diff --git a/api/pkg/transformer/feast/feature_cache.go b/api/pkg/transformer/feast/feature_cache.go
index 66b9b03b2..391f72a1c 100644
--- a/api/pkg/transformer/feast/feature_cache.go
+++ b/api/pkg/transformer/feast/feature_cache.go
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ func (fc *featureCache) insertFeatureTable(featureTable *internalFeatureTable, p
 	for idx, entity := range featureTable.entities {
 		if err := fc.insertFeaturesOfEntity(entity, featureTable.columnNames, project, featureTable.valueRows[idx], featureTable.columnTypes); err != nil {
 			errorMsgs = append(errorMsgs, fmt.Sprintf("(value: %v, with message: %v)", featureTable.valueRows[idx], err.Error()))
+		} else {
+			fmt.Printf("CACHE INSERT: entity=%v, project=%s, columns=%v, values=%v\n",
+				entity, project, featureTable.columnNames, featureTable.valueRows[idx])
+
 		}
 	}
 	if len(errorMsgs) > 0 {
diff --git a/api/pkg/transformer/pipeline/table_join_op.go b/api/pkg/transformer/pipeline/table_join_op.go
index eed706e80..39325b4f8 100644
--- a/api/pkg/transformer/pipeline/table_join_op.go
+++ b/api/pkg/transformer/pipeline/table_join_op.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/caraml-dev/merlin/pkg/transformer/types"
 	"github.com/caraml-dev/merlin/pkg/transformer/types/table"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
 type TableJoinOp struct {
@@ -55,6 +56,25 @@ func (t TableJoinOp) Execute(ctx context.Context, environment *Environment) erro
 		joinColumns = t.tableJoinSpec.OnColumns
 	}
 
+	// Log table states (shape + column names) before the join.
+	// This avoids dumping full data but is enough to debug mismatched schemas or empty tables.
+	if environment != nil {
+		if ce := environment.logger.Check(zap.DebugLevel, "table_join input tables"); ce != nil {
+			ce.Write(
+				zap.String("left_table", t.tableJoinSpec.LeftTable),
+				zap.Int("left_nrow", leftTable.NRow()),
+				zap.Int("left_ncol", len(leftTable.ColumnNames())),
+				zap.Strings("left_columns", leftTable.ColumnNames()),
+				zap.String("right_table", t.tableJoinSpec.RightTable),
+				zap.Int("right_nrow", rightTable.NRow()),
+				zap.Int("right_ncol", len(rightTable.ColumnNames())),
+				zap.Strings("right_columns", rightTable.ColumnNames()),
+				zap.String("how", t.tableJoinSpec.How.String()),
+				zap.Strings("join_columns", joinColumns),
+			)
+		}
+	}
+
 	switch t.tableJoinSpec.How {
 	case spec.JoinMethod_LEFT:
 		err := validateJoinColumns(leftTable, rightTable, joinColumns)
diff --git a/python/pyfunc-server/docker/local.Dockerfile b/python/pyfunc-server/docker/local.Dockerfile
index 140949472..79a733f2f 100644
--- a/python/pyfunc-server/docker/local.Dockerfile
+++ b/python/pyfunc-server/docker/local.Dockerfile
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ COPY ${MODEL_DEPENDENCIES_URL} conda.yaml
 
 ARG MERLIN_DEP_CONSTRAINT
 RUN process_conda_env.sh conda.yaml "merlin-pyfunc-server" "${MERLIN_DEP_CONSTRAINT}"
+RUN process_conda_env.sh conda.yaml "merlin-sdk" "${MERLIN_DEP_CONSTRAINT}"
 RUN conda env create --name merlin-model --file conda.yaml
 
 # Download and dry-run user model artifacts and code