diff --git a/book/update.cgi b/book/update.cgi
index a6b078d4..93ee625b 100755
--- a/book/update.cgi
+++ b/book/update.cgi
@@ -1,32 +1,63 @@
-#!/usr/bin/perl
-
-use strict;
-use warnings;
-
-use CGI;
-my $r = new CGI;
-
-print $r->header();
-print "<p>pulling repo...<br/>";
-system 'git fetch origin && git reset --hard origin/master';
-system 'git submodule update --init --recursive';
-print "<br/>done.</p>";
-
-print "<p>building documentation...<br/>";
-chdir "..";
-
-my $status = system('/bin/bash', '-c', '
-    source venv/bin/activate &&
-    poetry install --only docs &&
-    sphinx-build -M html underactuated /tmp/underactuated_doc &&
-    rm -rf book/python &&
-    cp -r /tmp/underactuated_doc/html book/python
-');
-
-if ($status == 0) {
-    print "<br/>done.</p>";
-} else {
-    print "<br/>Error occurred: $status</p>";
-}
-
-print $r->end_html;
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import cgitb
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+# Enable CGI traceback with file logging
+cgitb.enable(display=1, logdir="/tmp")
+
+try:
+    print("Content-Type: text/html\n")
+    print("<html><body>")
+
+    print("<p>Current working directory: " + os.getcwd() + "</p>")
+    print("<p>Python version: " + sys.version + "</p>")
+
+    print("<p>pulling repo...<br/>")
+    # Capture output from git commands
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["git", "fetch", "origin"], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True
+    )
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["git", "reset", "--hard", "origin/master"],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+    )
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ["git", "submodule", "update", "--init", "--recursive"],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+    )
+    print("<br/>done.</p>")
+
+    print("<p>building documentation...<br/>")
+    os.chdir("..")
+
+    subprocess.run(
+        [
+            "/bin/bash",
+            "-c",
+            "source venv/bin/activate && "
+            "poetry install --only docs && "
+            "sphinx-build -M html underactuated /tmp/underactuated_doc && "
+            "rm -rf book/python && "
+            "cp -r /tmp/underactuated_doc/html book/python",
+        ],
+        check=True,
+    )
+    print("<br/>done.</p>")
+
+except Exception as e:
+    print("<p>Error: " + str(e) + "</p>")
+    import traceback
+
+    print("<pre>")
+    traceback.print_exc()
+    print("</pre>")
+
+finally:
+    print("</body></html>")
