diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3dcba51..e5f0d3b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@
     "prepare": "husky",
     "generate:types": "payload generate:types",
     "generate:importmap": "payload generate:importmap",
-    "pagespeed:test": "mintel pagespeed test"
+    "pagespeed:test": "mintel pagespeed test",
+    "check:http": "tsx ./scripts/check-http.ts",
+    "check:apis": "tsx ./scripts/check-apis.ts",
+    "check:locale": "tsx ./scripts/check-locale.ts"
   },
   "keywords": [],
   "author": "",
@@ -62,6 +65,8 @@
     "@types/react-dom": "^19.2.3",
     "@vitejs/plugin-react": "^5.1.2",
     "autoprefixer": "^10.4.23",
+    "axios": "^1.13.5",
+    "cheerio": "^1.2.0",
     "eslint": "^8.57.1",
     "eslint-config-next": "15.1.6",
     "happy-dom": "^20.6.1",
@@ -72,6 +77,7 @@
     "postcss": "^8.5.6",
     "prettier": "^3.5.0",
     "tailwindcss": "^4.1.18",
+    "tsx": "^4.21.0",
     "typescript": "^5.9.3",
     "vitest": "^4.0.18"
   },
diff --git a/scripts/check-apis.ts b/scripts/check-apis.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1583e4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-apis.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+import axios from "axios";
+import dns from "dns";
+import { promisify } from "util";
+import url from "url";
+
+const resolve4 = promisify(dns.resolve4);
+
+// This script verifies that external logging and analytics APIs are reachable
+// from the deployment environment (which could be behind corporate firewalls or VPNs).
+
+const umamiEndpoint =
+  process.env.UMAMI_API_ENDPOINT || "https://analytics.infra.mintel.me";
+const sentryDsn = process.env.SENTRY_DSN || "";
+
+async function checkUmami() {
+  console.log(`\n🔍 Checking Umami Analytics API Availability...`);
+  console.log(`   Endpoint: ${umamiEndpoint}`);
+
+  try {
+    // Umami usually exposes a /api/heartbeat or /api/health if we know the route.
+    // Trying root or /api/auth/verify (which will give 401 but proves routing works).
+    // A simple GET to the configured endpoint should return a 200 or 401, not a 5xx/timeout.
+    const response = await axios.get(
+      `${umamiEndpoint.replace(/\/$/, "")}/api/health`,
+      {
+        timeout: 5000,
+        validateStatus: () => true, // Accept any status, we just want to know it's reachable and not 5xx
+      },
+    );
+
+    // As long as it's not a 502/503/504 Bad Gateway/Timeout, the service is "up" from our perspective
+    if (response.status >= 500) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Umami API responded with server error HTTP ${response.status}`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    console.log(`   ✅ Umami Analytics is reachable (HTTP ${response.status})`);
+    return true;
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    // If /api/health fails completely, maybe try a DNS check as a fallback
+    try {
+      console.warn(
+        `   ⚠️ HTTP check failed, falling back to DNS resolution...`,
+      );
+      const umamiHost = new url.URL(umamiEndpoint).hostname;
+      await resolve4(umamiHost);
+      console.log(
+        `   ✅ Umami Analytics DNS resolved successfully (${umamiHost})`,
+      );
+      return true;
+    } catch (dnsErr: any) {
+      console.error(
+        `   ❌ CRITICAL: Umami Analytics is completely unreachable! ${err.message} | DNS: ${dnsErr.message}`,
+      );
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+async function checkSentry() {
+  console.log(`\n🔍 Checking Glitchtip/Sentry Error Tracking Availability...`);
+
+  if (!sentryDsn) {
+    console.log(`   ℹ️ No SENTRY_DSN provided in environment. Skipping.`);
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const parsedDsn = new url.URL(sentryDsn);
+    const host = parsedDsn.hostname;
+    console.log(`   Host: ${host}`);
+
+    // We do a DNS lookup to ensure the runner can actually resolve the tracking server
+    const addresses = await resolve4(host);
+
+    if (addresses && addresses.length > 0) {
+      console.log(`   ✅ Glitchtip/Sentry domain resolved: ${addresses[0]}`);
+
+      // Optional: Quick TCP/HTTP check to the host root (Glitchtip usually runs on 80/443 root)
+      try {
+        const proto = parsedDsn.protocol || "https:";
+        await axios.get(`${proto}//${host}/api/0/`, {
+          timeout: 5000,
+          validateStatus: () => true,
+        });
+        console.log(`   ✅ Glitchtip/Sentry API root responds to HTTP.`);
+      } catch (ignore) {
+        console.log(
+          `   ⚠️ Glitchtip/Sentry HTTP ping failed or timed out, but DNS is valid. Proceeding.`,
+        );
+      }
+
+      return true;
+    }
+    throw new Error("No IP addresses found for DSN host");
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    console.error(
+      `   ❌ CRITICAL: Glitchtip/Sentry DSN is invalid or hostname is unresolvable! ${err.message}`,
+    );
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  console.log("🚀 Starting External API Connectivity Smoke Test...");
+
+  let hasErrors = false;
+
+  const umamiOk = await checkUmami();
