diff --git a/.githooks/check-commit-msg.sh b/.githooks/check-commit-msg.sh
index eacf2a8..497a32f 100755
--- a/.githooks/check-commit-msg.sh
+++ b/.githooks/check-commit-msg.sh
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ HEADER=$(head -n 1 "$COMMIT_MSG_FILE")
 
 # Check for Merge commits (covers 'git merge' and PR merges from GitHub/GitLab)
 # Examples: "Merge branch 'main' into ...", "Merge pull request #123 from ..."
-MERGE_PATTERN="^Merge (branch|pull request|tag) .*"
+MERGE_PATTERN="^Merge (remote-tracking )?(branch|pull request|tag) .*"
 if [[ "$HEADER" =~ $MERGE_PATTERN ]]; then
   echo -e "${GREEN}Merge commit detected by message content. Skipping validation.${NC}"
   exit 0
diff --git a/src/control_backend/api/v1/endpoints/program.py b/src/control_backend/api/v1/endpoints/program.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe0fbac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/control_backend/api/v1/endpoints/program.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import json
+import logging
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request
+
+from control_backend.schemas.message import Message
+from control_backend.schemas.program import Phase
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.post("/program", status_code=202)
+async def receive_message(program: Message, request: Request):
+    """
+    Receives a BehaviorProgram as a stringified JSON list inside `message`.
+    Converts it into real Phase objects.
+    """
+    logger.info("Received raw program: ")
+    logger.debug("%s", program)
+    raw_str = program.message  # This is the JSON string
+
+    # Convert Json into dict.
+    try:
+        program_list = json.loads(raw_str)
+    except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
+        logger.error("Failed to decode program JSON: %s", e)
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Undecodeable Json string") from None
+
+    # Validate Phases
+    try:
+        phases: list[Phase] = [Phase(**phase) for phase in program_list]
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error("❌ Failed to convert to Phase objects: %s", e)
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Non-Phase String") from None
+
+    logger.info(f"Succesfully recieved {len(phases)} Phase(s).")
+    for p in phases:
+        logger.info(
+            f"Phase {p.id}: "
+            f"{len(p.phaseData.norms)} norms, "
+            f"{len(p.phaseData.goals)} goals, "
+            f"{len(p.phaseData.triggers) if hasattr(p.phaseData, 'triggers') else 0} triggers"
+        )
+
+    # send away
+    topic = b"program"
+    body = json.dumps([p.model_dump() for p in phases]).encode("utf-8")
+    pub_socket = request.app.state.endpoints_pub_socket
+    await pub_socket.send_multipart([topic, body])
+
+    return {"status": "Program parsed", "phase_count": len(phases)}
diff --git a/src/control_backend/api/v1/router.py b/src/control_backend/api/v1/router.py
index f11dc9c..809b412 100644
--- a/src/control_backend/api/v1/router.py
+++ b/src/control_backend/api/v1/router.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from fastapi.routing import APIRouter
 
-from control_backend.api.v1.endpoints import command, logs, message, sse
+from control_backend.api.v1.endpoints import command, logs, message, program, sse
 
 api_router = APIRouter()
 
@@ -11,3 +11,5 @@ api_router.include_router(sse.router, tags=["SSE"])
 api_router.include_router(command.router, tags=["Commands"])
 
 api_router.include_router(logs.router, tags=["Logs"])
+
+api_router.include_router(program.router, tags=["Program"])
diff --git a/src/control_backend/schemas/program.py b/src/control_backend/schemas/program.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c207757
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/control_backend/schemas/program.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+
+class Norm(BaseModel):
+    id: str
+    name: str
+    value: str
+
+
+class Goal(BaseModel):
+    id: str
+    name: str
+    description: str
+    achieved: bool
+
+
+class Trigger(BaseModel):
+    id: str
+    label: str
+    type: str
+    value: list[str]
+
+
+class PhaseData(BaseModel):
+    norms: list[Norm]
+    goals: list[Goal]
+    triggers: list[Trigger]
+
+
+class Phase(BaseModel):
+    id: str
+    name: str
+    nextPhaseId: str
+    phaseData: PhaseData
+
+
+class Program(BaseModel):
+    phases: list[Phase]