diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 98f98c9..fdc0eaa 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3871,7 +3871,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "ere-server",
  "ere-test-utils",
  "ere-zkvm-interface",
- "parking_lot",
  "paste",
  "serde",
  "tempfile",
@@ -4193,9 +4192,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "clap",
  "indexmap 2.10.0",
  "serde",
+ "serde-untagged",
  "serde_json",
+ "serde_yaml",
  "strum 0.27.2",
  "thiserror 2.0.12",
+ "toml 0.8.23",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -12717,6 +12719,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde-untagged"
+version = "0.1.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f9faf48a4a2d2693be24c6289dbe26552776eb7737074e6722891fadbe6c5058"
+dependencies = [
+ "erased-serde",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_core",
+ "typeid",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serde_arrays"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -12847,6 +12861,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.101",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_yaml"
+version = "0.9.34+deprecated"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6a8b1a1a2ebf674015cc02edccce75287f1a0130d394307b36743c2f5d504b47"
+dependencies = [
+ "indexmap 2.10.0",
+ "itoa",
+ "ryu",
+ "serde",
+ "unsafe-libyaml",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serdect"
 version = "0.2.0"
@@ -15136,6 +15163,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.109",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unsafe-libyaml"
+version = "0.2.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "673aac59facbab8a9007c7f6108d11f63b603f7cabff99fabf650fea5c32b861"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "untrusted"
 version = "0.7.1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7e83cda..fa77c8b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ dashmap = "6.1.0"
 digest = { version = "0.10.7", default-features = false }
 eyre = "0.6.12"
 indexmap = "2.10.0"
-parking_lot = "0.12.5"
 paste = "1.0.15"
 postcard = { version = "1.0.8", default-features = false }
 prost = "0.13"
@@ -68,6 +67,7 @@ rkyv = { version = "0.8.12", default-features = false }
 serde = { version = "1.0.219", default-features = false }
 serde_bytes = { version = "0.11.19", default-features = false }
 serde_json = "1.0.142"
+serde-untagged = "0.1"
 serde_yaml = "0.9.34"
 sha2 = { version = "0.10.9", default-features = false }
 strum = "0.27.2"
diff --git a/crates/dockerized/Cargo.toml b/crates/dockerized/Cargo.toml
index 5eab617..4a72962 100644
--- a/crates/dockerized/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/dockerized/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ license.workspace = true
 
 [dependencies]
 anyhow.workspace = true
-parking_lot.workspace = true
 serde = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
 tempfile.workspace = true
 thiserror.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/dockerized/server/src/client.rs b/crates/dockerized/server/src/client.rs
index 2e84037..1280ae8 100644
--- a/crates/dockerized/server/src/client.rs
+++ b/crates/dockerized/server/src/client.rs
@@ -6,61 +6,50 @@ use crate::api::{
 use ere_zkvm_interface::zkvm::{
     Input, ProgramExecutionReport, ProgramProvingReport, Proof, ProofKind, PublicValues,
 };
-use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 use thiserror::Error;
-use tokio::time::sleep;
 use twirp::{Client, Request, reqwest};
 
-pub use twirp::{TwirpErrorResponse, url::Url};
+pub use twirp::{
+    TwirpErrorResponse,
+    url::{ParseError, Url},
+};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types)]
 pub enum Error {
+    #[error("Invalid URL: {0}")]
+    ParseUrl(#[from] ParseError),
     #[error("zkVM method error: {0}")]
     zkVM(String),
-    #[error("Connection to zkVM server timeout after 5 minutes")]
-    ConnectionTimeout,
     #[error("RPC error: {0}")]
     Rpc(#[from] TwirpErrorResponse),
 }
 
 /// zkVM client of the `zkVMServer`.
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct zkVMClient {
     client: Client,
 }
 
 impl zkVMClient {
-    pub async fn new(url: Url) -> Result<Self, Error> {
-        const TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(300); // 5mins
-        const INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(500);
+    pub fn new(endpoint: Url, http_client: reqwest::Client) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        Ok(Self {
+            client: Client::new(endpoint.join("twirp")?, http_client, Vec::new(), None),
+        })
+    }
 
