diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index 00d933e..c2f6ed1 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -1,230 +1,66 @@
-name: "manual-approval-cross"
-description: "Manual approval for GitHub & Gitea with reminders + Apprise notifications"
-branding:
-  icon: "check-circle"
-  color: "green"
+name: "Wait For Manual Approval (Gitea/GitHub + Apprise)"
+description: "Pauses workflow until designated approvers comment with approval or denial keywords."
 
 inputs:
   token:
-    description: Token with repo access (GITHUB_TOKEN or GITEA_TOKEN)
+    description: "API token for GitHub or Gitea"
+    required: true
+
+  api_url:
+    description: "Root API URL (e.g., https://git.example.com/api/v1)"
+    required: true
+
+  repo_owner:
+    description: "Repository owner/org"
+    required: true
+
+  repo_name:
+    description: "Repository name"
     required: true
 
   approvers:
-    description: "Comma-separated list of approvers (usernames)"
+    description: "Comma-separated list of approver usernames"
     required: true
 
   approval_keywords:
-    description: "Approval keywords (comma-separated)"
-    default: "approve,approved,lgtm,yes"
+    description: "Comma-separated keywords meaning APPROVED"
+    default: "approve,approved,yes,lgtm"
 
   denial_keywords:
-    description: "Denial keywords (comma-separated)"
+    description: "Comma-separated keywords meaning DENIED"
     default: "deny,denied,no"
 
   poll_interval:
-    description: "Seconds between polling issue comments"
-    default: "20"
+    description: "Seconds between each comment check"
+    default: "10"
 
   reminder_interval:
-    description: "Seconds between reminders (0 = disable reminders)"
-    default: "600"
+    description: "Seconds between reminders (0 disables reminders)"
+    default: "0"
 
-  apprise_urls:
-    description: "Comma-separated Apprise URLs (optional)"
-    default: ""
-
-  apprise_api:
-    description: "URL to apprise-api endpoint (optional)"
-    default: ""
-
-  repository:
-    description: "Repository name (optional, required for act testing)"
-    default: ""
-
-outputs:
-  approved:
-    description: Approval result
-    value: ${{ steps.wait.outputs.approved }}
+  apprise_api_url:
+    description: "URL to Apprise API (optional)"
+    required: false
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
   steps:
-
-    # Detect platform & repository
-    - id: detect
+    - name: Make scripts executable
       shell: bash
-      run: |
-        URL="${GITHUB_SERVER_URL:-${{ github.server_url }}}"
-        REPO="${{ inputs.repository }}:${{ github.repository }}"
-        if [[ -z "$REPO" ]]; then
-          echo "❌ Repository not set. Please provide inputs.repository or github.repository"
-          exit 1
-        fi
-        if [[ "$URL" =~ gitea ]]; then
-          echo "platform=gitea" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        else
-          echo "platform=github" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        fi
-        echo "api_url=${URL}/api/v1" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        echo "repository=${REPO}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      run: chmod +x "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/wait-for-approval.sh" "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/notify"
 
