diff --git a/leaderboard/leaderboard.py b/leaderboard/leaderboard.py
index a280965..77cfffb 100644
--- a/leaderboard/leaderboard.py
+++ b/leaderboard/leaderboard.py
@@ -104,18 +104,31 @@ class Leaderboard(commands.Cog):
             if self.admin_secret.get("admin_secret"):
                 self.session = aiohttp.ClientSession()
                 # Test API connection
-                async with self.session.get(
-                    f"{self.api_base_url}/leaderboard",
-                    headers={"Authorization": self.admin_secret["admin_secret"]}
-                ) as resp:
-                    if resp.status != 200:
-                        log.error(f"Failed to connect to API: Status {resp.status}")
-                    else:
-                        # Start auto-sync task if API connection successful
-                        self.auto_sync_task = self.bot.loop.create_task(self._auto_sync_task())
-                        log.info("Started automatic leaderboard sync task")
+                try:
+                    async with self.session.get(
+                        f"{self.api_base_url}/leaderboard",
+                        headers={"Authorization": f"Token {self.admin_secret['admin_secret']}"}
+                    ) as resp:
+                        try:
+                            data = await resp.json()
+                        except aiohttp.ContentTypeError:
+                            log.error("API returned invalid JSON response during initialization")
+                            return
+
+                        if resp.status == 200:
+                            # Start auto-sync task if API connection successful
+                            self.auto_sync_task = self.bot.loop.create_task(self._auto_sync_task())
+                            log.info("Started automatic leaderboard sync task")
+                        elif resp.status == 401:
+                            log.error("Failed to initialize API: Invalid admin secret")
+                        else:
+                            log.error(f"Failed to initialize API: Status {resp.status}")
+                            if data.get("error"):
+                                log.error(f"Error message: {data['error']}")
+                except aiohttp.ClientError as e:
+                    log.error(f"Failed to connect to API: {str(e)}")
         except Exception as e:
-            log.error(f"Failed to initialize API connection: {e}")
+            log.error(f"Failed to initialize API connection: {str(e)}")
 
     async def _auto_sync_task(self):
         """Task to automatically sync leaderboard every 6 hours."""
@@ -251,7 +264,7 @@ class Leaderboard(commands.Cog):
             async with self.session.post(
                 f"{self.api_base_url}/leaderboard",
                 headers={
-                    "Authorization": self.admin_secret["admin_secret"],
+                    "Authorization": f"Token {self.admin_secret['admin_secret']}",
                     "Content-Type": "application/json"
                 },
                 json={
@@ -261,8 +274,13 @@ class Leaderboard(commands.Cog):
                     "optedOut": opted_out
                 }
             ) as resp:
-                if resp.status == 200:
+                try:
                     data = await resp.json()
+                except aiohttp.ContentTypeError:
+                    log.error(f"API returned invalid JSON response with status {resp.status}")
+                    return False
+
+                if resp.status == 200:
                     if data.get("success"):
                         log.info(f"Updated leaderboard for {username}: {credits} credits (opted_out: {opted_out})")
                         return True
@@ -272,9 +290,14 @@ class Leaderboard(commands.Cog):
                     log.error("Unauthorized: Invalid admin secret")
                 else:
                     log.error(f"API update failed: Status {resp.status}")
+                    if data.get("error"):
+                        log.error(f"Error message: {data['error']}")
                 return False
+        except aiohttp.ClientError as e:
+            log.error(f"API request failed: {str(e)}")
+            return False
         except Exception as e:
-            log.error(f"API update failed: {e}")
+            log.error(f"Unexpected error during API update: {str(e)}")
             return False
 
     async def _get_api_leaderboard(self) -> Optional[list]:
@@ -285,10 +308,15 @@ class Leaderboard(commands.Cog):
         try:
             async with self.session.get(
                 f"{self.api_base_url}/leaderboard",
-                headers={"Authorization": self.admin_secret["admin_secret"]}
+                headers={"Authorization": f"Token {self.admin_secret['admin_secret']}"}
             ) as resp:
-                if resp.status == 200:
+                try:
                     data = await resp.json()
+                except aiohttp.ContentTypeError:
+                    log.error(f"API returned invalid JSON response with status {resp.status}")
+                    return None
+
+                if resp.status == 200:
                     if "leaderboard" in data:
                         return data["leaderboard"]
                     log.error("Invalid API response format")
@@ -296,9 +324,14 @@ class Leaderboard(commands.Cog):
                     log.error("Unauthorized: Invalid admin secret")
                 else:
                     log.error(f"Failed to fetch leaderboard: Status {resp.status}")
+                    if data.get("error"):
+                        log.error(f"Error message: {data['error']}")
                 return None
+        except aiohttp.ClientError as e:
+            log.error(f"Error fetching leaderboard: {str(e)}")
+            return None
         except Exception as e:
-            log.error(f"Error fetching leaderboard: {e}")
+            log.error(f"Unexpected error fetching leaderboard: {str(e)}")
             return None
 
     @commands.group(name="globalboard", aliases=["glb"])