diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-express-serverside.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-express-serverside.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ba1d2711
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-express-serverside.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+name: deploy-express-serverside
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      reason:
+        description: 'Reason for deploying Express API'
+        required: true
+        default: 'Manual trigger'
+
+jobs:
+  deploy-express:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Trigger server-side deployment
+        run: |
+          echo "🚀 Triggering server-side deployment..."
+          echo "Reason: ${{ github.event.inputs.reason || 'Push to master' }}"
+          echo "Commit: ${{ github.sha }}"
+          echo "Branch: ${{ github.ref_name }}"
+
+      - name: Configure SSH key
+        uses: shimataro/ssh-key-action@v2
+        with:
+          key: ${{ secrets.DO_SSH_KEY }}
+          name: id_rsa
+          known_hosts: ${{ secrets.KNOWN_HOSTS }}
+
+      - name: Execute deployment on server
+        run: |
+          echo "Connecting to server and executing deployment..."
+          ssh ${{ secrets.DO_USERNAME }}@eduquilt.com << 'EOF'
+            set -e
+
+            # Log deployment start
+            echo "=== Deployment started at $(date) ==="
+            echo "Triggered by: ${{ github.event.inputs.reason || 'Push to master' }}"
+            echo "Commit: ${{ github.sha }}"
+            echo "Branch: ${{ github.ref_name }}"
+
+            # Change to deployment script directory
+            cd /home/skuilder
+
+            # Execute the deployment script
+            ./deploy-express-minimal-downtime.sh
+
+            echo "=== Deployment completed at $(date) ==="
+          EOF
+
+      - name: Verify deployment
+        run: |
+          echo "Verifying Express API deployment..."
+          max_retries=3
+          retry_count=0
+          while [ $retry_count -lt $max_retries ]; do
+            response=$(curl -sS https://eduquilt.com/express)
+            if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+              echo "Error: Failed to fetch https://eduquilt.com/express"
+              retry_count=$((retry_count+1))
+              if [ $retry_count -lt $max_retries ]; then
+                echo "Retrying in 5 seconds... (Attempt $retry_count of $max_retries)"
+                sleep 5
+                continue
+              else
+                exit 1
+              fi
+            fi
+
+            if echo "$response" | grep -q "${{ github.SHA }}"; then
+              echo "Success. Current version found in production"
+              
+              # Log deployment success
+              echo "✅ Express API deployed successfully with version ${{ github.SHA }}"
+              echo "✅ Deployment triggered by: ${{ github.event.inputs.reason || 'Push to master' }}"
+              echo "✅ Deployment timestamp: $(date -u)"
+              
+              exit 0
+            else
+              echo "Current version not found in production. Retrying..."
+              retry_count=$((retry_count+1))
+              if [ $retry_count -lt $max_retries ]; then
+                echo "Retrying in 5 seconds... (Attempt $retry_count of $max_retries)"
+                sleep 5
+              else
+                echo "Error! Max retries reached. Current version not reported by production."
+                echo "Response received:"
+                echo "$response"
+                exit 1
+              fi
+            fi
+          done
+
+      - name: Deployment failure cleanup
+        if: failure()
+        run: |
+          echo "🔄 Deployment failed. Checking for rollback options..."
+          ssh ${{ secrets.DO_USERNAME }}@eduquilt.com << 'EOF'
+            cd /home/skuilder
+            echo "Available builds for potential rollback:"
+            ./manage-deployment.sh list
+
+            echo "Current service status:"
+            ./manage-deployment.sh status
+
+            echo "Recent service logs:"
+            ./manage-deployment.sh logs 20 || true
+          EOF
+
+          echo "💡 To rollback manually, SSH to server and run:"
+          echo "   ./manage-deployment.sh rollback <build-name>"