diff --git a/cpp/common.cpp b/cpp/common.cpp
index 965a3aa..f2cc67a 100644
--- a/cpp/common.cpp
+++ b/cpp/common.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 // along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 #include "common.h"
+
 #include <archive.h>
 #include <archive_entry.h>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -25,12 +26,14 @@
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <chrono>
 #include <regex>
+#include <optional>
 
 namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
 static void log_info(const std::string &msg) {
     std::cout << "[INFO] " << msg << "\n";
 }
+
 static void log_error(const std::string &msg) {
     std::cerr << "[ERROR] " << msg << "\n";
 }
@@ -147,21 +150,48 @@ void create_tarball(const std::string& tarballPath, const std::string& directory
             archive_entry_set_pathname(entry, relativePath.c_str());
             archive_entry_set_size(entry, fs::file_size(path));
             archive_entry_set_filetype(entry, AE_IFREG);
-            archive_entry_set_perm(entry, static_cast<mode_t>(fs::status(path).permissions()));
 
-            archive_write_header(a, entry);
+            // Convert std::filesystem::perms to mode_t
+            std::filesystem::perms p = fs::status(path).permissions();
+            mode_t mode = 0;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::owner_read) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IRUSR;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::owner_write) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IWUSR;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::owner_exec) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IXUSR;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::group_read) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IRGRP;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::group_write) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IWGRP;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::group_exec) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IXGRP;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::others_read) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IROTH;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::others_write) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IWOTH;
+            if ((p & fs::perms::others_exec) != fs::perms::none) mode |= S_IXOTH;
+
+            archive_entry_set_perm(entry, mode);
+
+            if (archive_write_header(a, entry) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+                archive_entry_free(entry);
+                throw std::runtime_error("Could not write header for " + relativePath + ": " + archive_error_string(a));
+            }
 
             // Write file contents
             std::ifstream fileStream(path, std::ios::binary);
+            if (!fileStream) {
+                archive_entry_free(entry);
+                throw std::runtime_error("Could not open file " + relativePath + " for reading");
+            }
             std::vector<char> buffer((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(fileStream)), std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
-            archive_write_data(a, buffer.data(), buffer.size());
+            if (archive_write_data(a, buffer.data(), buffer.size()) < 0) {
+                archive_entry_free(entry);
+                throw std::runtime_error("Could not write data for " + relativePath + ": " + archive_error_string(a));
+            }
 
             archive_entry_free(entry);
         }
     }
 
     // Finalize and clean up
-    archive_write_close(a);
+    if (archive_write_close(a) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+        archive_write_free(a);
+        throw std::runtime_error("Could not close archive: " + std::string(archive_error_string(a)));
+    }
     archive_write_free(a);
 
     std::cout << "[INFO] Tarball created and compressed: " << tarballPath << std::endl;