-    # Create approval issue
-    - id: create-issue
+    - name: Run wait-for-approval
       shell: bash
       env:
         TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token }}
-        APPROVERS: ${{ inputs.approvers }}
-      run: |
-        title="Manual approval required"
-        body="Approvers: ${APPROVERS}
-
-        Workflow **${{ github.workflow }}** requires approval.
-
-        **Approval keywords:** ${{ inputs.approval_keywords }}
-        **Denial keywords:**   ${{ inputs.denial_keywords }}
-
-        Please reply with a keyword on this issue."
-
-        # Build JSON array of assignees
-        ASSIGNEES_JSON=$(jq -nc --arg csv "$APPROVERS" '$csv | split(",")')
-
-        json=$(jq -n \
-          --arg title "$title" \
-          --arg body "$body" \
-          --argjson assignees "$ASSIGNEES_JSON" \
-          '{title:$title, body:$body, assignees:$assignees}')
-
-        resp=$(curl -s -X POST \
-          -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
-          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-          -d "$json" \
-          "${{ steps.detect.outputs.api_url }}/repos/${{ steps.detect.outputs.repository }}/issues")
-
-        echo "Response from API: $resp"
-
-        # Extract issue number (GitHub: number, Gitea: index or id)
-        issue_number=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r '.number // .index // .id')
-        if [[ -z "$issue_number" || "$issue_number" == "null" ]]; then
-          echo "❌ Failed to create issue, response: $resp"
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-        echo "issue=$issue_number" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-    # Wait for approval with reminders
-    - id: wait
-      shell: bash
-      env:
-        TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token }}
-        PLATFORM: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.platform }}
-        API_URL: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.api_url }}
-        ISSUE: ${{ steps.create-issue.outputs.issue }}
+        API_URL: ${{ inputs.api_url }}
+        REPO_OWNER: ${{ inputs.repo_owner }}
+        REPO_NAME: ${{ inputs.repo_name }}
         APPROVERS: ${{ inputs.approvers }}
         APPROVAL_KEYWORDS: ${{ inputs.approval_keywords }}
         DENIAL_KEYWORDS: ${{ inputs.denial_keywords }}
-        REMINDER_INTERVAL: ${{ inputs.reminder_interval }}
         POLL_INTERVAL: ${{ inputs.poll_interval }}
-        APPRISE_URLS: ${{ inputs.apprise_urls }}
-        APPRISE_API: ${{ inputs.apprise_api }}
+        REMINDER_INTERVAL: ${{ inputs.reminder_interval }}
+        APPRISE_API_URL: ${{ inputs.apprise_api_url }}
       run: |
-        # Split inputs
-        IFS=',' read -r -a approver_list <<< "$APPROVERS"
-        IFS=',' read -r -a approved_kws <<< "$APPROVAL_KEYWORDS"
-        IFS=',' read -r -a denied_kws <<< "$DENIAL_KEYWORDS"
-
-        last_reminder=$(date +%s)
-        ISSUE_URL="${API_URL}/repos/${{ steps.detect.outputs.repository }}/issues/$ISSUE"
-
-        # Notification function (integrated Apprise)
-        notify_func() {
-          msg="$1"
-          echo "::notice::$msg"
-
-          if [[ -n "$APPRISE_URLS" ]]; then
-            IFS=',' read -r -a urls <<< "$APPRISE_URLS"
-            for u in "${urls[@]}"; do
-              apprise -b "$msg" -t "Manual Approval" "$u" || true
-            done
-          fi
-
-          if [[ -n "$APPRISE_API" ]]; then
-            curl -s -X POST "$APPRISE_API" \
-              -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-              -d "{\"title\":\"Manual Approval\",\"body\":\"$msg\"}" || true
-          fi
-        }
-
-        notify_func "Approval required on issue #$ISSUE"
-
-        while true; do
-          comments=$(curl -s \
-            -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
-            "$ISSUE_URL/comments")
-
-          declare -A state
-          for u in "${approver_list[@]}"; do state[$u]="pending"; done
-
-          count=$(echo "$comments" | jq 'length')
-          for ((i=0; i<count; i++)); do
-            user=$(echo "$comments" | jq -r ".[$i].user.login")
-            body=$(echo "$comments" | jq -r ".[$i].body" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
-
-            for k in "${approved_kws[@]}"; do
-              [[ "$body" =~ ^$k[.!]?$ ]] && state[$user]="approved"
-            done
-            for k in "${denied_kws[@]}"; do
-              [[ "$body" =~ ^$k[.!]?$ ]] && state[$user]="denied"
-            done
-          done
-
-          # Check denial
-          for u in "${!state[@]}"; do
-            if [[ "${state[$u]}" == "denied" ]]; then
-              notify_func "Approval denied by $u on issue #$ISSUE"
-              echo "approved=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-              exit 1
-            fi
-          done
-
-          # Check full approval
-          all_ok=true
-          for u in "${!state[@]}"; do
-            [[ "${state[$u]}" != "approved" ]] && all_ok=false
-          done
-
-          if $all_ok; then
-            notify_func "All approvers approved issue #$ISSUE"
-            echo "approved=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            break
-          fi
-
-          # Send reminders
-          if (( REMINDER_INTERVAL > 0 )); then
-            now=$(date +%s)
-            since=$(( now - last_reminder ))
-            if (( since >= REMINDER_INTERVAL )); then
-              pending=""
-              for u in "${!state[@]}"; do
-                [[ "${state[$u]}" == "pending" ]] && pending+="$u "
-              done
-              notify_func "Reminder: approval still pending for [$pending] on issue #$ISSUE"
-              last_reminder=$now
-            fi
-          fi
-
-          sleep "$POLL_INTERVAL"
-        done
-
-    # Close issue
-    - id: close
-      shell: bash
-      env:
-        TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token }}
-        API_URL: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.api_url }}
-        ISSUE: ${{ steps.create-issue.outputs.issue }}
-      run: |
