diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4f3d9a0f161c2a14c24a0d3f0e8b663197c2063e..0429e2b2e8a95b002dbe4e41d990d4ad8fdcf36e 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -145,12 +145,12 @@ deploy-release:
 # which builds model with the new version of VIPSCommon. This pipeline fails if model build fails.
 
 verify_model_ALTERNARIA:
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/finestructure/pipeline-trigger
+  image: eclipse-temurin:17.0.9_9-jdk-jammy
   stage: models-1
-  before_script: []
+  before_script:
+    - apt-get update && apt-get install -y jq curl
   script:
-    - echo "trigger -h gitlab.nibio.no -a [MASKED] -p [MASKED] -t $MAIN_BRANCH $ALTERNARIA_PROJECT_ID -e VERSION=$VERSION -e PURPOSE=\"verify\""
-    - trigger -h gitlab.nibio.no -a "$CICD_API_TOKEN" -p "$ACCESS_TOKEN_ALTERNARIA" -t $MAIN_BRANCH $ALTERNARIA_PROJECT_ID -e VERSION=$VERSION -e PURPOSE="verify"
+    - ./trigger_model_verification.sh  "$ALTERNARIA_PROJECT_ID" "$MAIN_BRANCH" "$VERSION" "verify"
   tags:
     - java
   dependencies:
diff --git a/trigger_model_verification.sh b/trigger_model_verification.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a25196f5ff01c1630bd0dc9d78fb5f351f262901
--- /dev/null
+++ b/trigger_model_verification.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+echo "Triggering ALTERNARIA verification pipeline via API..."
+
+curl --fail --silent --show-error --request POST \
+  --header "JOB-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" \
+  --form ref="${MAIN_BRANCH}" \
+  --form "variables[VERSION]=${VERSION}" \
+  --form "variables[PURPOSE]=verify" \
+  "https://gitlab.juba.no/api/v4/projects/${ALTERNARIA_PROJECT_ID}/trigger/pipeline"
+
+
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Usage:
+# ./trigger_model_verification.sh <project_id> <ref> <version> <purpose>
+
+PROJECT_ID="$1"
+REF="$2"
+VERSION="$3"
+PURPOSE="$4"
+
+API_URL="https://gitlab.nibio.no/api/v4"
+
+echo "Triggering pipeline for project $PROJECT_ID on ref '$REF'..."
+
+# Trigger the pipeline
+PIPELINE_JSON=$(curl --fail --silent --show-error --request POST \
+  --header "JOB-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" \
+  --form ref="$REF" \
+  --form "variables[VERSION]=$VERSION" \
+  --form "variables[PURPOSE]=$PURPOSE" \
+  "$API_URL/projects/${PROJECT_ID}/trigger/pipeline")
+
+# Extract pipeline ID
+PIPELINE_ID=$(echo "$PIPELINE_JSON" | jq -r '.id')
+
+if [[ -z "$PIPELINE_ID" || "$PIPELINE_ID" == "null" ]]; then
+  echo "❌ Failed to get pipeline ID from response."
+  echo "$PIPELINE_JSON"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "✅ Pipeline triggered: ID=$PIPELINE_ID"
+echo "🔄 Waiting for pipeline to complete..."
+
+# Poll for status
+while true; do
+  STATUS=$(curl --fail --silent --header "JOB-TOKEN: $CI_JOB_TOKEN" \
+    "$API_URL/projects/${PROJECT_ID}/pipelines/${PIPELINE_ID}" | jq -r '.status')
+
+  echo "🔍 Status: $STATUS"
+  case "$STATUS" in
+    success)
+      echo "✅ Downstream pipeline succeeded."
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    failed|canceled|skipped|manual)
+      echo "❌ Downstream pipeline ended with status: $STATUS"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+    running|pending)
+      sleep 5
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "⚠️ Unexpected status: $STATUS"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done