diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e7f711b..d6c12ad 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2120,6 +2120,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustls",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "sha1",
  "socket2",
  "tempfile",
  "thiserror 2.0.17",
diff --git a/pkg6depotd/Cargo.toml b/pkg6depotd/Cargo.toml
index 2569b7f..0e9e9a4 100644
--- a/pkg6depotd/Cargo.toml
+++ b/pkg6depotd/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0"
 dirs = "6"
 nix = { version = "0.30", features = ["signal", "process", "user", "fs"] }
+sha1 = "0.10"
 
 # Telemetry
 tracing = "0.1"
diff --git a/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/catalog.rs b/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/catalog.rs
index 3d9b6af..fe84203 100644
--- a/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/catalog.rs
+++ b/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/catalog.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use crate::repo::DepotRepo;
 use crate::errors::DepotError;
 use tower_http::services::ServeFile;
 use tower::ServiceExt;
+use axum::http::header;
 
 pub async fn get_catalog_v1(
     State(repo): State<Arc<DepotRepo>>,
@@ -19,7 +20,14 @@ pub async fn get_catalog_v1(
     let result = service.oneshot(req).await;
     
     match result {
-        Ok(res) => Ok(res.into_response()),
+        Ok(mut res) => {
+            // Ensure correct content-type for JSON catalog artifacts regardless of file extension
+            let is_catalog_json = filename == "catalog.attrs" || filename.starts_with("catalog.");
+            if is_catalog_json {
+                res.headers_mut().insert(header::CONTENT_TYPE, header::HeaderValue::from_static("application/json"));
+            }
+            Ok(res.into_response())
+        },
         Err(e) => Err(DepotError::Server(e.to_string())),
     }
 }
diff --git a/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/manifest.rs b/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/manifest.rs
index e661d87..42250b4 100644
--- a/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/manifest.rs
+++ b/pkg6depotd/src/http/handlers/manifest.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use crate::repo::DepotRepo;
 use crate::errors::DepotError;
 use libips::fmri::Fmri;
 use std::str::FromStr;
+use sha1::Digest as _;
 
 pub async fn get_manifest(
     State(repo): State<Arc<DepotRepo>>,
@@ -16,9 +17,16 @@ pub async fn get_manifest(
     let fmri = Fmri::from_str(&fmri_str).map_err(|e| DepotError::Repo(libips::repository::RepositoryError::Other(e.to_string())))?;
     
     let content = repo.get_manifest_text(&publisher, &fmri)?;
+    // Compute weak ETag from SHA-1 of manifest content (legacy friendly)
+    let mut hasher = sha1::Sha1::new();
+    hasher.update(content.as_bytes());
+    let etag = format!("\"{}\"", format!("{:x}", hasher.finalize()));
     
     Ok((
-        [(header::CONTENT_TYPE, "text/plain")],
-        content
+        [
+            (header::CONTENT_TYPE, "text/plain"),
+            (header::ETAG, etag.as_str()),
+        ],
+        content,
     ).into_response())
 }
diff --git a/pkg6depotd/tests/integration_tests.rs b/pkg6depotd/tests/integration_tests.rs
index 6f1ab96..c20e5d7 100644
--- a/pkg6depotd/tests/integration_tests.rs
+++ b/pkg6depotd/tests/integration_tests.rs
@@ -230,4 +230,21 @@ async fn test_ini_only_repo_serving_catalog() {
     let body = resp.text().await.unwrap();
     assert!(body.contains("package-count"));
     assert!(body.contains("parts"));
+
+    // Also fetch individual catalog parts
+    for part in ["catalog.base.C", "catalog.dependency.C", "catalog.summary.C"].iter() {
+        let url = format!("{}/{}/catalog/1/{}", base_url, publisher, part);
+        let resp = client.get(&url).send().await.unwrap();
+        assert!(resp.status().is_success(), "{} status: {:?}", part, resp.status());
+        let ct = resp.headers().get("content-type").unwrap().to_str().unwrap().to_string();
+        assert!(ct.contains("application/json"), "content-type for {} was {}", part, ct);
+        let txt = resp.text().await.unwrap();
+        assert!(!txt.is_empty(), "{} should not be empty", part);
+        if *part == "catalog.base.C" {
+            assert!(txt.contains(&publisher) && txt.contains("version"), "base part should contain publisher and version");
+        } else {
+            // dependency/summary may be empty for this test package; at least ensure signature is present
+            assert!(txt.contains("_SIGNATURE"), "{} should contain a signature field", part);
+        }
+    }
 }