diff --git a/cli/Cargo.toml b/cli/Cargo.toml
index 13ae708af..ef8ed35d1 100644
--- a/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ inquire = "0.7.5"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 ratatui = "0.29.0"
 regex = "1.10.3"
-reqwest = { version = "0.12.9", features = ["json"] }
+reqwest = { version = "0.12.9", features = ["json", "rustls-tls"] }
 rpassword = "7.3.1"
 serde = { version = "1.0.196", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.113"
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ thiserror = "2.0.3"
 tokio = { version = "1.36.0", features = ["full"] }
 uuid = { version = "1.7.0", features = ["v4", "serde"] }
 colored = "3.0"
+rustls = { version = "0.22", features = ["tls12"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempfile = "3.16.0"
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/buster/api.rs b/cli/src/utils/buster/api.rs
index fcd58a62c..e4941aaa2 100644
--- a/cli/src/utils/buster/api.rs
+++ b/cli/src/utils/buster/api.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use reqwest::{
     header::{HeaderMap, HeaderValue},
     Client,
 };
+use std::error::Error as StdError;
 
 use super::{
     PostDataSourcesRequest, DeployDatasetsRequest, ValidateApiKeyRequest, ValidateApiKeyResponse,
@@ -17,7 +18,10 @@ pub struct BusterClient {
 
 impl BusterClient {
     pub fn new(base_url: String, api_key: String) -> Result<Self> {
-        let client = Client::builder().build()?;
+        let client = Client::builder()
+            .use_rustls_tls()
+            .timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(30))
+            .build()?;
 
         Ok(Self {
             client,
@@ -36,29 +40,81 @@ impl BusterClient {
     }
 
     pub async fn validate_api_key(&self) -> Result<bool> {
+        println!("Debug: Starting API key validation");
         let request = ValidateApiKeyRequest {
             api_key: self.api_key.clone(),
         };
+        println!("Debug: Created request object");
 
-        let response = self
+        let mut headers = HeaderMap::new();
+        headers.insert(
+            reqwest::header::CONTENT_TYPE,
+            HeaderValue::from_static("application/json"),
+        );
+        headers.insert(
+            reqwest::header::ACCEPT,
+            HeaderValue::from_static("*/*"),
+        );
+        headers.insert(
+            reqwest::header::USER_AGENT,
+            HeaderValue::from_static("buster-cli"),
+        );
+        println!("Debug: Set up headers: {:?}", headers);
+
+        let url = format!("{}/api/v1/api_keys/validate", self.base_url);
+        println!("Debug: Making request to URL: {}", url);
+
+        let request = self
             .client
-            .post(format!("{}/api/v1/api_keys/validate", self.base_url))
-            .json(&request)
-            .send()
-            .await?;
+            .post(&url)
+            .headers(headers)
+            .json(&request);
+        println!("Debug: Built request: {:?}", request);
+
+        let response = match request.send().await {
+            Ok(resp) => resp,
+            Err(e) => {
+                println!("Debug: Request failed with error: {:?}", e);
+                if let Some(source) = e.source() {
+                    println!("Debug: Error source: {:?}", source);
+                }
+                if e.is_timeout() {
+                    println!("Debug: Error was a timeout");
+                }
+                if e.is_connect() {
+                    println!("Debug: Error was a connection error");
+                }
+                if e.is_request() {
+                    println!("Debug: Error was a request error");
+                }
+                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Request failed: {}", e));
+            }
+        };
+        println!("Debug: Got response: {:?}", response);
 
         if !response.status().is_success() {
+            let status = response.status();
+            let text = response.text().await?;
+            println!("Debug: Error response - Status: {}, Body: {}", status, text);
             return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
-                "Failed to validate API key. This could be due to an invalid URL"
+                "Failed to validate API key. Status: {}, Response: {}",
+                status,
+                text
             ));
         }
 
         match response.json::<ValidateApiKeyResponse>().await {
-            Ok(validate_response) => Ok(validate_response.valid),
-            Err(e) => Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
-                "Failed to parse validate API key response: {}",
-                e
-            )),
+            Ok(validate_response) => {
+                println!("Debug: Successfully parsed response: {:?}", validate_response);
+                Ok(validate_response.valid)
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                println!("Debug: Failed to parse response: {:?}", e);
+                Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                    "Failed to parse validate API key response: {}",
+                    e
+                ))
+            }
         }
     }