diff --git a/backend/hf_service.py b/backend/hf_service.py
index 379e6007..1ce3ecbd 100644
--- a/backend/hf_service.py
+++ b/backend/hf_service.py
@@ -88,6 +88,14 @@ async def _make_request(client, image_bytes, labels):
             raise ExternalAPIException("Hugging Face API", str(e)) from e
 
 def _prepare_image_bytes(image: Union[Image.Image, bytes]) -> bytes:
+    if isinstance(image, bytes):
+        return image
+    img_byte_arr = io.BytesIO()
+    fmt = image.format if hasattr(image, 'format') and image.format else 'JPEG'
+    image.save(img_byte_arr, format=fmt)
+    return img_byte_arr.getvalue()
+
+async def detect_vandalism_clip(image: Image.Image, client: httpx.AsyncClient = None):
     """
     Detects vandalism/graffiti using Zero-Shot Image Classification with CLIP (Async).
     Includes retry logic with exponential backoff for transient failures.
diff --git a/backend/main.py b/backend/main.py
index 6697f0ee..6d1439a8 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/backend/main.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import json
 import os
 import io
+import sys
 
 # Add the project root to sys.path so we can import 'backend' modules
 sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
@@ -234,18 +235,22 @@ async def create_issue(
 
         # Offload blocking file I/O to a thread
         def save_file():
-            with open(image_path, "wb") as buffer:
+            with open(file_location, "wb") as buffer:
                 shutil.copyfileobj(image.file, buffer)
 
         await asyncio.to_thread(save_file)
 
+    except Exception as e:
+        return JSONResponse(status_code=500, content={"message": str(e)})
+
     # Offload blocking DB operations to a thread
     def save_to_db():
         new_issue = Issue(
             description=description,
             category=category,
-            image_path=image_path,
-            source="web"
+            image_path=file_location,
+            source=source,
+            user_email=user_email
         )
         db.add(new_issue)
         db.commit()
@@ -254,19 +259,12 @@ def save_to_db():
 
     new_issue = await asyncio.to_thread(save_to_db)
 
-        # Generate Action Plan (AI)
+    # Generate Action Plan (AI)
+    try:
         action_plan = await generate_action_plan(description, category, file_location)
-
-        db_issue = Issue(
-            description=description,
-            category=category,
-            image_path=file_location,
-            source=source,
-            user_email=user_email
-        )
-        db.add(db_issue)
-        db.commit()
-        db.refresh(db_issue)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(f"Error generating action plan: {e}")
+        action_plan = "Action plan generation failed"
 
     return {
         "id": new_issue.id,