-        let http_client = reqwest::Client::new();
-
-        let start = Instant::now();
-        loop {
-            if start.elapsed() > TIMEOUT {
-                return Err(Error::ConnectionTimeout);
-            }
-
-            match http_client.get(url.join("health").unwrap()).send().await {
-                Ok(response) if response.status().is_success() => break,
-                _ => sleep(INTERVAL).await,
-            }
-        }
-
-        let client = Client::new(url.join("twirp").unwrap(), http_client, Vec::new(), None);
-
-        Ok(Self { client })
+    pub fn from_endpoint(endpoint: Url) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        Self::new(endpoint, reqwest::Client::new())
     }
 
     pub async fn execute(
         &self,
-        input: &Input,
+        input: Input,
     ) -> Result<(PublicValues, ProgramExecutionReport), Error> {
         let request = Request::new(ExecuteRequest {
-            input_stdin: input.stdin.clone(),
-            input_proofs: input.proofs.clone(),
+            input_stdin: input.stdin,
+            input_proofs: input.proofs,
         });
 
         let response = self.client.execute(request).await?;
@@ -78,12 +67,12 @@ impl zkVMClient {
 
     pub async fn prove(
         &self,
-        input: &Input,
+        input: Input,
         proof_kind: ProofKind,
     ) -> Result<(PublicValues, Proof, ProgramProvingReport), Error> {
         let request = Request::new(ProveRequest {
-            input_stdin: input.stdin.clone(),
-            input_proofs: input.proofs.clone(),
+            input_stdin: input.stdin,
+            input_proofs: input.proofs,
             proof_kind: proof_kind as i32,
         });
 
@@ -101,10 +90,11 @@ impl zkVMClient {
         }
     }
 
-    pub async fn verify(&self, proof: &Proof) -> Result<PublicValues, Error> {
+    pub async fn verify(&self, proof: Proof) -> Result<PublicValues, Error> {
+        let proof_kind = proof.kind() as i32;
         let request = Request::new(VerifyRequest {
-            proof: proof.as_bytes().to_vec(),
-            proof_kind: proof.kind() as i32,
+            proof: proof.into_bytes(),
+            proof_kind,
         });
 
         let response = self.client.verify(request).await?;
diff --git a/crates/dockerized/server/src/main.rs b/crates/dockerized/server/src/main.rs
index b1a7e4f..96a9899 100644
--- a/crates/dockerized/server/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/dockerized/server/src/main.rs
@@ -40,8 +40,13 @@ const _: () = {
 #[derive(Parser)]
 #[command(author, version)]
 struct Args {
+    /// Port number for the server to listen on.
     #[arg(long, default_value = "3000")]
     port: u16,
+    /// Optional path to read the program from. If not specified, reads from stdin.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    program_path: Option<String>,
+    /// Prover resource type.
     #[command(subcommand)]
     resource: ProverResourceType,
 }
@@ -54,9 +59,16 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Error> {
 
     let args = Args::parse();
 
-    // Read serialized program from stdin.
-    let mut program = Vec::new();
-    io::stdin().read_to_end(&mut program)?;
+    // Read serialized program from file or stdin.
+    let program = if let Some(path) = args.program_path {
+        std::fs::read(&path).with_context(|| format!("Failed to read program from {path}"))?
+    } else {
+        let mut program = Vec::new();
+        io::stdin()
+            .read_to_end(&mut program)
+            .context("Failed to read program from stdin")?;
+        program
+    };
 
