diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a6caeb0..15aa593 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ jobs:
     - name: Set up Elixir
       uses: erlef/setup-beam@v1 # https://github.com/erlef/setup-beam
       with:
-        elixir-version: '1.14.2' # Define the elixir version [required]
-        otp-version: '24.3.4' # Define the OTP version [required]
+        elixir-version: '1.18.4' # Define the elixir version [required]
+        otp-version: '28.0.1' # Define the OTP version [required]
     - name: Restore dependencies cache
       uses: actions/cache@v4
       with:
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 81433f2..3bf5313 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -43,4 +43,5 @@ _logs/
 id_rsa_fly
 id_rsa_fly-cert.pub
 .vscode
-backup.sql
\ No newline at end of file
+backup.sql
+backup.sql.zip
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4b9b2dd..6093155 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 <div align="center">
 
-![GitHub Workflow Status](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/dwyl/hits/ci.yml?label=build&style=flat-square&branch=main)
+[![GitHub Workflow Status](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/dwyl/hits/ci.yml?label=build&style=flat-square&branch=main)](https://github.com/dwyl/hits/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
 [![codecov.io](https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/dwyl/hits/master.svg?style=flat-square)](https://codecov.io/github/dwyl/hits?branch=master)
 [![HitCount](https://hits.dwyl.com/dwyl/hits.svg)](https://github.com/dwyl/hits)
 [![contributions welcome](https://img.shields.io/badge/contributions-welcome-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/dwyl/hits/issues/74)
diff --git a/lib/hits/validate.ex b/lib/hits/validate.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67f7879
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/hits/validate.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+defmodule Hits.Validate do
+  @doc """
+  Validate GitHub user/org and repository name (Strings).
+  """
+
+  # ^[[:alnum:]-_.]+$ means the name is composed of
+  # one or multiple alphanumeric character
+  # or "-_." characters
+  def repository_valid?(repo), do: String.match?(repo, ~r/^[[:alnum:]\-_.]+$/)
+
+  # see: https://github.com/dwyl/hits/issues/154
+  # alphanumeric follow by one or zero "-" or just alphanumerics
+  def user_valid?(user), do: String.match?(user, ~r/^([[:alnum:]]+-)*[[:alnum:]]+$/)
+end
diff --git a/lib/hits_web/controllers/hit_controller.ex b/lib/hits_web/controllers/hit_controller.ex
index 3998980..b6faf19 100644
--- a/lib/hits_web/controllers/hit_controller.ex
+++ b/lib/hits_web/controllers/hit_controller.ex
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ defmodule HitsWeb.HitController do
   use HitsWeb, :controller
   # use Phoenix.Channel
   # import Ecto.Query
-  alias Hits.{Hit, Repository, User, Useragent}
+  alias Hits.{Hit, Repository, User, Useragent, Validate}
 
   use Params
 
@@ -39,9 +39,11 @@ defmodule HitsWeb.HitController do
     params = Params.data(schema)
     params_map = Params.to_map(schema)
 
-    if schema.valid? and user_valid?(user) and repository_valid?(repo) do
+    if schema.valid?
+      and Validate.user_valid?(user)
+      and Validate.repository_valid?(repo) do
       # insert hit. Note: the .svg is for legacy reasons 🙄
-      {_user_schema, _useragent_schema, repo} = insert_hit(conn, user, "#{repo}.svg")
+      {_user_schema, _ua_schema, repo} = insert_hit(conn, user, "#{repo}.svg")
 
       count =
         if params.show == "unique" do
@@ -203,13 +205,4 @@ defmodule HitsWeb.HitController do
       |> send_resp(404, Hits.make_badge(404, params["style"]))
     end
   end
-
-  # see: https://github.com/dwyl/hits/issues/154
-  # alphanumeric follow by one or zero "-" or just alphanumerics
-  defp user_valid?(user), do: String.match?(user, ~r/^([[:alnum:]]+-)*[[:alnum:]]+$/)
-
-  # ^[[:alnum:]-_.]+$ means the name is composed of
-  # one or multiple alphanumeric character
-  # or "-_." characters
-  defp repository_valid?(repo), do: String.match?(repo, ~r/^[[:alnum:]-_.]+$/)
 end
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index e0b497e..8c802d9 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -12,15 +12,21 @@ defmodule Hits.MixProject do
       aliases: aliases(),
       deps: deps(),
       test_coverage: [tool: ExCoveralls],
-      preferred_cli_env: [
+      package: package(),
+      description: "Track page views on any GitHub page"
+    ]
+  end
+
+  def cli do
+    [
+      preferred_envs: [
         c: :test,
         coveralls: :test,
         "coveralls.detail": :test,
         "coveralls.post": :test,
-        "coveralls.html": :test
-      ],
-      package: package(),
-      description: "Track page views on any GitHub page"
+        "coveralls.html": :test,
+        docs: :docs
+      ]
     ]
   end
 
diff --git a/test/hits/validate_test.exs b/test/hits/validate_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00a31fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/hits/validate_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+defmodule Hits.ValidateTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
+  alias Hits.Validate
+
+  test "user_valid?/1 returns true if the string is a valid GitHub username" do
+    user = "pink-fluffy-unicorns-123"
+    # dbg(user)
+    assert Validate.user_valid?(user) == true
+    assert Validate.user_valid?("c@t") == false
+  end
+
+  test "repository_valid?/1 returns true if a string is a valid GitHub repo" do
+    repo = "pink-fluffy-unicorns_123"
+    # dbg(repo)
+    assert Validate.repository_valid?(repo) == true
+    assert Validate.repository_valid?("c@t") == false
+  end
+end