diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-and-process.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-and-process.yml
index 9465caa35..387e17477 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/validate-and-process.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-and-process.yml
@@ -3,13 +3,55 @@ name: Validate and Process EvalAI Challenge
 on:
   push:
     branches:
-      - challenge
+      - 'challenge'
+      - 'challenge-*-*'
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened, edited]
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
   issues: write
 
 jobs:
+  detect-and-validate-challenge-branch:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      is_challenge_branch: ${{ steps.branch-check.outputs.is_challenge_branch }}
+      challenge_branch: ${{ steps.branch-check.outputs.challenge_branch }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Detect and validate challenge branch
+        id: branch-check
+        run: |
+          # Get the actual branch name
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "pull_request" ]; then
+            BRANCH="${{ github.head_ref }}"
+          else
+            BRANCH="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          fi
+          
+          echo "🔍 Analyzing branch: $BRANCH"
+          echo "challenge_branch=$BRANCH" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          
+          # Check if this is a challenge branch (challenge or challenge-YYYY-version)
+          if [[ "$BRANCH" =~ ^challenge(-[0-9]{4}-.*)?$ ]]; then
+            echo "is_challenge_branch=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "✅ Valid challenge branch detected: $BRANCH"
+            
+            # Extract branch suffix for versioning
+            if [[ "$BRANCH" =~ ^challenge-([0-9]{4}-.+)$ ]]; then
+              SUFFIX="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+              echo "branch_suffix=$SUFFIX" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+              echo "📋 Branch version: $SUFFIX"
+            else
+              echo "branch_suffix=main" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+              echo "📋 Main challenge branch (no suffix)"
+            fi
+          else
+            echo "is_challenge_branch=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "ℹ️ Not a challenge branch: $BRANCH"
+            echo "⏭️ Challenge processing will be skipped (valid patterns: 'challenge' or 'challenge-YYYY-version')"
+          fi
+
   validate-host-config:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
@@ -120,9 +162,10 @@ jobs:
 
 
   process-evalai-challenge:
-    needs: [validate-host-config, check-self-hosted-requirements]
+    needs: [detect-and-validate-challenge-branch, validate-host-config, check-self-hosted-requirements]
     if: |
       always() && 
+      needs.detect-and-validate-challenge-branch.outputs.is_challenge_branch == 'true' &&
       needs.validate-host-config.outputs.is_valid == 'true' &&
       (needs.check-self-hosted-requirements.result == 'success' || needs.check-self-hosted-requirements.result == 'skipped')
     runs-on: ${{ needs.validate-host-config.outputs.requires_self_hosted == 'true' && 'self-hosted' || 'ubuntu-latest' }}
@@ -131,7 +174,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout challenge branch
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
-          ref: challenge
+          ref: ${{ needs.detect-and-validate-challenge-branch.outputs.challenge_branch }}
 
       - name: Set up Python (GitHub-hosted only)
         if: needs.validate-host-config.outputs.requires_self_hosted != 'true'
@@ -183,10 +226,11 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           echo "🔍 VALIDATING CHALLENGE CONFIGURATION"
           echo "====================================="
-          python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py
+          python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py ${{ needs.detect-and-validate-challenge-branch.outputs.challenge_branch }}
         env:
           IS_VALIDATION: 'True'
           GITHUB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(github) }}
+          GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
           GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AUTH_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Validate challenge configuration (Self-hosted with Docker)
@@ -202,25 +246,27 @@ jobs:
             -e GITHUB_CONTEXT='${{ toJson(github) }}' \
             -e GITHUB_REPOSITORY='${{ github.repository }}' \
             -e GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN='${{ secrets.AUTH_TOKEN }}' \
+            -e GIT_BRANCH='${{ needs.detect-and-validate-challenge-branch.outputs.challenge_branch }}' \
             python:3.9-slim \
             bash -c "
               pip install -r github/requirements.txt && 
-              python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py
+              python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py \$GIT_BRANCH
             "
 