     let zkvm = construct_zkvm(program, args.resource)?;
     let server = Arc::new(zkVMServer::new(zkvm));
diff --git a/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm.rs b/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm.rs
index 3ee308a..a27b25b 100644
--- a/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm.rs
+++ b/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ use crate::{
     },
     zkVMKind,
 };
-use ere_server::client::{Url, zkVMClient};
+use ere_server::{
+    api::twirp::reqwest::Client,
+    client::{self, Url, zkVMClient},
+};
 use ere_zkvm_interface::{
     CommonError,
     zkvm::{
@@ -23,9 +26,15 @@ use ere_zkvm_interface::{
         PublicValues, zkVM,
     },
 };
-use parking_lot::RwLock;
-use std::{future::Future, iter};
+use std::{
+    future::Future,
+    iter,
+    pin::Pin,
+    sync::OnceLock,
+    time::{Duration, Instant},
+};
 use tempfile::TempDir;
+use tokio::{sync::RwLock, time::sleep};
 use tracing::{error, info};
 
 mod error;
@@ -248,13 +257,14 @@ impl ServerContainer {
             &program.0,
         )?;
 
-        let endpoint = Url::parse(&format!("http://{host}:{port}")).unwrap();
-        let client = block_on(zkVMClient::new(endpoint))?;
+        let endpoint = Url::parse(&format!("http://{host}:{port}"))?;
+        let http_client = Client::new();
+        block_on(wait_until_healthy(&endpoint, http_client.clone()))?;
 
         Ok(ServerContainer {
             name,
             tempdir,
-            client,
+            client: zkVMClient::new(endpoint, http_client)?,
         })
     }
 }
@@ -296,15 +306,46 @@ impl DockerizedzkVM {
         &self.resource
     }
 
-    fn with_retry<T, F>(&self, mut f: F) -> anyhow::Result<T>
+    pub async fn execute_async(
+        &self,
+        input: Input,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<(PublicValues, ProgramExecutionReport)> {
+        self.with_retry(|client| {
+            let input = input.clone();
+            Box::pin(async move { client.execute(input).await })
+        })
+        .await
+    }
+
+    pub async fn prove_async(
+        &self,
+        input: Input,
+        proof_kind: ProofKind,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<(PublicValues, Proof, ProgramProvingReport)> {
+        self.with_retry(|client| {
+            let input = input.clone();
+            Box::pin(async move { client.prove(input, proof_kind).await })
+        })
+        .await
+    }
+
+    pub async fn verify_async(&self, proof: Proof) -> anyhow::Result<PublicValues> {
+        self.with_retry(|client| {
+            let proof = proof.clone();
+            Box::pin(async move { client.verify(proof).await })
+        })
+        .await
+    }
+
+    async fn with_retry<T, F>(&self, f: F) -> anyhow::Result<T>
     where
-        F: FnMut(&zkVMClient) -> Result<T, ere_server::client::Error>,
+        F: Fn(zkVMClient) -> Pin<Box<dyn Future<Output = Result<T, client::Error>> + Send>>,
     {
         const MAX_RETRY: usize = 3;
 
         let mut attempt = 1;
         loop {
-            let err = match f(&self.container.read().as_ref().unwrap().client) {
+            let err = match f(self.container.read().await.as_ref().unwrap().client.clone()).await {
                 Ok(ok) => return Ok(ok),
                 Err(err) => Error::from(err),
             };
@@ -319,7 +360,7 @@ impl DockerizedzkVM {
 
             error!("Rpc failed (attempt {attempt}/{MAX_RETRY}): {err}, checking container...");
 
-            let mut container = self.container.write();
+            let mut container = self.container.write().await;
             if docker_container_exists(&container.as_ref().unwrap().name).is_ok_and(|exists| exists)
             {
                 info!("Container is still running, retrying...");
@@ -340,7 +381,7 @@ impl DockerizedzkVM {
 
 impl zkVM for DockerizedzkVM {
     fn execute(&self, input: &Input) -> anyhow::Result<(PublicValues, ProgramExecutionReport)> {
-        self.with_retry(|client| block_on(client.execute(input)))
+        block_on(self.execute_async(input.clone()))
     }
 
