diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-python.yml b/.github/workflows/test-python.yml
index ed9650cc..7b76990a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-python.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-python.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     env:
       AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ci
       AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ci
-      SKIP_WEAVIATE_SETUP: 'True' 
+      SKIP_LLM_REQUEST: 'True' 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e2d9e6a4..4864e7ab 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -52,15 +52,15 @@ test-node: deps-node
 deps-python:
 	cd chat/src && pip install -r requirements.txt && pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
 cover-python: deps-python
-	cd chat && export SKIP_WEAVIATE_SETUP=True && coverage run --source=src -m unittest -v && coverage report --skip-empty
+	cd chat && export SKIP_LLM_REQUEST=True && coverage run --source=src -m unittest -v && coverage report --skip-empty
 cover-html-python: deps-python
-	cd chat && export SKIP_WEAVIATE_SETUP=True && coverage run --source=src -m unittest -v && coverage html --skip-empty
+	cd chat && export SKIP_LLM_REQUEST=True && coverage run --source=src -m unittest -v && coverage html --skip-empty
 style-python: deps-python
 	cd chat && ruff check . 
 style-python-fix: deps-python
 	cd chat && ruff check --fix . 
 test-python: deps-python
-	cd chat && SKIP_WEAVIATE_SETUP=True PYTHONPATH=src:test python -m unittest discover -v
+	cd chat && SKIP_LLM_REQUEST=True PYTHONPATH=src:test python -m unittest discover -v
 python-version:
 	cd chat && python --version
 build: .aws-sam/build.toml
diff --git a/chat/src/event_config.py b/chat/src/event_config.py
index 3b1e8ae7..28e09348 100644
--- a/chat/src/event_config.py
+++ b/chat/src/event_config.py
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ class EventConfig:
     deployment_name: str = field(init=False)
     document_prompt: ChatPromptTemplate = field(init=False)
     event: dict = field(default_factory=dict)
+    is_dev_team: bool = field(init=False)
     is_logged_in: bool = field(init=False)
+    is_superuser: bool = field(init=False)
     k: int = field(init=False)
     max_tokens: int = field(init=False)
     openai_api_version: str = field(init=False)
@@ -70,7 +72,9 @@ def __post_init__(self):
         self.azure_resource_name = self._get_azure_resource_name()
         self.debug_mode = self._is_debug_mode_enabled()
         self.deployment_name = self._get_deployment_name()
+        self.is_dev_team = self.api_token.is_dev_team()
         self.is_logged_in = self.api_token.is_logged_in()
+        self.is_superuser = self.api_token.is_superuser()
         self.k = self._get_k()
         self.max_tokens = min(self.payload.get("max_tokens", MAX_TOKENS), MAX_TOKENS)
         self.openai_api_version = self._get_openai_api_version()
diff --git a/chat/src/handlers/chat.py b/chat/src/handlers/chat.py
index 3630bfab..443a4f29 100644
--- a/chat/src/handlers/chat.py
+++ b/chat/src/handlers/chat.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 RESPONSE_TYPES = {
     "base": ["answer", "ref"],
     "debug": ["answer", "attributes", "azure_endpoint", "deployment_name", "is_superuser", "k", "openai_api_version", "prompt", "question", "ref", "temperature", "text_key", "token_counts"],
-    "log": ["answer", "deployment_name", "is_superuser", "k", "openai_api_version", "prompt", "question", "ref", "size", "source_documents", "temperature", "token_counts"],
+    "log": ["answer", "deployment_name", "is_superuser", "k", "openai_api_version", "prompt", "question", "ref", "size", "source_documents", "temperature", "token_counts", "is_dev_team"],
     "error": ["question", "error", "source_documents"]
 }
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def handler(event, context):
     socket = event.get('socket', None)
     config.setup_websocket(socket)
 
-    if not config.is_logged_in:
+    if not (config.is_logged_in or config.is_superuser):
         config.socket.send({"type": "error", "message": "Unauthorized"})
         return {"statusCode": 401, "body": "Unauthorized"}
 
@@ -34,16 +34,17 @@ def handler(event, context):
     if config.debug_mode:
         config.socket.send(debug_message)
 
