):
+            if file_name.lower().endswith(
+                (".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp", ".avif")
+            ):
                 # Optimize the image
                 success, optimized_path = self._optimize_image(
                     file_path, max_width, quality, smart_format
@@ -282,7 +294,7 @@ def upload_from_url(
             # Create headers
             headers = {
                 "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36",
-                "Accept": "image/webp,image/apng,image/*,*/*;q=0.8",
+                "Accept": "image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,image/*,*/*;q=0.8",
                 "Accept-Language": "en-US,en;q=0.9",
                 "Accept-Encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
                 "Referer": "https://citizenshipper.com/",
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index dd3adc9..354ebf2 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 boto3==1.38.25
 botocore==1.38.25
 Flask==3.1.1
-Werkzeug==3.1.3
-requests==2.32.3
-pillow==11.2.1
+Werkzeug==3.1.5
+requests==2.32.5
+pillow==11.3.0
 python-dotenv==1.1.0
-cloudinary==1.40.0 
\ No newline at end of file
+cloudinary==1.40.0
+pillow-avif-plugin>=1.4.0
diff --git a/upload_files.py b/upload_files.py
index 98362e9..200622a 100644
--- a/upload_files.py
+++ b/upload_files.py
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@
 from flask import Flask, jsonify, request
 from PIL import Image
 
+# Optional: enable AVIF read/write support when pillow-avif-plugin is installed
+try:
+    import pillow_avif  # noqa: F401
+except Exception:
+    pass
+
 # Load environment variables
 load_dotenv()
 
@@ -82,8 +88,8 @@ def save_uploaded_files(uploaded_files):
 
 
 def get_best_format(img, original_format, original_path, quality=DEFAULT_QUALITY):
-    """Determine the best format (JPEG, PNG, WebP) based on file size"""
-    formats_to_try = ["JPEG", "PNG", "WEBP"]
+    """Determine the best format (JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF) based on file size"""
+    formats_to_try = ["JPEG", "PNG", "WEBP", "AVIF"]
 
     # Skip testing if the image has transparency and we're considering JPEG
     has_transparency = img.mode in ("RGBA", "LA") or (
@@ -116,6 +122,10 @@ def get_best_format(img, original_format, original_path, quality=DEFAULT_QUALITY
                     test_img.save(temp_file, format=fmt, optimize=True)
                 elif fmt == "WEBP":
                     test_img.save(temp_file, format=fmt, quality=quality, method=6)
+                elif fmt == "AVIF":
+                    # AVIF uses a quality parameter similar to WebP.
+                    # pillow-avif-plugin adds support for saving AVIF via Pillow.
+                    test_img.save(temp_file, format=fmt, quality=quality)
 
                 # Get file size
                 file_size = os.path.getsize(temp_file)
@@ -142,6 +152,8 @@ def get_best_format(img, original_format, original_path, quality=DEFAULT_QUALITY
         extension = ".png"
     elif fmt_name == "WEBP":
         extension = ".webp"
+    elif fmt_name == "AVIF":
+        extension = ".avif"
     else:
         extension = os.path.splitext(original_path)[1]
 
@@ -162,6 +174,8 @@ def get_best_format(img, original_format, original_path, quality=DEFAULT_QUALITY
             save_img.save(new_path, format=fmt_name, optimize=True)
         elif fmt_name == "WEBP":
             save_img.save(new_path, format=fmt_name, quality=quality, method=6)
+        elif fmt_name == "AVIF":
+            save_img.save(new_path, format=fmt_name, quality=quality)
 
         print(f"Converted image from {original_format} to {fmt_name}")
 
@@ -193,6 +207,8 @@ def optimize_image(
                 original_format = "GIF"
             elif ext == ".webp":
                 original_format = "WEBP"
+            elif ext == ".avif":
+                original_format = "AVIF"
             else:
                 original_format = "JPEG"  # Default
 
@@ -218,6 +234,8 @@ def optimize_image(
             format_name = "GIF"
         elif file_ext == ".webp":
             format_name = "WEBP"
+        elif file_ext == ".avif":
+            format_name = "AVIF"
         else:
             format_name = "JPEG"  # Default to JPEG
 
@@ -241,6 +259,8 @@ def optimize_image(
                 img.save(image_path, format=format_name, optimize=True)
             elif format_name == "WEBP":
                 img.save(image_path, format=format_name, quality=quality, method=6)
+            elif format_name == "AVIF":
+                img.save(image_path, format=format_name, quality=quality)
             elif format_name == "GIF":
                 # GIFs are saved as-is to preserve animation
                 pass
@@ -331,7 +351,9 @@ def upload_files(
         file_path = os.path.join(UPLOAD_FOLDER, file_name)
 
         # Check if it's an image file
-        if file_name.lower().endswith((".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp")):
+        if file_name.lower().endswith(
+            (".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp", ".avif")
+        ):
             # Optimize the image
             success, new_path = optimize_image(
                 file_path, max_width, quality, smart_format
@@ -520,7 +542,7 @@ def download_and_upload_from_csv(
 
                 # Optimize the image if it's an image file
                 if file_name.lower().endswith(
-                    (".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp")
+                    (".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp", ".avif")
                 ):
                     print(
                         f"Optimizing image with max_width={max_width}, quality={quality}, smart_format={smart_format}..."
@@ -619,7 +641,7 @@ def download_and_upload_from_csv(
 
                     # Continue with optimization and upload
                     if file_name.lower().endswith(
-                        (".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp")
+                        (".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp", ".avif")
                     ):
                         print(
                             f"Optimizing image with max_width={max_width}, quality={quality}, smart_format={smart_format}..."
@@ -735,7 +757,7 @@ def upload_file_api():
 
     # Optimize the image if it's an image file
     new_filename = filename
-    if filename.lower().endswith((".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp")):
+    if filename.lower().endswith((".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif", ".webp", ".avif")):
         success, new_path = optimize_image(file_path, max_width, quality, smart_format)
         if success and new_path != file_path:
             # If the file path changed (due to format conversion), update the file name