       - name: Create or update challenge (GitHub-hosted)
-        if: success() && needs.validate-host-config.outputs.requires_self_hosted != 'true'
+        if: github.event_name == 'push' && success() && needs.validate-host-config.outputs.requires_self_hosted != 'true'
         run: |
           echo "🚀 CREATING/UPDATING CHALLENGE"
           echo "=============================="
-          python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py
+          python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py ${{ needs.detect-and-validate-challenge-branch.outputs.challenge_branch }}
         env:
           IS_VALIDATION: 'False'
           GITHUB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(github) }}
+          GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
           GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AUTH_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Create or update challenge (Self-hosted with Docker)
-        if: success() && needs.validate-host-config.outputs.requires_self_hosted == 'true'
+        if: github.event_name == 'push' && success() && needs.validate-host-config.outputs.requires_self_hosted == 'true'
         run: |
           echo "🚀 CREATING/UPDATING CHALLENGE (Docker)"
           echo "========================================"
@@ -232,8 +278,9 @@ jobs:
             -e GITHUB_CONTEXT='${{ toJson(github) }}' \
             -e GITHUB_REPOSITORY='${{ github.repository }}' \
             -e GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN='${{ secrets.AUTH_TOKEN }}' \
+            -e GIT_BRANCH='${{ needs.detect-and-validate-challenge-branch.outputs.challenge_branch }}' \
             python:3.9-slim \
             bash -c "
               pip install -r github/requirements.txt && 
-              python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py
+              python3 github/challenge_processing_script.py \$GIT_BRANCH
             "
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a078f9c78..15dc13226 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,18 +48,22 @@ If you are looking for a simple challenge configuration that you can replicate t
 
 5. Create a branch with name `challenge` in the forked repository from the `master` branch.
 <span style="color:purple">Note: Only changes in `challenge` branch will be synchronized with challenge on EvalAI.</span>
+You may maintain multiple versions by using additional branches whose names start with `challenge-` (e.g. `challenge-2024`, `challenge-v2`).
+<span style="color:purple">Note: The CI pipeline only runs for branches that match the pattern `challenge` or `challenge-*`. Any other branch name will be ignored.</span>
+
+If you trigger the processing script manually and do **not** pass a branch argument, it will assume the branch name is `challenge` by default.
 
 6. Add `evalai_user_auth_token` and `host_team_pk` in `github/host_config.json`.
 
 7. Read [EvalAI challenge creation documentation](https://evalai.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html) to know more about how you want to structure your challenge. Once you are ready, start making changes in the yaml file, HTML templates, evaluation script according to your need.
 
-8. Commit the changes and push the `challenge` branch in the repository and wait for the build to complete. View the [logs of your build](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/managing-workflow-runs/using-workflow-run-logs#viewing-logs-to-diagnose-failures).
+8. Commit the changes and push the relevant `challenge*` branch to the repository and wait for the build to complete. View the [logs of your build](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/managing-workflow-runs/using-workflow-run-logs#viewing-logs-to-diagnose-failures).
 
-9. If challenge config contains errors then a `issue` will be opened automatically in the repository with the errors otherwise the challenge will be created on EvalAI.
+9. If the challenge config contains errors, a GitHub **Issue** will be opened automatically in the repository with the error details; otherwise the challenge will be created on EvalAI.
 
 10. Go to [Hosted Challenges](https://eval.ai/web/hosted-challenges) to view your challenge. The challenge will be publicly available once EvalAI admin approves the challenge.
 
-11. To update the challenge on EvalAI, make changes in the repository and push on `challenge` branch and wait for the build to complete.
+11. To update the challenge on EvalAI, make changes in the repository and push to the corresponding `challenge*` branch and wait for the build to complete.
 