     fn prove(
@@ -348,11 +389,11 @@ impl zkVM for DockerizedzkVM {
         input: &Input,
         proof_kind: ProofKind,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<(PublicValues, Proof, ProgramProvingReport)> {
-        self.with_retry(|client| block_on(client.prove(input, proof_kind)))
+        block_on(self.prove_async(input.clone(), proof_kind))
     }
 
     fn verify(&self, proof: &Proof) -> anyhow::Result<PublicValues> {
-        self.with_retry(|client| block_on(client.verify(proof)))
+        block_on(self.verify_async(proof.clone()))
     }
 
     fn name(&self) -> &'static str {
@@ -364,13 +405,35 @@ impl zkVM for DockerizedzkVM {
     }
 }
 
-fn block_on<T>(future: impl Future<Output = T>) -> T {
-    match tokio::runtime::Handle::try_current() {
-        Ok(handle) => tokio::task::block_in_place(|| handle.block_on(future)),
-        Err(_) => tokio::runtime::Runtime::new().unwrap().block_on(future),
+async fn wait_until_healthy(endpoint: &Url, http_client: Client) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    const TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(300); // 5mins
+    const INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(500);
+
+    let http_client = http_client.clone();
+    let start = Instant::now();
+    loop {
+        if start.elapsed() > TIMEOUT {
+            return Err(Error::ConnectionTimeout);
+        }
+
+        match http_client.get(endpoint.join("health")?).send().await {
+            Ok(response) if response.status().is_success() => break Ok(()),
+            _ => sleep(INTERVAL).await,
+        }
     }
 }
 
+fn block_on<T>(future: impl Future<Output = T>) -> T {
+    static FALLBACK_RT: OnceLock<tokio::runtime::Runtime> = OnceLock::new();
+    let handle = tokio::runtime::Handle::try_current().unwrap_or_else(|_| {
+        FALLBACK_RT
+            .get_or_init(|| tokio::runtime::Runtime::new().expect("Failed to create runtime"))
+            .handle()
+            .clone()
+    });
+    tokio::task::block_in_place(|| handle.block_on(future))
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use crate::{
diff --git a/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm/error.rs b/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm/error.rs
index 58aa117..c61aa2d 100644
--- a/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm/error.rs
+++ b/crates/dockerized/src/zkvm/error.rs
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-use ere_server::client::{self, TwirpErrorResponse};
+use ere_server::client::{self, ParseError, TwirpErrorResponse};
 use ere_zkvm_interface::CommonError;
 use thiserror::Error;
 
 impl From<client::Error> for Error {
     fn from(value: client::Error) -> Self {
         match value {
+            client::Error::ParseUrl(err) => Self::ParseUrl(err),
             client::Error::zkVM(err) => Self::zkVM(err),
-            client::Error::ConnectionTimeout => Self::ConnectionTimeout,
             client::Error::Rpc(err) => Self::Rpc(err),
         }
     }
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ impl From<client::Error> for Error {
 pub enum Error {
     #[error(transparent)]
     CommonError(#[from] CommonError),
+    #[error(transparent)]
+    ParseUrl(#[from] ParseError),
     #[error("zkVM method error: {0}")]
     zkVM(String),
     #[error("Connection to zkVM server timeout after 5 minutes")]
diff --git a/crates/zkvm-interface/Cargo.toml b/crates/zkvm-interface/Cargo.toml
index 884d6b4..8b3e024 100644
--- a/crates/zkvm-interface/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/zkvm-interface/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ auto_impl.workspace = true
 bincode = { workspace = true, features = ["alloc", "serde"] }
 indexmap = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
 serde = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
+serde-untagged.workspace = true
 strum = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
 thiserror.workspace = true
 
