diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 86f3773..434000a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -163,3 +163,6 @@ cython_debug/
 
 # PyPI configuration file
 .pypirc
+
+# Jules agent files
+.jules/
diff --git a/templates/api/handler.py b/templates/api/handler.py
index c26925a..e729fe3 100644
--- a/templates/api/handler.py
+++ b/templates/api/handler.py
@@ -51,10 +51,8 @@ def create_item() -> Response:
     Returns:
         201 with the created item, 422 on validation error, or 500 on error.
     """
-    body = app.current_event.json_body
-
     try:
-        item = Item.model_validate(body)
+        item = Item.model_validate_json(app.current_event.body)
     except ValidationError as exc:
         return Response(status_code=422, content_type="application/json", body=dumps({"errors": loads(exc.json())}))
 
@@ -66,7 +64,7 @@ def create_item() -> Response:
             status_code=500, content_type="application/json", body=dumps({"message": "Internal server error"})
         )
 
-    return Response(status_code=201, content_type="application/json", body=dumps(item.dump()))
+    return Response(status_code=201, content_type="application/json", body=item.dump_json())
 
 
 @logger.inject_lambda_context
diff --git a/templates/api/models.py b/templates/api/models.py
index e28060b..a13e591 100644
--- a/templates/api/models.py
+++ b/templates/api/models.py
@@ -13,3 +13,8 @@ def dump(self, **kwargs: Any) -> dict:
         kwargs.setdefault("by_alias", True)
         kwargs.setdefault("exclude_none", True)
         return self.model_dump(**kwargs)
+
+    def dump_json(self, **kwargs: Any) -> str:
+        kwargs.setdefault("by_alias", True)
+        kwargs.setdefault("exclude_none", True)
+        return self.model_dump_json(**kwargs)
diff --git a/templates/sqs/handler.py b/templates/sqs/handler.py
index 09ab195..1bff9b4 100644
--- a/templates/sqs/handler.py
+++ b/templates/sqs/handler.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def handle_record(self, record: SQSRecord) -> None:
             ValueError: If the message body cannot be parsed or processed.
         """
         try:
-            message = SqsMessage.model_validate(record.json_body)
+            message = SqsMessage.model_validate_json(record.body)
             processed = ProcessedItem(id=message.id, content=message.content, status="PROCESSED")
             self._repository.put_item(processed.model_dump())
             logger.info("Successfully processed and stored message", extra={"messageId": message.id})
diff --git a/tests/sqs/test_handler.py b/tests/sqs/test_handler.py
index 0df5d0b..d1336d4 100644
--- a/tests/sqs/test_handler.py
+++ b/tests/sqs/test_handler.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ def test_handler_handle_record(repository):
 
     handler = Handler(repository)
     record = MagicMock()
-    record.json_body = {"id": "123", "content": "test content"}
+    record.body = dumps({"id": "123", "content": "test content"})
 
     handler.handle_record(record)