diff --git a/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/deploy-app-code.ts b/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/deploy-app-code.ts
index ff061cfa4..ec0d2c8c6 100644
--- a/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/deploy-app-code.ts
+++ b/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/deploy-app-code.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import {
   dbosEnvPath,
   CloudAPIErrorResponse,
   CLILogger,
+  retrieveApplicationLanguage,
+  AppLanguages,
 } from "../cloudutils.js";
 import path from "path";
 import { Application } from "./types.js";
@@ -91,13 +93,28 @@ export async function deployAppCode(
   }
   logger.debug(`  ... app name is ${appName}.`);
 
-  // Verify lock file exists
-  logger.debug("Checking for package-lock.json...");
-  const packageLockJsonExists = existsSync(path.join(process.cwd(), "package-lock.json"));
-  logger.debug(`  ... package-lock.json found: ${packageLockJsonExists}`);
+  const appLanguage = retrieveApplicationLanguage();
 
-  if (!packageLockJsonExists) {
-    logger.error("No package-lock.json found. Please run 'npm install' before deploying.");
+  if (appLanguage === AppLanguages.Node as string) {
+    logger.debug("Checking for package-lock.json...");
+    const packageLockJsonExists = existsSync(path.join(process.cwd(), "package-lock.json"));
+    logger.debug(`  ... package-lock.json found: ${packageLockJsonExists}`);
+
+    if (!packageLockJsonExists) {
+      logger.error("No package-lock.json found. Please run 'npm install' before deploying.");
+      return 1;
+    }
+  } else if (appLanguage === AppLanguages.Python as string) {
+    logger.debug("Checking for requirements.txt...");
+    const requirementsTxtExists = existsSync(path.join(process.cwd(), "requirements.txt"));
+    logger.debug(`  ... requirements.txt found: ${requirementsTxtExists}`);
+
+    if (!requirementsTxtExists) {
+      logger.error("No requirements.txt found. Please create one before deploying.");
+      return 1;
+    }
+  } else {
+    logger.error(`dbos-config.yaml contains invalid language ${appLanguage}`)
     return 1;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/register-app.ts b/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/register-app.ts
index 4dada0ba6..8926eb169 100644
--- a/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/register-app.ts
+++ b/packages/dbos-cloud/applications/register-app.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import axios, { AxiosError } from "axios";
-import { handleAPIErrors, getCloudCredentials, getLogger, isCloudAPIErrorResponse, retrieveApplicationName, CloudAPIErrorResponse } from "../cloudutils.js";
+import { handleAPIErrors, getCloudCredentials, getLogger, isCloudAPIErrorResponse, retrieveApplicationName, CloudAPIErrorResponse, retrieveApplicationLanguage } from "../cloudutils.js";
 import chalk from "chalk";
 
 export async function registerApp(dbname: string, host: string, appName?: string): Promise<number> {
@@ -11,14 +11,16 @@ export async function registerApp(dbname: string, host: string, appName?: string
   if (!appName) {
     return 1;
   }
-  logger.info(`Registering application: ${appName}`);
+  const appLanguage = retrieveApplicationLanguage();
 
   try {
+    logger.info(`Registering application: ${appName}`);
     const register = await axios.put(
       `https://${host}/v1alpha1/${userCredentials.organization}/applications`,
       {
         name: appName,
         database: dbname,
+        language: appLanguage,
       },
       {
         headers: {
diff --git a/packages/dbos-cloud/cloudutils.ts b/packages/dbos-cloud/cloudutils.ts
index 857b25bef..7ed86fa1f 100644
--- a/packages/dbos-cloud/cloudutils.ts
+++ b/packages/dbos-cloud/cloudutils.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ export interface UserProfile {
   SubscriptionPlan: string;
 }
 
+export enum AppLanguages {
+  Node = "node",
+  Python = "python",
+}
+
 export const dbosConfigFilePath = "dbos-config.yaml";
 export const DBOSCloudHost = process.env.DBOS_DOMAIN || "cloud.dbos.dev";
 export const dbosEnvPath = ".dbos";
@@ -45,6 +50,11 @@ export function retrieveApplicationName(logger: Logger, silent: boolean = false)
   return appName;
 }
 
+export function retrieveApplicationLanguage() {
+  const configFile = loadConfigFile(dbosConfigFilePath);
+  return configFile.language || AppLanguages.Node;
+}
+
 export type CLILogger = ReturnType<typeof createLogger>;
 let curLogger: Logger | undefined = undefined;
 export function getLogger(verbose?: boolean): CLILogger {