 ## Add custom dependencies for evaluation (Optional)
 To add custom dependency packages in the evaluation script, refer to [this guide](./evaluation_script/dependency-installation.md).
diff --git a/challenge_config.yaml b/challenge_config.yaml
index 6afc14ce4..423596821 100755
--- a/challenge_config.yaml
+++ b/challenge_config.yaml
@@ -1,164 +1,177 @@
-# If you are not sure what all these fields mean, please refer our documentation here:
-# https://evalai.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
-title: Random Number Generator Challenge
-short_description: Random number generation challenge for each submission
-description: templates/description.html
-evaluation_details: templates/evaluation_details.html
-terms_and_conditions: templates/terms_and_conditions.html
-image: logo.jpg
-submission_guidelines: templates/submission_guidelines.html
-leaderboard_description: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras egestas a libero nec sagittis.
-evaluation_script: evaluation_script.zip
-remote_evaluation: False
-start_date: 2019-01-01 00:00:00
-end_date: 2099-05-31 23:59:59
-published: True
-tags: 
-  - random-number-generation
-  - machine-learning
-  - data-science
-  - computer-vision
-leaderboard:
-  - id: 1
-    schema:
-      {
-        "labels": ["Metric1", "Metric2", "Metric3", "Total"],
-        "default_order_by": "Total",
-        "metadata": {
-          "Metric1": {
-            "sort_ascending": True,
-            "description": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.",
-          },
-          "Metric2": {
-            "sort_ascending": True,
-            "description": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.",
-          }
-        }
-      }
-
-challenge_phases:
-  - id: 1
-    name: Dev Phase
-    description: templates/challenge_phase_1_description.html
-    leaderboard_public: False
-    is_public: True
-    challenge: 1
-    is_active: True
-    max_concurrent_submissions_allowed: 3
-    allowed_email_ids: []
-    disable_logs: False
-    is_submission_public: True
-    start_date: 2019-01-19 00:00:00
-    end_date: 2099-04-25 23:59:59
-    test_annotation_file: annotations/test_annotations_devsplit.json
-    codename: dev
-    max_submissions_per_day: 5
-    max_submissions_per_month: 50
-    max_submissions: 50
-    default_submission_meta_attributes:
-      - name: method_name
-        is_visible: True
-      - name: method_description
-        is_visible: True
-      - name: project_url
-        is_visible: True
-      - name: publication_url
-        is_visible: True
-    submission_meta_attributes:
-      - name: TextAttribute
-        description: Sample
-        type: text
-        required: False
-      - name: SingleOptionAttribute
-        description: Sample
-        type: radio
-        options: ["A", "B", "C"]
-      - name: MultipleChoiceAttribute
-        description: Sample
-        type: checkbox
-        options: ["alpha", "beta", "gamma"]
-      - name: TrueFalseField
-        description: Sample
-        type: boolean
-        required: True
-    is_restricted_to_select_one_submission: False
-    is_partial_submission_evaluation_enabled: False
-    allowed_submission_file_types: ".json, .zip, .txt, .tsv, .gz, .csv, .h5, .npy, .npz"
-  - id: 2
-    name: Test Phase
-    description: templates/challenge_phase_2_description.html
-    leaderboard_public: True
-    is_public: True
-    challenge: 2
-    is_active: True
-    max_concurrent_submissions_allowed: 3
-    allowed_email_ids: []
-    disable_logs: False
-    is_submission_public: True
-    start_date: 2019-01-01 00:00:00
-    end_date: 2099-05-24 23:59:59
-    test_annotation_file: annotations/test_annotations_testsplit.json
-    codename: test
-    max_submissions_per_day: 5
-    max_submissions_per_month: 50
-    max_submissions: 50
-    default_submission_meta_attributes:
-      - name: method_name
-        is_visible: True
-      - name: method_description
-        is_visible: True
-      - name: project_url
-        is_visible: True
-      - name: publication_url
-        is_visible: True
-    submission_meta_attributes:
-      - name: TextAttribute
-        description: Sample
-        type: text
-      - name: SingleOptionAttribute
-        description: Sample
-        type: radio
-        options: ["A", "B", "C"]
-      - name: MultipleChoiceAttribute
-        description: Sample
-        type: checkbox
-        options: ["alpha", "beta", "gamma"]
-      - name: TrueFalseField
-        description: Sample
-        type: boolean
-    is_restricted_to_select_one_submission: False
-    is_partial_submission_evaluation_enabled: False
-
-dataset_splits:
-  - id: 1
-    name: Train Split
-    codename: train_split
-  - id: 2
-    name: Test Split
-    codename: test_split
-
-challenge_phase_splits:
-  - challenge_phase_id: 1
-    leaderboard_id: 1
-    dataset_split_id: 1
-    visibility: 1
-    leaderboard_decimal_precision: 2
-    is_leaderboard_order_descending: True
-    show_execution_time: True
-    show_leaderboard_by_latest_submission: True
-  - challenge_phase_id: 2
-    leaderboard_id: 1
-    dataset_split_id: 1
-    visibility: 3
-    leaderboard_decimal_precision: 2
-    is_leaderboard_order_descending: True
-    showeceution_time: False
-    show_leaderboard_by_latest_submission: False
-  - challenge_phase_id: 2
-    leaderboard_id: 1
-    dataset_split_id: 2
-    visibility: 1
-    leaderboard_decimal_precision: 2
-    is_leaderboard_order_descending: True
-    show_execution_time: True
-    show_leaderboard_by_latest_submission: True
+# If you are not sure what all these fields mean, please refer our documentation here:
+# https://evalai.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
+title: Advanced Multi-Phase AI Challenge
+short_description: Multi-phase challenge with development and validation stages
+description: templates/description.html
+evaluation_details: templates/evaluation_details.html
+terms_and_conditions: templates/terms_and_conditions.html
+image: logo.jpg
+submission_guidelines: templates/submission_guidelines.html
+leaderboard_description: This challenge features multiple phases with different evaluation criteria and submission limits.
+evaluation_script: evaluation_script.zip