-    if not os.getenv("SKIP_WEAVIATE_SETUP"):
+    if not os.getenv("SKIP_LLM_REQUEST"):
         config.setup_llm_request()
-        response = Response(config)
-        final_response = response.prepare_response()
-        if "error" in final_response:
-            logging.error(f'Error: {final_response["error"]}')
-            config.socket.send({"type": "error", "message": "Internal Server Error"})
-            return {"statusCode": 500, "body": "Internal Server Error"}
-        else:
-            config.socket.send(reshape_response(final_response, 'debug' if config.debug_mode else 'base'))
+
+    response = Response(config)
+    final_response = response.prepare_response()
+    if "error" in final_response:
+        logging.error(f'Error: {final_response["error"]}')
+        config.socket.send({"type": "error", "message": "Internal Server Error"})
+        return {"statusCode": 500, "body": "Internal Server Error"}
+    else:
+        config.socket.send(reshape_response(final_response, 'debug' if config.debug_mode else 'base'))
 
     log_group = os.getenv('METRICS_LOG_GROUP')
     log_stream = context.log_stream_name
diff --git a/chat/src/handlers/chat_sync.py b/chat/src/handlers/chat_sync.py
index 8166870e..dd3d88cf 100644
--- a/chat/src/handlers/chat_sync.py
+++ b/chat/src/handlers/chat_sync.py
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 }
 
 def handler(event, context):
-    print(f'Event: {event}')
-
     config = HTTPEventConfig(event)
 
     if not config.is_logged_in:
@@ -27,7 +25,7 @@ def handler(event, context):
     if config.question is None or config.question == "":
         return {"statusCode": 400, "body": "Question cannot be blank"}
     
-    if not os.getenv("SKIP_WEAVIATE_SETUP"):
+    if not os.getenv("SKIP_LLM_REQUEST"):
         config.setup_llm_request()
         response = HTTPResponse(config)
         final_response = response.prepare_response()
diff --git a/chat/src/helpers/apitoken.py b/chat/src/helpers/apitoken.py
index 46c97263..0cd03e29 100644
--- a/chat/src/helpers/apitoken.py
+++ b/chat/src/helpers/apitoken.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ def empty_token(cls):
             "iat": time,
             "entitlements": [],
             "isLoggedIn": False,
+            "isDevTeam": False,
         }
 
     def __init__(self, signed_token=None):
@@ -33,3 +34,6 @@ def is_logged_in(self):
 
     def is_superuser(self):
         return self.token.get("isSuperUser", False)
+    
+    def is_dev_team(self):
+        return self.token.get("isDevTeam", False)
diff --git a/chat/src/helpers/metrics.py b/chat/src/helpers/metrics.py
index 9610eac7..f00abc00 100644
--- a/chat/src/helpers/metrics.py
+++ b/chat/src/helpers/metrics.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ def debug_response(config, response, original_question):
         "attributes": config.attributes,
         "azure_endpoint": config.azure_endpoint,
         "deployment_name": config.deployment_name,
+        "is_dev_team": config.api_token.is_dev_team(),
         "is_superuser": config.api_token.is_superuser(),
         "k": config.k,
         "openai_api_version": config.openai_api_version,
diff --git a/chat/test/fixtures/apitoken.py b/chat/test/fixtures/apitoken.py
index 08691856..5c36541d 100644
--- a/chat/test/fixtures/apitoken.py
+++ b/chat/test/fixtures/apitoken.py
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@
 TEST_TOKEN = ('eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJleHAiOjQ4NDM1ODY2MDYxNjUs'
               'ImlhdCI6MTY4Nzg5MTM2OSwiZW50aXRsZW1lbnRzIjpbXSwiaXNMb2dnZWRJbiI6d'
               'HJ1ZSwic3ViIjoidGVzdFVzZXIifQ.vIZag1pHE1YyrxsKKlakXX_44ckAvkg7xWOoA_w4x58')
+DEV_TEAM_TOKEN = ('eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJleHAiOjI1MjY1OTQ2MDcsInN1YiI6ImFiYzEyMyIsImlzcyI6Im1lYWRvdyIsImlhdCI6MTcyNDk1OTUyNiwiZW50aXRsZW1lbnRzIjpbXSwiaXNMb2dnZWRJbiI6dHJ1ZSwiaXNTdXBlclVzZXIiOmZhbHNlLCJpc0RldlRlYW0iOnRydWV9.YrgNRcksnf1e0lIUdo3gdyAZR0_vUsuGzY9h6gziZbY')
diff --git a/chat/test/handlers/test_chat.py b/chat/test/handlers/test_chat.py
index 532c1bc4..a2cd93e8 100644
--- a/chat/test/handlers/test_chat.py
+++ b/chat/test/handlers/test_chat.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from unittest.mock import patch
 from handlers.chat import handler
 from helpers.apitoken import ApiToken
+from helpers.response import Response
 from websocket import Websocket
 from event_config import EventConfig
 
@@ -25,12 +26,36 @@ class MockContext:
    def __init__(self):
       self.log_stream_name = 'test'
 
