diff --git a/.github/workflows/startup-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/startup-tests.yml
index c68b4a0ac..6d5b84a57 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/startup-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/startup-tests.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ env:
   GITHUB_WORKFLOW: github_actions
   backend-directory: ./backend
   working-directory: ./frontend
-
+  
 jobs:
   startup-functional-test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
         image: postgres:14.1
         env:
           POSTGRES_USER: postgres
-          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.POSTGRES_PASSWORD }}
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
           POSTGRES_DB: postgres
         ports: ["5432:5432"]
         options: --health-cmd pg_isready --health-interval 10s --health-timeout 5s --health-retries 5
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ jobs:
           echo DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD=1234 >> .env
           echo POSTGRES_NAME=postgres >> .env
           echo POSTGRES_USER=postgres >> .env
-          echo POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${{ secrets.POSTGRES_PASSWORD }} >> .env
+          echo POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres >> .env
           echo DB_HOST=localhost >> .env
           echo CISO_ASSISTANT_SUPERUSER_EMAIL='' >> .env
           echo CISO_ASSISTANT_URL=http://localhost:4173 >> .env
diff --git a/backend/ciso_assistant/settings.py b/backend/ciso_assistant/settings.py
index c682a2237..1d6a8904a 100644
--- a/backend/ciso_assistant/settings.py
+++ b/backend/ciso_assistant/settings.py
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ def set_ciso_assistant_url(_, __, event_dict):
     REST_FRAMEWORK["DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES"].append(
         "rest_framework.renderers.BrowsableAPIRenderer"
     )
+    # Add session authentication to allow using the browsable API
+    REST_FRAMEWORK["DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES"].append(
+        "rest_framework.authentication.SessionAuthentication"
+    )
 
     INSTALLED_APPS.append("django.contrib.staticfiles")
     STATIC_URL = "/static/"