+  if (!umamiOk) hasErrors = true;
+
+  const sentryOk = await checkSentry();
+  if (!sentryOk) hasErrors = true;
+
+  if (hasErrors) {
+    console.error(
+      `\n🚨 POST-DEPLOY CHECK FAILED: One or more critical external APIs are unreachable.`,
+    );
+    console.error(
+      `   This might mean the deployment environment lacks outbound internet access, `,
+    );
+    console.error(
+      `   DNS is misconfigured, or the upstream services are down.`,
+    );
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  console.log(`\n🎉 SUCCESS: All required external APIs are reachable!`);
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
+main();
diff --git a/scripts/check-http.ts b/scripts/check-http.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17334cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-http.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+import axios from "axios";
+import * as cheerio from "cheerio";
+
+const targetUrl =
+  process.argv[2] ||
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL ||
+  "http://localhost:3000";
+const gatekeeperPassword = process.env.GATEKEEPER_PASSWORD || "lassmichrein";
+
+async function main() {
+  console.log(`\n🚀 Starting HTTP Sitemap Validation for: ${targetUrl}\n`);
+
+  try {
+    const sitemapUrl = `${targetUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/sitemap.xml`;
+    console.log(`📥 Fetching sitemap from ${sitemapUrl}...`);
+
+    const response = await axios.get(sitemapUrl, {
+      headers: { Cookie: `mintel_gatekeeper_session=${gatekeeperPassword}` },
+      validateStatus: (status) => status < 400,
+    });
+
+    const $ = cheerio.load(response.data, { xmlMode: true });
+    let urls = $("url loc")
+      .map((i, el) => $(el).text())
+      .get();
+
+    const urlPattern = /https?:\/\/[^\/]+/;
+    urls = [...new Set(urls)]
+      .filter((u) => u.startsWith("http"))
+      .map((u) => u.replace(urlPattern, targetUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")))
+      .sort();
+
+    console.log(`✅ Found ${urls.length} target URLs in sitemap.`);
+
+    if (urls.length === 0) {
+      console.error("❌ No URLs found in sitemap. Is the site up?");
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+
+    console.log(`\n🔍 Verifying HTTP Status Codes (Limit: None)...`);
+    let hasErrors = false;
+
+    // Run fetches sequentially to avoid overwhelming the server during CI
+    for (let i = 0; i < urls.length; i++) {
+      const u = urls[i];
+      try {
+        const res = await axios.get(u, {
+          headers: {
+            Cookie: `mintel_gatekeeper_session=${gatekeeperPassword}`,
+          },
+          validateStatus: null, // Don't throw on error status
+        });
+
+        if (res.status >= 400) {
+          console.error(`❌ ERROR ${res.status}: ${res.statusText} -> ${u}`);
+          hasErrors = true;
+        } else {
+          console.log(`✅ OK ${res.status} -> ${u}`);
+        }
+      } catch (err: any) {
+        console.error(`❌ NETWORK ERROR: ${err.message} -> ${u}`);
+        hasErrors = true;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (hasErrors) {
+      console.error(
+        `\n❌ HTTP Sitemap Validation Failed. One or more pages returned an error.`,
+      );
+      process.exit(1);
+    } else {
+      console.log(
+        `\n✨ Success: All ${urls.length} pages are healthy! (HTTP 200)`,
+      );
+      process.exit(0);
+    }
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    console.error(`\n❌ Critical Error during Sitemap Fetch:`, error.message);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
+
+main();
diff --git a/scripts/check-locale.ts b/scripts/check-locale.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a48ba68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check-locale.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+import axios from "axios";
+import * as cheerio from "cheerio";
+
+/**
+ * Locale & Language Switcher Smoke Test
+ *
+ * For every URL in the sitemap:
+ * 1. Fetches the page HTML
+ * 2. Extracts <link rel="alternate" hreflang="..." href="..."> tags
+ * 3. Verifies each alternate URL uses correctly translated slugs
+ * 4. Verifies each alternate URL returns HTTP 200
+ */
+
+const targetUrl =
+  process.argv[2] ||
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL ||
+  "http://localhost:3000";
+const gatekeeperPassword = process.env.GATEKEEPER_PASSWORD || "lassmichrein";
+
+// Expected slug translations: German key → English value
+const SLUG_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
+  // Add translations if mb-grid translates URLs: e.g. produkte: 'products'
+};
+
+// Reverse map: English → German
+const REVERSE_SLUG_MAP: Record<string, string> = Object.fromEntries(
+  Object.entries(SLUG_MAP).map(([de, en]) => [en, de]),
+);
+
+const headers = { Cookie: `mintel_gatekeeper_session=${gatekeeperPassword}` };
+
+function getExpectedTranslation(
+  sourcePath: string,
+  sourceLocale: string,
+  targetLocale: string,
+): string {
+  const segments = sourcePath.split("/").filter(Boolean);
+  // First segment is locale