+# TODO: Find a way to build a better mock response (maybe using helpers.metrics.debug_response)
+def mock_response(**kwargs):
+  result = {
+    'answer': 'Answer.',
+    'attributes': ['accession_number', 'alternate_title', 'api_link', 'canonical_link', 'caption', 'collection', 'contributor', 'date_created', 'date_created_edtf', 'description', 'genre', 'id', 'identifier', 'keywords', 'language', 'notes', 'physical_description_material', 'physical_description_size', 'provenance', 'publisher', 'rights_statement', 'subject', 'table_of_contents', 'thumbnail', 'title', 'visibility', 'work_type'],
+    'azure_endpoint': 'https://nul-ai-east.openai.azure.com/',
+    'deployment_name': 'gpt-4o',
+    'is_dev_team': False,
+    'is_superuser': False,
+    'k': 10,
+    'openai_api_version': '2024-02-01',
+    'prompt': "Prompt",
+    'question': 'Question?',
+    'ref': 'ref123',
+    'size': 20,
+    'source_documents': [], 
+    'temperature': 0.2, 
+    'text_key': 'id', 
+    'token_counts': {'question': 19, 'answer': 348, 'prompt': 329, 'source_documents': 10428,'total': 11124}
+  }
+  result.update(kwargs)
+  return result
+
 @mock.patch.dict(
     os.environ,
     {
         "AZURE_OPENAI_RESOURCE_NAME": "test",
     },
 )
+@mock.patch.object(Response, "prepare_response", lambda _: mock_response())
 class TestHandler(TestCase):
     def test_handler_unauthorized(self):        
         event = {"socket": Websocket(client=MockClient(), endpoint_url="test", connection_id="test", ref="test")}
@@ -45,7 +70,7 @@ def test_handler_success(self, mock_is_logged_in):
     @patch.object(ApiToken, 'is_logged_in')
     @patch.object(ApiToken, 'is_superuser')
     @patch.object(EventConfig, '_is_debug_mode_enabled')
-    def test_handler_debug_mode(self, mock_is_debug_enabled, mock_is_logged_in, mock_is_superuser):
+    def test_handler_debug_mode(self, mock_is_debug_enabled, mock_is_superuser, mock_is_logged_in):
       mock_is_debug_enabled.return_value = True
       mock_is_logged_in.return_value = True
       mock_is_superuser.return_value = True
@@ -54,21 +79,23 @@ def test_handler_debug_mode(self, mock_is_debug_enabled, mock_is_logged_in, mock
       event = {"socket": mock_websocket, "debug": True, "body": '{"question": "Question?"}' }
       handler(event, MockContext())
       response = json.loads(mock_client.received_data)
-      self.assertEqual(response["type"], "debug")
+      expected_keys = {"attributes", "azure_endpoint", "deployment_name"}
+      received_keys = response.keys()
+      self.assertTrue(expected_keys.issubset(received_keys))
       
     @patch.object(ApiToken, 'is_logged_in')
     @patch.object(ApiToken, 'is_superuser')
-    @patch.object(EventConfig, '_is_debug_mode_enabled')
-    def test_handler_debug_mode_for_superusers_only(self, mock_is_debug_enabled, mock_is_logged_in, mock_is_superuser):
-      mock_is_debug_enabled.return_value = True
+    def test_handler_debug_mode_for_superusers_only(self, mock_is_superuser, mock_is_logged_in):
       mock_is_logged_in.return_value = True
       mock_is_superuser.return_value = False
       mock_client = MockClient()
       mock_websocket = Websocket(client=mock_client, endpoint_url="test", connection_id="test", ref="test")
-      event = {"socket": mock_websocket, "debug": True, "body": '{"question": "Question?"}' }
+      event = {"socket": mock_websocket, "body": '{"question": "Question?", "debug": "true"}'}
       handler(event, MockContext())
       response = json.loads(mock_client.received_data)
-      self.assertEqual(response["type"], "error")
+      expected_keys = {"answer", "ref"}
+      received_keys = set(response.keys())
+      self.assertSetEqual(received_keys, expected_keys)
 
     @patch.object(ApiToken, 'is_logged_in')
     def test_handler_question_missing(self, mock_is_logged_in):
diff --git a/chat/test/helpers/test_apitoken.py b/chat/test/helpers/test_apitoken.py
index a330f56a..e23a1646 100644
--- a/chat/test/helpers/test_apitoken.py
+++ b/chat/test/helpers/test_apitoken.py
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 # ruff: noqa: E402
 import os
 import sys
+
 sys.path.append('./src')
 
 from helpers.apitoken import ApiToken
-from test.fixtures.apitoken import SUPER_TOKEN, TEST_SECRET, TEST_TOKEN
+from test.fixtures.apitoken import DEV_TEAM_TOKEN, SUPER_TOKEN, TEST_SECRET, TEST_TOKEN
 from unittest import mock, TestCase
 
 
 
-
+@mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"DEV_TEAM_NET_IDS": "abc123"})
 @mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"API_TOKEN_SECRET": TEST_SECRET})
 class TestFunction(TestCase):
     def test_empty_token(self):
@@ -29,6 +30,11 @@ def test_superuser_token(self):
         self.assertTrue(subject.is_logged_in())
         self.assertTrue(subject.is_superuser())
 