+remote_evaluation: False
+start_date: 2024-01-01 00:00:00
+end_date: 2025-12-31 23:59:59
+published: True
+tags: 
+  - multi-phase-challenge
+  - machine-learning
+  - data-science
+  - computer-vision
+leaderboard:
+  - id: 1
+    schema:
+      {
+        "labels": ["Accuracy", "Precision", "Recall", "F1-Score", "AUC"],
+        "default_order_by": "F1-Score",
+        "metadata": {
+          "Accuracy": {
+            "sort_ascending": False,
+            "description": "Overall accuracy of the model predictions.",
+          },
+          "Precision": {
+            "sort_ascending": False,
+            "description": "Precision metric measuring positive prediction accuracy.",
+          },
+          "Recall": {
+            "sort_ascending": False,
+            "description": "Recall metric measuring sensitivity of the model.",
+          },
+          "F1-Score": {
+            "sort_ascending": False,
+            "description": "Harmonic mean of precision and recall.",
+          },
+          "AUC": {
+            "sort_ascending": False,
+            "description": "Area Under the ROC Curve metric.",
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+challenge_phases:
+  - id: 1
+    name: Development Phase
+    description: templates/challenge_phase_1_description.html
+    leaderboard_public: True
+    is_public: True
+    challenge: 1
+    is_active: True
+    max_concurrent_submissions_allowed: 5
+    allowed_email_ids: []
+    disable_logs: False
+    is_submission_public: True
+    start_date: 2024-01-01 00:00:00
+    end_date: 2024-08-31 23:59:59
+    test_annotation_file: annotations/test_annotations_devsplit.json
+    codename: development
+    max_submissions_per_day: 20
+    max_submissions_per_month: 200
+    max_submissions: 500
+    default_submission_meta_attributes:
+      - name: method_name
+        is_visible: True
+      - name: method_description
+        is_visible: True
+      - name: project_url
+        is_visible: True
+      - name: publication_url
+        is_visible: True
+    submission_meta_attributes:
+      - name: Model Architecture
+        description: Brief description of your model architecture
+        type: text
+        required: True
+      - name: Pre-trained Model
+        description: Are you using a pre-trained model?
+        type: radio
+        options: ["Yes", "No"]
+        required: True
+      - name: Training Data
+        description: What training data did you use?
+        type: checkbox
+        options: ["ImageNet", "COCO", "Custom Dataset", "Synthetic Data", "Other"]
+        required: False
+      - name: Data Augmentation
+        description: Did you use data augmentation?
+        type: boolean
+        required: False
+    is_restricted_to_select_one_submission: False
+    is_partial_submission_evaluation_enabled: True
+    allowed_submission_file_types: ".json, .zip, .txt, .tsv, .gz, .csv, .h5, .npy, .npz, .pkl"
+
+  - id: 2
+    name: Validation Phase
+    description: templates/challenge_phase_2_description.html
+    leaderboard_public: True
+    is_public: True
+    challenge: 2
+    is_active: True
+    max_concurrent_submissions_allowed: 3
+    allowed_email_ids: []
+    disable_logs: False
+    is_submission_public: False
+    start_date: 2024-09-01 00:00:00
+    end_date: 2024-11-30 23:59:59
+    test_annotation_file: annotations/test_annotations_testsplit.json
+    codename: validation
+    max_submissions_per_day: 10
+    max_submissions_per_month: 100
+    max_submissions: 200
+    default_submission_meta_attributes:
+      - name: method_name
+        is_visible: True
+      - name: method_description
+        is_visible: True
+      - name: project_url
+        is_visible: True
+    submission_meta_attributes:
+      - name: Model Version
+        description: Version identifier for your model
+        type: text
+        required: True
+      - name: Computational Resources
+        description: What computational resources were used?
+        type: checkbox
+        options: ["CPU", "Single GPU", "Multiple GPUs", "TPU", "Cloud Computing", "Other"]
+        required: True
+      - name: Training Time
+        description: Approximate training time
+        type: radio
+        options: ["< 1 hour", "1-6 hours", "6-24 hours", "1-7 days", "> 1 week"]
+        required: False
+      - name: Ensemble Method
+        description: Did you use ensemble methods?
+        type: boolean
+        required: False
+    is_restricted_to_select_one_submission: False
+    is_partial_submission_evaluation_enabled: False
+    allowed_submission_file_types: ".json, .zip, .txt, .tsv, .gz, .csv, .h5, .npy, .npz"
+
+dataset_splits:
+  - id: 1
+    name: Development Split
+    codename: dev_split
+  - id: 2
+    name: Test Split
+    codename: test_split
+
+challenge_phase_splits:
+  # Development Phase - uses dev split with public leaderboard
+  - challenge_phase_id: 1
+    leaderboard_id: 1
+    dataset_split_id: 1
+    visibility: 1
+    leaderboard_decimal_precision: 4
+    is_leaderboard_order_descending: True
+    show_execution_time: True
+    show_leaderboard_by_latest_submission: True
+
+  # Validation Phase - uses test split with public leaderboard
+  - challenge_phase_id: 2
+    leaderboard_id: 1
+    dataset_split_id: 2
+    visibility: 1
+    leaderboard_decimal_precision: 4
+    is_leaderboard_order_descending: True
+    show_execution_time: True
+    show_leaderboard_by_latest_submission: True
diff --git a/github/challenge_processing_script.py b/github/challenge_processing_script.py
index 32c9aae10..72370b075 100644
--- a/github/challenge_processing_script.py
+++ b/github/challenge_processing_script.py
@@ -3,10 +3,23 @@
 import os
 import requests
 import sys
+import argparse
+import re
+import config
 import urllib3
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
-from config import *
+from config import (
+    HOST_CONFIG_FILE_PATH,
+    CHALLENGE_CONFIG_VALIDATION_URL,
+    CHALLENGE_CREATE_OR_UPDATE_URL,
+    EVALAI_ERROR_CODES,
+    API_HOST_URL,
+    IGNORE_DIRS,
+    IGNORE_FILES,
+    CHALLENGE_ZIP_FILE_PATH,
+    GITHUB_EVENT_NAME,
+)
 from utils import (
     add_pull_request_comment,
     check_for_errors,
@@ -23,6 +36,19 @@
 