+  segments[0] = targetLocale;
+
+  const map = sourceLocale === "de" ? SLUG_MAP : REVERSE_SLUG_MAP;
+
+  return (
+    "/" +
+    segments
+      .map((seg, i) => {
+        if (i === 0) return seg; // locale
+        return map[seg] || seg; // translate or keep (product names like n2x2y stay the same)
+      })
+      .join("/")
+  );
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  console.log(`\n🌐 Starting Locale Smoke Test for: ${targetUrl}\n`);
+
+  // 1. Fetch sitemap
+  const sitemapUrl = `${targetUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")}/sitemap.xml`;
+  console.log(`📥 Fetching sitemap from ${sitemapUrl}...`);
+  const sitemapRes = await axios.get(sitemapUrl, {
+    headers,
+    validateStatus: (s) => s < 400,
+  });
+  const $sitemap = cheerio.load(sitemapRes.data, { xmlMode: true });
+
+  let urls = $sitemap("url loc")
+    .map((_i, el) => $sitemap(el).text())
+    .get();
+
+  const urlPattern = /https?:\/\/[^/]+/;
+  urls = [...new Set(urls)]
+    .filter((u) => u.startsWith("http"))
+    .map((u) => u.replace(urlPattern, targetUrl.replace(/\/$/, "")))
+    .sort();
+
+  console.log(`✅ Found ${urls.length} URLs in sitemap.\n`);
+
+  let totalChecked = 0;
+  let totalPassed = 0;
+  let totalFailed = 0;
+  const failures: string[] = [];
+
+  for (const url of urls) {
+    const path = new URL(url).pathname;
+    const locale = path.split("/")[1];
+    if (!locale || !["de", "en"].includes(locale)) continue;
+
+    try {
+      const res = await axios.get(url, { headers, validateStatus: null });
+      if (res.status >= 400) continue; // Skip pages that are already broken (check-http catches those)
+
+      const $ = cheerio.load(res.data);
+
+      // Extract hreflang alternate links
+      const alternates: { hreflang: string; href: string }[] = [];
+      $('link[rel="alternate"][hreflang]').each((_i, el) => {
+        const hreflang = $(el).attr("hreflang") || "";
+        let href = $(el).attr("href") || "";
+        if (href && hreflang && hreflang !== "x-default") {
+          href = href.replace(urlPattern, targetUrl.replace(/\/$/, ""));
+          alternates.push({ hreflang, href });
+        }
+      });
+
+      if (alternates.length === 0) {
+        // Some pages may not have alternates, that's OK
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      totalChecked++;
+
+      // Validate each alternate
+      let pageOk = true;
+
+      for (const alt of alternates) {
+        if (alt.hreflang === locale) continue; // Same locale, skip
+
+        // 1. Check slug translation is correct
+        const expectedPath = getExpectedTranslation(path, locale, alt.hreflang);
+        const actualPath = new URL(alt.href).pathname;
+
+        if (actualPath !== expectedPath) {
+          console.error(
+            `❌ SLUG MISMATCH: ${path} → hreflang="${alt.hreflang}" expected ${expectedPath} but got ${actualPath}`,
+          );
+          failures.push(
+            `Slug mismatch: ${path} → ${alt.hreflang}: expected ${expectedPath}, got ${actualPath}`,
+          );
+          pageOk = false;
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        // 2. Check alternate URL returns 200
+        try {
+          const altRes = await axios.get(alt.href, {
+            headers,
+            validateStatus: null,
+            maxRedirects: 5,
+          });
+          if (altRes.status >= 400) {
+            console.error(
+              `❌ BROKEN ALTERNATE: ${path} → ${alt.href} returned ${altRes.status}`,
+            );
+            failures.push(
+              `Broken alternate: ${path} → ${alt.href} (${altRes.status})`,
+            );
+            pageOk = false;
+          }
+        } catch (err: any) {
+          console.error(
+            `❌ NETWORK ERROR: ${path} → ${alt.href}: ${err.message}`,
+          );
+          failures.push(`Network error: ${path} → ${alt.href}: ${err.message}`);
+          pageOk = false;
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (pageOk) {
+        console.log(
+          `✅ ${path} — alternates OK (${alternates
+            .map((a) => a.hreflang)
+            .filter((h) => h !== locale)
+            .join(", ")})`,
+        );
+        totalPassed++;
+      } else {
+        totalFailed++;
+      }
+    } catch (err: any) {
+      console.error(`❌ NETWORK ERROR fetching ${url}: ${err.message}`);
+      totalFailed++;
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.log(`\n${"─".repeat(60)}`);
+  console.log(`📊 Locale Smoke Test Results:`);
+  console.log(`   Pages checked: ${totalChecked}`);
+  console.log(`   Passed: ${totalPassed}`);
+  console.log(`   Failed: ${totalFailed}`);
+
+  if (failures.length > 0) {
+    console.log(`\n❌ Failures:`);
+    failures.forEach((f) => console.log(`   • ${f}`));
+    console.log(`\n❌ Locale Smoke Test FAILED.`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  } else {
+    console.log(
+      `\n✨ All locale alternates are correctly translated and reachable!`,
+    );
+    process.exit(0);
+  }
+}
+
+main().catch((err) => {
+  console.error(`\n❌ Critical error:`, err.message);
+  process.exit(1);
+});