diff --git a/.prettierignore b/.prettierignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..08fe6302
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.prettierignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+src/*
+src/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 6891fbef..efeadd9c 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -15,13 +15,14 @@
         "react": "^18.2.0",
         "react-dom": "^18.2.0",
         "react-modal": "^3.16.1",
+        "react-password-checklist": "^1.8.1",
         "react-router-dom": "^6.8.0",
         "react-scripts": "5.0.1",
         "web-vitals": "^3.1.1"
       },
       "devDependencies": {
         "eslint": "^8.57.1",
-        "eslint-config-prettier": "^9.1.0",
+        "eslint-config-prettier": "^9.1.2",
         "eslint-config-standard": "^17.1.0",
         "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.31.0",
         "eslint-plugin-n": "^16.6.2",
@@ -7360,9 +7361,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/eslint-config-prettier": {
-      "version": "9.1.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/eslint-config-prettier/-/eslint-config-prettier-9.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-NSWl5BFQWEPi1j4TjVNItzYV7dZXZ+wP6I6ZhrBGpChQhZRUaElihE9uRRkcbRnNb76UMKDF3r+WTmNcGPKsqw==",
+      "version": "9.1.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/eslint-config-prettier/-/eslint-config-prettier-9.1.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-iI1f+D2ViGn+uvv5HuHVUamg8ll4tN+JRHGc6IJi4TP9Kl976C57fzPXgseXNs8v0iA8aSJpHsTWjDb9QJamGQ==",
       "dev": true,
       "license": "MIT",
       "bin": {
@@ -14974,6 +14975,15 @@
         "react-dom": "^0.14.0 || ^15.0.0 || ^16 || ^17 || ^18"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/react-password-checklist": {
+      "version": "1.8.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react-password-checklist/-/react-password-checklist-1.8.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-QHIU/OejxoH4/cIfYLHaHLb+yYc8mtL0Vr4HTmULxQg3ZNdI9Ni/yYf7pwLBgsUh4sseKCV/GzzYHWpHqejTGw==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "react": ">16.0.0-alpha || >17.0.0-alpha || >18.0.0-alpha"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/react-refresh": {
       "version": "0.11.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/react-refresh/-/react-refresh-0.11.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 249b6b05..320f92bc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     "react": "^18.2.0",
     "react-dom": "^18.2.0",
     "react-modal": "^3.16.1",
+    "react-password-checklist": "^1.8.1",
     "react-router-dom": "^6.8.0",
     "react-scripts": "5.0.1",
     "web-vitals": "^3.1.1"
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "eslint": "^8.57.1",
-    "eslint-config-prettier": "^9.1.0",
+    "eslint-config-prettier": "^9.1.2",
     "eslint-config-standard": "^17.1.0",
     "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.31.0",
     "eslint-plugin-n": "^16.6.2",
diff --git a/src/pages/register/index.js b/src/pages/register/index.js
index 5cc70e32..8d4844de 100644
--- a/src/pages/register/index.js
+++ b/src/pages/register/index.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import TextInput from '../../components/form/textInput';
 import useAuth from '../../hooks/useAuth';
 import CredentialsCard from '../../components/credentials';
 import './register.css';
+import ReactPasswordChecklist from 'react-password-checklist';
 
 const Register = () => {
   const { onRegister } = useAuth();
@@ -14,6 +15,29 @@ const Register = () => {
     setFormData({ ...formData, [name]: value });
   };
 
+  const validateEmail = (email) => {
+    const mailFormat = /^\w+([\.-]?\w+)*@\w+([\.-]?\w+)*(\.\w{2,3})+$/;
+    if (email.match(mailFormat)) {
+      return true; 
+    } 
+    else {
+      alert("You have entered an invalid email address");
+      return false;
+    }
+
+  }  
+
+  const validatePassword = (password) => {
+    const passwordFormat = /^(?=.*?[A-Z])(?=.*?[0-9])(?=.*?[#?!@$%^&*-]).{8,}$/;
+    if (password.match(passwordFormat)) {
+      return true; 
+    } 
+    else {
+      alert("Your password is not in the right format"); 
+      return false;
+    }
+  } 
+
   return (
     <div className="bg-blue register credentialpage">
       <CredentialsCard
@@ -31,6 +55,7 @@ const Register = () => {
               type="email"
               name="email"
               label={'Email *'}
+              required
             />
             <TextInput
               value={formData.password}
@@ -38,11 +63,33 @@ const Register = () => {
               name="password"
               label={'Password *'}
               type={'password'}
+              required
             />
+            <ReactPasswordChecklist
+              rules={["minLength", "specialChar", "number", "capital"]}
+              minLength={8}
+              value = {formData.password}
+              messages={{
+                minLength: "Password must be at least 8 characters.",
+                specialChar: "Password must contain at least one special character.",
+                number: "Password must contain at least one digit.",
+                capital: "Password must contain at least one uppercase letter."
+              }} />
           </form>
           <Button
             text="Sign up"
-            onClick={() => onRegister(formData.email, formData.password)}
+            onClick={async () => {
+              if (validateEmail(formData.email) && validatePassword(formData.password)) {
+                try {
+                  await onRegister(formData.email, formData.password);
+                } 
+                catch (err) {
+                  if (err.status === 400) {
+                    alert('Email is already in use');
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }}
             classes="green width-full"
           />
         </div>
diff --git a/src/service/apiClient.js b/src/service/apiClient.js
index 5f3cdbcf..df36acac 100644
--- a/src/service/apiClient.js
+++ b/src/service/apiClient.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ async function login(email, password) {
 }
 
 async function register(email, password) {
-  await post('users', { email, password }, false);
+  await post('signup', { email, password }, false);
   return await login(email, password);
 }
 
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ async function request(method, endpoint, data, auth = true) {
 
   const response = await fetch(`${API_URL}/${endpoint}`, opts);
 
+  if (!response.ok) {
+    const error = new Error(response.message || `Request failed with status ${response.status}`);
+    error.status = response.status;
+    throw error;
+  }
+
   return response.json();
 }