-        curl -s -X PATCH \
-          -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
-          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-          -d '{"state":"closed"}' \
-          "$API_URL/repos/${{ steps.detect.outputs.repository }}/issues/$ISSUE" >/dev/null || true
+        bash "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/wait-for-approval.sh"
diff --git a/notify b/notify
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..dc1115e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notify
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+msg="$1"
+
+# Apprise CLI
+if command -v apprise >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    apprise -b "$msg" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+fi
+
+# Apprise API
+if [[ -n "${APPRISE_API_URL:-}" ]]; then
+    curl -s -X POST \
+        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+        -d "{\"body\":\"$msg\"}" \
+        "$APPRISE_API_URL/notify" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+fi
diff --git a/wait-for-approval.sh b/wait-for-approval.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..bd1057d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wait-for-approval.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Inputs
+# -----------------------------
+TOKEN="${TOKEN:?Missing TOKEN}"
+API_URL="${API_URL:?Missing API_URL}"
+REPO_OWNER="${REPO_OWNER:?Missing REPO_OWNER}"
+REPO_NAME="${REPO_NAME:?Missing REPO_NAME}"
+APPROVERS="${APPROVERS:?Missing APPROVERS}"
+APPROVAL_KEYWORDS="${APPROVAL_KEYWORDS:?Missing APPROVAL_KEYWORDS}"
+DENIAL_KEYWORDS="${DENIAL_KEYWORDS:?Missing DENIAL_KEYWORDS}"
+POLL_INTERVAL="${POLL_INTERVAL:-10}"
+REMINDER_INTERVAL="${REMINDER_INTERVAL:-0}"
+
+IFS=',' read -r -a approver_list <<< "$APPROVERS"
+IFS=',' read -r -a approved_kws <<< "$APPROVAL_KEYWORDS"
+IFS=',' read -r -a denied_kws <<< "$DENIAL_KEYWORDS"
+
+last_reminder=$(date +%s)
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Helper: Escape regex special chars
+# -----------------------------
+escape_regex() {
+    sed -e 's/[]\/$*.^|[]/\\&/g' <<< "$1"
+}
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Helper: Notifications
+# -----------------------------
+notify_func() {
+    local msg="$1"
+
+    echo "::notice::$msg"
+
+    # Local notify script
+    if [[ -x "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/notify" ]]; then
+        bash "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/notify" "$msg" || true
+    fi
+
+    # Apprise CLI
+    if command -v apprise >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        apprise -b "$msg" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    fi
+
+    # Apprise API
+    if [[ -n "${APPRISE_API_URL:-}" ]]; then
+        curl -s -X POST \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -d "{\"body\":\"$msg\"}" \
+            "$APPRISE_API_URL/notify" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    fi
+}
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Step 1: Create the issue
+# -----------------------------
+title="Manual approval required"
+body="Workflow requires manual approval.
+
+Approvers: ${APPROVERS}
+
+Reply with:
+• ${APPROVAL_KEYWORDS}
+• ${DENIAL_KEYWORDS}"
+
+# Build assignees JSON
+assignees_json=$(jq -nc --arg csv "$APPROVERS" '$csv|split(",")')
+
+json=$(jq -n \
+  --arg title "$title" \
+  --arg body "$body" \
+  --argjson assignees "$assignees_json" \
+  '{title:$title, body:$body, assignees:$assignees}')
+
+resp=$(curl -s -X POST \
+  -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
+  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+  -d "$json" \
+  "$API_URL/repos/$REPO_OWNER/$REPO_NAME/issues")
+
+ISSUE=$(echo "$resp" | jq -r '.number // .index // .id')
+if [[ -z "$ISSUE" || "$ISSUE" == "null" ]]; then
+    echo "❌ Failed to create issue: $resp"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+notify_func "Approval required on issue #$ISSUE"
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Step 2: Poll for comments
+# -----------------------------
+while true; do
+    comments=$(curl -s \
+        -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
+        "$API_URL/repos/$REPO_OWNER/$REPO_NAME/issues/$ISSUE/comments")
+
+    declare -A state
+    for u in "${approver_list[@]}"; do
+        state["$u"]="pending"
+    done
+
+    count=$(echo "$comments" | jq 'length')
+
+    for ((i=0; i<count; i++)); do
+        user=$(echo "$comments" | jq -r ".[$i].user.login")
+        body=$(echo "$comments" | jq -r ".[$i].body" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+
+        body_esc=$(escape_regex "$body")
+
+        for k in "${approved_kws[@]}"; do
+            k_esc=$(escape_regex "$k")
+            [[ "$body_esc" =~ ^${k_esc}[.!]?$ ]] && state["$user"]="approved"
+        done
+
+        for k in "${denied_kws[@]}"; do
+            k_esc=$(escape_regex "$k")
+            [[ "$body_esc" =~ ^${k_esc}[.!]?$ ]] && state["$user"]="denied"
+        done
+    done
+
+    # Denial check
+    for u in "${!state[@]}"; do
+        if [[ "${state[$u]}" == "denied" ]]; then
+            notify_func "Approval denied by $u on issue #$ISSUE"
+            echo "approved=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    done
+
+    # Full approval check
+    all_ok=true
+    for u in "${!state[@]}"; do
+        [[ "${state[$u]}" != "approved" ]] && all_ok=false
+    done
+
+    if $all_ok; then
+        notify_func "All approvers approved issue #$ISSUE"
+        echo "approved=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        exit 0
+    fi
+
+    # Send reminders
+    if (( REMINDER_INTERVAL > 0 )); then
+        now=$(date +%s)
+        if (( now - last_reminder >= REMINDER_INTERVAL )); then
+            pending=""
+            for u in "${!state[@]}"; do
+                [[ "${state[$u]}" == "pending" ]] && pending+="$u "
+            done
+            notify_func "Reminder: approval pending for [${pending}] on issue #$ISSUE"
+            last_reminder=$now
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    sleep "$POLL_INTERVAL"
+done