 GITHUB_CONTEXT = json.loads(os.getenv("GITHUB_CONTEXT", "{}"))
 GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN = os.getenv("GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN")
+
+# START of the FIX: Explicitly read GITHUB_REPOSITORY from environment variable
+GITHUB_REPOSITORY = os.getenv("GITHUB_REPOSITORY")
+if not GITHUB_REPOSITORY:
+    print("FATAL: GITHUB_REPOSITORY environment variable is not set.")
+    print("Please ensure your GitHub Actions workflow sets this variable.")
+    sys.exit(1)
+print(f"🔍 GITHUB_REPOSITORY from environment: {GITHUB_REPOSITORY}")
+
+VALIDATION_STEP = os.getenv("IS_VALIDATION")
+print(f"🔍 VALIDATION_STEP from IS_VALIDATION: {VALIDATION_STEP}")
+
+
 if not GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN:
     print(
         "Please add your github access token to the repository secrets with the name AUTH_TOKEN"
@@ -35,6 +61,20 @@
 CHALLENGE_HOST_TEAM_PK = None
 EVALAI_HOST_URL = None
 
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+    description="Validate or create/update challenge on EvalAI"
+)
+parser.add_argument("branch_name", nargs="?", default=None, help="Name of the git branch whose configuration is being processed")
+
+args = parser.parse_args()
+
+# Determine effective branch name (default to "challenge" if none provided)
+branch_name = args.branch_name if args.branch_name else "challenge"
+
+# Enforce branch naming convention: "challenge" or "challenge-YYYY-version"
+if not re.match(r"^challenge(-\d{4}-.*)?$", branch_name):
+    print("Error: Branch name must be 'challenge' or 'challenge-YYYY-version' (e.g., 'challenge', 'challenge-2024-v1', 'challenge-2025-final').")
+    sys.exit(1)
 
