diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dd1c751..594b371 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@
 alpamon.log
 alpamon.db
 /alpamon
+/cmd/alpamon/alpamon
 .DS_Store
 .idea
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/runner/client.go b/pkg/runner/client.go
index 35cf288..c7a1d3f 100644
--- a/pkg/runner/client.go
+++ b/pkg/runner/client.go
@@ -70,8 +70,6 @@ func (wc *WebsocketClient) RunForever(ctx context.Context) {
 				wc.CloseAndReconnect(ctx)
 				continue
 			}
-			// Sends "ping" query for Alpacon to verify WebSocket session status without error handling.
-			_ = wc.SendPingQuery()
 			wc.CommandRequestHandler(message)
 		}
 	}
@@ -87,6 +85,14 @@ func (wc *WebsocketClient) SendPingQuery() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (wc *WebsocketClient) SendPongResponse() error {
+	pongResponse := map[string]string{
+		"query":     "pong",
+		"timestamp": time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339),
+	}
+	return wc.WriteJSON(pongResponse)
+}
+
 func (wc *WebsocketClient) ReadMessage() (messageType int, message []byte, err error) {
 	messageType, message, err = wc.Conn.ReadMessage()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -221,6 +227,10 @@ func (wc *WebsocketClient) CommandRequestHandler(message []byte) {
 	}
 
 	switch content.Query {
+	case "ping":
+		if err := wc.SendPongResponse(); err != nil {
+			log.Debug().Err(err).Msg("Failed to send pong response.")
+		}
 	case "command":
 		scheduler.Rqueue.Post(fmt.Sprintf(eventCommandAckURL, content.Command.ID),
 			nil,
diff --git a/pkg/runner/command.go b/pkg/runner/command.go
index c529530..ec0254f 100644
--- a/pkg/runner/command.go
+++ b/pkg/runner/command.go
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ func (cr *CommandRunner) handleInternalCmd() (int, string) {
 	case "moduser":
 		return cr.modUser()
 	case "ping":
+		_ = cr.wsClient.SendPongResponse()
 		return 0, time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
 	case "download":
 		return cr.runFileDownload(args[1])