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ clap = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"], optional = true }
 [dev-dependencies]
 bincode = { workspace = true, features = ["alloc", "serde"] }
 serde_json.workspace = true
+serde_yaml.workspace = true
+toml.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/proof.rs b/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/proof.rs
index 757be3a..e173dbb 100644
--- a/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/proof.rs
+++ b/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/proof.rs
@@ -30,11 +30,19 @@ impl Proof {
         ProofKind::from(self)
     }
 
-    /// Returns inner proof as bytes.
+    /// Returns inner proof as bytes slice.
     pub fn as_bytes(&self) -> &[u8] {
         match self {
             Self::Compressed(bytes) => bytes,
             Self::Groth16(bytes) => bytes,
         }
     }
+
+    /// Returns inner proof as bytes vec.
+    pub fn into_bytes(self) -> Vec<u8> {
+        match self {
+            Self::Compressed(bytes) => bytes,
+            Self::Groth16(bytes) => bytes,
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/resource.rs b/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/resource.rs
index 672eaff..e804bc8 100644
--- a/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/resource.rs
+++ b/crates/zkvm-interface/src/zkvm/resource.rs
@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, de::Unexpected};
+use serde_untagged::UntaggedEnumVisitor;
 
 /// Configuration for network-based proving
 #[derive(Debug, Default, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
-#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", derive(clap::Args))]
 pub struct NetworkProverConfig {
-    #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", arg(long))]
     /// The endpoint URL of the prover network service
-    pub endpoint: String,
-
     #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", arg(long))]
+    pub endpoint: String,
     /// Optional API key for authentication
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", arg(long))]
     pub api_key: Option<String>,
 }
 
@@ -25,8 +24,7 @@ impl NetworkProverConfig {
 }
 
 /// ResourceType specifies what resource will be used to create the proofs.
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
-#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", derive(clap::Subcommand))]
 pub enum ProverResourceType {
     #[default]
@@ -48,3 +46,92 @@ impl ProverResourceType {
         }
     }
 }
+
+impl Serialize for ProverResourceType {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: serde::Serializer,
+    {
+        match self {
+            Self::Cpu => "cpu".serialize(serializer),
+            Self::Gpu => "gpu".serialize(serializer),
+            Self::Network(config) => config.serialize(serializer),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for ProverResourceType {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        UntaggedEnumVisitor::new()
+            .string(|resource| match resource {
+                "cpu" => Ok(Self::Cpu),
+                "gpu" => Ok(Self::Gpu),
+                _ => Err(serde::de::Error::invalid_value(
+                    Unexpected::Str(resource),
+                    &r#""cpu" or "gpu""#,
+                )),
+            })
+            .map(|map| map.deserialize().map(Self::Network))
+            .deserialize(deserializer)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use crate::zkvm::resource::ProverResourceType;
+    use core::fmt::Debug;
+    use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+    #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
+    struct Config {
+        resources: Vec<ProverResourceType>,
+    }
+
+    fn test_round_trip<'de, SE: Debug, DE: Debug>(
+        config: &'de str,
+        ser: impl Fn(&Config) -> Result<String, SE>,
+        de: impl Fn(&'de str) -> Result<Config, DE>,
+    ) {
+        assert_eq!(config.trim(), ser(&de(config).unwrap()).unwrap().trim())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_round_trip_toml() {
+        const TOML: &str = r#"
+resources = ["cpu", "gpu", { endpoint = "http://localhost:3000" }]
+    "#;
+        test_round_trip(TOML, toml::to_string, toml::from_str);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_round_trip_yaml() {
+        const YAML: &str = r#"
+resources:
+- cpu
+- gpu
+- endpoint: http://localhost:3000
+  api_key: null
+"#;
+        test_round_trip(YAML, serde_yaml::to_string, serde_yaml::from_str);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_round_trip_json() {
+        const JSON: &str = r#"
+{
+  "resources": [
+    "cpu",
+    "gpu",
+    {
+      "endpoint": "",
+      "api_key": null
+    }
+  ]
+}
+"#;
+        test_round_trip(JSON, serde_json::to_string_pretty, serde_json::from_str);
+    }
+}