 def is_localhost_url(url):
     """
@@ -72,6 +112,37 @@ def configure_requests_for_localhost():
     print("INFO: SSL verification disabled for localhost development server")
 
 
+def modify_challenge_title_for_versioning(branch_suffix):
+    """
+    Keep the original challenge title in challenge_config.yaml
+    Different branch versions will create separate challenges through repository name modification
+    
+    Arguments:
+        branch_suffix {str}: The branch suffix (e.g., "2025-v1") - not used for title modification
+    """
+    import yaml
+    
+    config_file = "challenge_config.yaml"
+    
+    try:
+        # Read the current config
+        with open(config_file, 'r') as f:
+            config = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        
+        # Get the original title
+        original_title = config.get('title', 'Challenge')
+        
+        print(f"   📝 Keeping original title: {original_title}")
+        print(f"   ✅ Challenge versioning handled through repository name modification")
+        return None  # No title modification needed
+            
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"   ⚠️  Warning: Could not read challenge title: {e}")
+        print(f"   ℹ️  Continuing with original title...")
+        return None
+
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     
     configs = load_host_configs(HOST_CONFIG_FILE_PATH)
@@ -82,6 +153,11 @@ def configure_requests_for_localhost():
     else:
         sys.exit(1)
 
+    
+    # Update the global config path for zip file creation
+    # Note: We're not importing config.* anymore, so we need to set this directly
+    CHALLENGE_CONFIG_FILE_PATH = "challenge_config.yaml"
+    
     # Check if we're using a localhost server and configure accordingly
     is_localhost = is_localhost_url(EVALAI_HOST_URL)
     runner_info = get_runner_info()
@@ -112,13 +188,53 @@ def configure_requests_for_localhost():
     
     headers = get_request_header(HOST_AUTH_TOKEN)
 
+    # Add the branch name (if provided) so that EvalAI can distinguish between multiple
+    # versions of the challenge present in the same repository.
+    
+    # For branches with year-version format (e.g., challenge-2025-v1, challenge-2025-v2), 
+    # create separate challenges by modifying the repository identifier
+    effective_repo_name = GITHUB_REPOSITORY
+    
+    if branch_name and branch_name != "challenge":
+        # Extract year-version suffix from branch name and append to repo name
+        # challenge-2025-v1 -> 2025-v1
+        branch_suffix = branch_name.replace("challenge-", "")
+        effective_repo_name = f"{GITHUB_REPOSITORY}-{branch_suffix}"
+        print(f"🔄 Creating separate challenge for branch: {branch_name}")
+        print(f"📋 Effective repository name: {effective_repo_name}")
+        
+        # Note: Challenge versioning is handled through repository name modification
+        # The title remains unchanged to keep it clean
+        print(f"📝 Challenge versioning handled through repository name")
+        modify_challenge_title_for_versioning(branch_suffix)
+
     # Creating the challenge zip file and storing in a dict to send to EvalAI
+    # IMPORTANT: This must happen AFTER title modification
     print(f"\n📦 Creating challenge configuration package...")
     create_challenge_zip_file(CHALLENGE_ZIP_FILE_PATH, IGNORE_DIRS, IGNORE_FILES)
     zip_file = open(CHALLENGE_ZIP_FILE_PATH, "rb")
     file = {"zip_configuration": zip_file}
+    
+    data = {"GITHUB_REPOSITORY": effective_repo_name}
+    if branch_name:
+        data["BRANCH_NAME"] = branch_name
 
