diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index a8c89fb7..e0caa01b 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -57,11 +57,19 @@ build_sshpiper:
         exit 1
       fi
     - echo "yaml plugin built successfully."
+    # Build api plugin (for multi-pool routing via API lookup)
+    - $GOROOT/bin/go build -tags full -o api ./plugin/api
+    - |
+      if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "Failed to build api plugin. Aborting."
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    - echo "api plugin built successfully."
     - ./sshpiperd --help 2>&1 | head -20 || true
     # Push both binaries to salt master via minionfs for distribution to minions
     - echo "Pushing sshpiper binaries to salt master via minionfs..."
     - mkdir -p $HOME/sshpiper-dist
-    - tar -czvf $HOME/sshpiper-dist/sshpiper.tar.gz -C $CI_PROJECT_DIR sshpiperd yaml
+    - tar -czvf $HOME/sshpiper-dist/sshpiper.tar.gz -C $CI_PROJECT_DIR sshpiperd yaml api
     - echo "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" > $HOME/sshpiper-dist/commit-hash.txt
     - ls -la $HOME/sshpiper-dist/
     - sudo /opt/salt-call-put-artifacts-onto-salt-master.sh $HOME/sshpiper-dist
@@ -70,4 +78,5 @@ build_sshpiper:
     paths:
       - sshpiperd
       - yaml
+      - api
     expire_in: 1 week