diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dfd106c..2a5bcf7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 __pycache__/
-faiss_index/
\ No newline at end of file
+faiss_index/
+.venv
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 08c7d88..40edff2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# The python:3.12-slim tag points to the latest release based on Debian 12 (bookworm)
-FROM python:3.12-slim
+# The python:3.11-slim tag points to the latest release based on Debian 12 (bookworm)
+FROM python:3.11-slim
 
 # Labels
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.title         "OpenAI API for Google Cloud Vertex AI"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 15f90c6..d785656 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ bash deploy.sh
 
 ## Running Locally
 
-The software was tested on GNU/Linux and macOS with Python 3.12.
+The software was tested on GNU/Linux and macOS with Python 3.11 and 3.12.3 ([3.11.4](https://github.com/pydantic/pydantic/issues/9609) currently not working).
 If you want to use the software under Windows, you must set the environment variables with `set` instead of `export`.
 
 You should also create a [virtual environment](https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html) with the version of Python you want to use, and activate it before proceeding.