diff --git a/src/client.ts b/src/client.ts
index 9468e05..a8004a9 100644
--- a/src/client.ts
+++ b/src/client.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ export const redis = createClient({
     url: `redis://${Keys.redisHost}:${Keys.redisPort}`,
 })
 
+redis.on('error', err => console.log(`Redis error: ${err}`));
+redis.connect();
+
 // Initialize Ollama connection
 export const ollama = new Ollama({
     host: `http://${Keys.ipAddress}:${Keys.portAddress}`,
diff --git a/src/events/messageCreate.ts b/src/events/messageCreate.ts
index 58a7b1c..6666026 100644
--- a/src/events/messageCreate.ts
+++ b/src/events/messageCreate.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ import {
     getChannelInfo, getServerConfig, getUserConfig, openChannelInfo,
     openConfig, UserConfig, getAttachmentData, getTextFileAttachmentData
 } from '../utils/index.js'
-import { redis } from '../client.js' // Fixed import: added .ts extension
-
+import { redis } from '../client.js'
 import fs from 'fs/promises'
 import path from 'path'
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 
 // Define interface for model response to improve type safety
 interface ModelResponse {
@@ -160,7 +160,11 @@ export default event(Events.MessageCreate, async ({ log, msgHist, ollama, client
         // Load personality
         let personality: string
         try {
-            const personalityData = await fs.readFile(path.join(__dirname, '../../personality.json'), 'utf-8')
+            // Fix __dirname for ESM by using import.meta.url
+            const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)
+            const __dirname = path.dirname(__filename)
+            const personalityPath = path.join(__dirname, '../../personality.json')
+            const personalityData = await fs.readFile(personalityPath, 'utf-8')
             const personalityJson = JSON.parse(personalityData)
             personality = personalityJson.character || 'You are a friendly and helpful AI assistant.'
         } catch (error) {
@@ -229,11 +233,17 @@ export default event(Events.MessageCreate, async ({ log, msgHist, ollama, client
         // Parse JSON response
         let jsonResponse: ModelResponse
         try {
-            jsonResponse = JSON.parse(response.message.content)
+            // Log raw response for debugging
+            log(`Raw model response: ${response.message.content}`)
+            // Strip Markdown code fences if present
+            let content = response.message.content
+            content = content.replace(/^```json\n|```$/g, '').trim()
+            jsonResponse = JSON.parse(content)
             if (!jsonResponse.status || !jsonResponse.reply) {
                 throw new Error('Missing status or reply in model response')
             }
         } catch (error) {
+            log(`Failed to parse model response: ${error}`)
             throw new Error(`Invalid JSON response from model: ${error}`)
         }