+    def test_devteam_token(self):
+        subject = ApiToken(DEV_TEAM_TOKEN)
+        self.assertIsInstance(subject, ApiToken)
+        self.assertTrue(subject.is_dev_team())
+
     def test_invalid_token(self):
         subject = ApiToken("INVALID_TOKEN")
         self.assertIsInstance(subject, ApiToken)
diff --git a/node/src/api/api-token.js b/node/src/api/api-token.js
index 51a6f490..4ea75c38 100644
--- a/node/src/api/api-token.js
+++ b/node/src/api/api-token.js
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-const { apiTokenSecret, dcApiEndpoint } = require("../environment");
+const {
+  apiTokenSecret,
+  dcApiEndpoint,
+  devTeamNetIds,
+} = require("../environment");
 const jwt = require("jsonwebtoken");
 
 function emptyToken() {
@@ -35,8 +39,8 @@ class ApiToken {
       email: user?.mail,
       isLoggedIn: !!user,
       primaryAffiliation: user?.primaryAffiliation,
+      isDevTeam: !!user && user?.uid && devTeamNetIds().includes(user?.uid),
     };
-
     return this.update();
   }
 
@@ -102,6 +106,10 @@ class ApiToken {
     return this.token.entitlements.has(entitlement);
   }
 
+  isDevTeam() {
+    return this.token.isDevTeam;
+  }
+
   isLoggedIn() {
     return this.token.isLoggedIn;
   }
diff --git a/node/src/environment.js b/node/src/environment.js
index 44958569..cf330b1c 100644
--- a/node/src/environment.js
+++ b/node/src/environment.js
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ function dcUrl() {
   return process.env.DC_URL;
 }
 
+function devTeamNetIds() {
+  return process.env.DEV_TEAM_NET_IDS.split(",");
+}
+
 function openSearchEndpoint() {
   return process.env.OPENSEARCH_ENDPOINT;
 }
@@ -61,6 +65,7 @@ module.exports = {
   appInfo,
   dcApiEndpoint,
   dcUrl,
+  devTeamNetIds,
   openSearchEndpoint,
   prefix,
   region,
diff --git a/node/test/test-helpers/index.js b/node/test/test-helpers/index.js
index 7ae31a2f..da85f1b2 100644
--- a/node/test/test-helpers/index.js
+++ b/node/test/test-helpers/index.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const TestEnvironment = {
   API_TOKEN_NAME: "dcapiTEST",
   DC_URL: "https://thisisafakedcurl",
   DC_API_ENDPOINT: "https://thisisafakeapiurl",
+  DEV_TEAM_NET_IDS: "abc123,def456",
   NUSSO_BASE_URL: "https://nusso-base.com/",
   NUSSO_API_KEY: "abc123",
   WEBSOCKET_URI: "wss://thisisafakewebsocketapiurl",
diff --git a/node/test/unit/api/api-token.test.js b/node/test/unit/api/api-token.test.js
index e8cd2d6b..b18fcca2 100644
--- a/node/test/unit/api/api-token.test.js
+++ b/node/test/unit/api/api-token.test.js
@@ -74,6 +74,21 @@ describe("ApiToken", function () {
     });
   });
 
+  describe("isDevTeam", function () {
+    it("sets the isDevTeam flag to true", async () => {
+      const user = {
+        uid: "abc123",
+        displayName: ["A. Developer"],
+        mail: "user@example.com",
+      };
+      const token = new ApiToken();
+      token.user(user);
+
+      expect(token.isDevTeam()).to.be.true;
+      expect(token.isLoggedIn()).to.be.true;
+    });
+  });
+
   describe("entitlements", function () {
     it("addEntitlement() adds an entitlement to the token", async () => {
       const payload = {
diff --git a/template.yaml b/template.yaml
index 67fd7ad6..9801c329 100644
--- a/template.yaml
+++ b/template.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Globals:
         API_TOKEN_SECRET: !Ref ApiTokenSecret
         DC_API_ENDPOINT: !Ref DcApiEndpoint
         DC_URL: !Ref DcUrl
+        DEV_TEAM_NET_IDS: !Ref DevTeamNetIds
         OPENSEARCH_ENDPOINT: !Ref OpenSearchEndpoint
         ENV_PREFIX: !Ref EnvironmentPrefix
         HONEYBADGER_API_KEY: !Ref HoneybadgerApiKey
@@ -63,6 +64,9 @@ Parameters:
   DcUrl:
     Type: String
     Description: URL of Digital Collections website
+  DevTeamNetIds:
+    Type: String
+    Description: Northwestern NetIDs of the development team
   FfmpegLayer:
     Type: String
     Description: "FFMPEG Lambda Layer ARN"