-    data = {"GITHUB_REPOSITORY": GITHUB_REPOSITORY}
+    # Debug output
+    print(f"🔍 Challenge identification:")
+    print(f"   Original repo: {GITHUB_REPOSITORY}")
+    print(f"   Effective repo: {effective_repo_name}")
+    print(f"   Branch name: {branch_name}")
+    print(f"   Data being sent: {data}")
+
+    # Verify challenge title in the config file
+    try:
+        import yaml
+        with open("challenge_config.yaml", 'r') as f:
+            config = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        current_title = config.get('title', 'Unknown')
+        print(f"   Current challenge title: {current_title}")
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"   ⚠️  Could not read current title: {e}")
 
     # Configure SSL verification based on whether we're using localhost
     verify_ssl = not is_localhost
@@ -126,12 +242,35 @@ def configure_requests_for_localhost():
 
     try:
         print(f"\n🌐 Sending request to EvalAI server...")
+        print(f"📤 Request details:")
+        print(f"   URL: {url}")
+        print(f"   Data: {data}")
+        print(f"   Headers: {headers}")
+        
         response = requests.post(url, data=data, headers=headers, files=file, verify=verify_ssl)
 
+        print(f"📥 Response received:")
+        print(f"   Status code: {response.status_code}")
+        print(f"   Status: {response.status_code == http.HTTPStatus.CREATED and 'CREATED' or response.status_code == http.HTTPStatus.OK and 'UPDATED' or 'OTHER'}")
+        
         if response.status_code != http.HTTPStatus.OK and response.status_code != http.HTTPStatus.CREATED:
+            print(f"   Response content: {response.text}")
             response.raise_for_status()
         else:
-            print("\n✅ Challenge processed successfully on EvalAI")
+            if response.status_code == http.HTTPStatus.CREATED:
+                print("\n✅ NEW Challenge CREATED successfully on EvalAI")
+            elif response.status_code == http.HTTPStatus.OK:
+                print("\n🔄 Existing Challenge UPDATED successfully on EvalAI")
+            
+            # Try to parse response for additional info
+            try:
+                response_data = response.json()
+                if 'title' in response_data:
+                    print(f"   Challenge title: {response_data['title']}")
+                if 'id' in response_data:
+                    print(f"   Challenge ID: {response_data['id']}")
+            except:
+                print("   (Could not parse response JSON)")
             
     except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as conn_err:
         # Handle connection errors specifically for localhost
@@ -237,7 +376,7 @@ def configure_requests_for_localhost():
             else:
                 add_pull_request_comment(
                     GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN,
-                    os.path.basename(GITHUB_REPOSITORY),
+                    os.path.basename(effective_repo_name),
                     pr_number,
                     errors,
                 )
@@ -245,7 +384,7 @@ def configure_requests_for_localhost():
             issue_title = (
                 "Following errors occurred while validating the challenge config:"
             )
-            repo_name = os.path.basename(GITHUB_REPOSITORY) if GITHUB_REPOSITORY else ""
+            repo_name = os.path.basename(effective_repo_name) if effective_repo_name else ""
             create_github_repository_issue(
                 GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN,
                 repo_name,
diff --git a/github/requirements.txt b/github/requirements.txt
index ed667b853..3640884b1 100644
--- a/github/requirements.txt
+++ b/github/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 PyGithub===1.53
 requests==2.32.4
+PyYAML==6.0.1