diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
index 5dee18d..ff413a8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ jobs:
     name: unit-tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
+      - name: Install prerequisites
+        shell: bash
+        run: sudo apt install libimage-exiftool-perl
+
       - name: Run go ${{ env.go_version }}
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
@@ -27,6 +31,14 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: make test
 
+      - name: build executable for test suite
+        shell: bash
+        run: make build
+
+      - name: execute apitest
+        shell: bash
+        run: make apitest
+
       - name: Notify slack channel about a failure
         if: ${{ failure() }}
         uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2
@@ -38,4 +50,4 @@ jobs:
           SLACK_COLOR: "#ff0000"
           SLACK_MESSAGE: Unit tests failed
           SLACK_TITLE: Unit tests failed
-          SLACK_FOOTER: ""
\ No newline at end of file
+          SLACK_FOOTER: ""