diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 152de7d..af07734 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ pip install altertable-lakehouse
 from altertable_lakehouse import Client
 
 client = Client(username="your_username", password="your_password")
+
+# Disable TLS certificate verification for development only
+client = Client(username="your_username", password="your_password", verify=False)
 ```
 
 ### Querying
diff --git a/src/altertable_lakehouse/client.py b/src/altertable_lakehouse/client.py
index 2a2138f..8d83b80 100644
--- a/src/altertable_lakehouse/client.py
+++ b/src/altertable_lakehouse/client.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import json
 import base64
+import ssl
 import httpx
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterator, Optional, Union, Tuple, NoReturn
 from .models import (
@@ -23,7 +24,8 @@ def __init__(
         password: Optional[str] = None,
         token: Optional[str] = None,
         timeout: float = 30.0,
-        user_agent_suffix: Optional[str] = None
+        user_agent_suffix: Optional[str] = None,
+        verify: Union[bool, ssl.SSLContext] = True,
     ):
         self.base_url = base_url.rstrip("/")
         self.timeout = timeout
@@ -50,6 +52,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._client = httpx.Client(
             base_url=self.base_url,
             timeout=self.timeout,
+            verify=verify,
             headers={
                 "Authorization": f"Basic {auth_token}",
                 "User-Agent": ua
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 1f02063..aadd253 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # type: ignore
 import os
+import ssl
 import pytest
+import httpx
 from testcontainers.core.container import DockerContainer
 from altertable_lakehouse import Client, models, errors
 
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ def mock_server():
     
     port = container.get_exposed_port(15000)
     host = container.get_container_host_ip()
-    os.environ["ALTERTABLE_MOCK_PORT"] = port
+    os.environ["ALTERTABLE_MOCK_PORT"] = str(port)
     os.environ["ALTERTABLE_MOCK_HOST"] = host
     
     yield container
@@ -68,3 +70,35 @@ def test_cancel_query(client):
         client.cancel_query("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000", "session-id")
     except errors.ApiError as e:
         assert e.status_code == 404
+
+def test_client_forwards_verify_false(monkeypatch, base_url):
+    captured = {}
+
+    class DummyHttpxClient:
+        def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+            captured.update(kwargs)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(httpx, "Client", DummyHttpxClient)
+
+    Client(base_url=base_url, username="testuser", password="testpass", verify=False)
+
+    assert captured["verify"] is False
+
+def test_client_forwards_ssl_context(monkeypatch, base_url):
+    captured = {}
+    ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context()
+
+    class DummyHttpxClient:
+        def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+            captured.update(kwargs)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(httpx, "Client", DummyHttpxClient)
+
+    Client(
+        base_url=base_url,
+        username="testuser",
+        password="testpass",
+        verify=ssl_context,
+    )
+
+    assert captured["verify"] is ssl_context