diff --git a/src/openapi/definitions.yaml b/src/openapi/definitions.yaml
index 98d77d7a..afc75a8e 100644
--- a/src/openapi/definitions.yaml
+++ b/src/openapi/definitions.yaml
@@ -939,8 +939,8 @@ replicas:
   title: Number of replicas
   default: 1
 repoUrl:
-  description: Path to a remote git repo without protocol. Will use https to access.
-  pattern: '^(?:(?:https://)?[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}|git@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}:)/[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+(?:/[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+)+(?:\.git)?$'
+  description: Path to a remote git repo. Will use https to access when protocol is omitted.
+  pattern: '^(?:https://)?[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}(?:/[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+){2,}(?:\.git)?/?$'
   type: string
   x-message: a valid git repo URL
   example: github.com/example/repo
diff --git a/src/otomi-stack.test.ts b/src/otomi-stack.test.ts
index 31818660..86a73aec 100644
--- a/src/otomi-stack.test.ts
+++ b/src/otomi-stack.test.ts
@@ -1135,14 +1135,35 @@ describe('APL code repositories tests', () => {
     expect(otomiStack.doDeleteDeployment).toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
-  test('should create an external public code repository', async () => {
+  test.each([
+    {
+      input: 'github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop',
+      expected: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git',
+    },
+    {
+      input: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop',
+      expected: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git',
+    },
+    {
+      input: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop/',
+      expected: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git',
+    },
+    {
+      input: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git',
+      expected: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git',
+    },
+    {
+      input: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git/',
+      expected: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git',
+    },
+  ])('should create an external public code repository and normalize url: $input', async ({ input, expected }) => {
     const codeRepo = await otomiStack.createAplCodeRepo('demo', {
       metadata: {
         name: 'ext-pub-1',
       },
       spec: {
         gitService: 'github',
-        repositoryUrl: 'https://github.test.com',
+        repositoryUrl: input,
       },
       kind: 'AplTeamCodeRepo',
     })
@@ -1150,19 +1171,64 @@ describe('APL code repositories tests', () => {
     expect(codeRepo.metadata.name).toBe('ext-pub-1')
     expect(codeRepo.metadata.labels['apl.io/teamId']).toBe('demo')
     expect(codeRepo.spec.gitService).toBe('github')
-    expect(codeRepo.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe('https://github.test.com')
+    expect(codeRepo.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe(expected)
     expect(codeRepo.spec.private).toBeFalsy()
     expect(codeRepo.spec.secret).toBeUndefined()
 
     const stored = otomiStack.fileStore.getTeamResource('AplTeamCodeRepo', 'demo', 'ext-pub-1')
+
     expect(stored).toBeDefined()
     expect(stored?.spec.gitService).toBe('github')
-    expect(stored?.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe('https://github.test.com')
+    expect(stored?.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe(expected)
     expect(stored?.spec.secret).toBeUndefined()
 
     expect(otomiStack.doDeployment).toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
+  test.each(['ssh://git@github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git'])(
+    'should reject unsupported ssh repository url: %s',
+    async (repositoryUrl) => {
+      await expect(
+        otomiStack.createAplCodeRepo('demo', {
+          metadata: {
+            name: 'ext-pub-1',
+          },
+          spec: {
+            gitService: 'github',
+            repositoryUrl,
+          },
+          kind: 'AplTeamCodeRepo',
+        }),
+      ).rejects.toThrow()
+    },
+  )
+
+  test('should reject duplicate external repository url after normalization', async () => {
+    await otomiStack.createAplCodeRepo('demo', {
+      metadata: {
+        name: 'ext-pub-1',
+      },
+      spec: {
+        gitService: 'github',
+        repositoryUrl: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop/',
+      },
+      kind: 'AplTeamCodeRepo',
+    })
+
+    await expect(
+      otomiStack.createAplCodeRepo('demo', {
+        metadata: {
+          name: 'ext-pub-2',
+        },
+        spec: {
+          gitService: 'github',
+          repositoryUrl: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop',
+        },
+        kind: 'AplTeamCodeRepo',
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow('Code repository URL already exists')
+  })
+
   test('should get an existing external public code repository', () => {
     const extPubRepo: AplCodeRepoResponse = {
       kind: 'AplTeamCodeRepo',
@@ -1256,7 +1322,7 @@ describe('APL code repositories tests', () => {
       },
       spec: {
         gitService: 'github',
-        repositoryUrl: 'https://github.test.com',
+        repositoryUrl: 'https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop/',
         private: true,
         secret: 'test',
       },
@@ -1266,12 +1332,15 @@ describe('APL code repositories tests', () => {
     expect(codeRepo.metadata.name).toBe('ext-priv-1')
     expect(codeRepo.metadata.labels['apl.io/teamId']).toBe('demo')
     expect(codeRepo.spec.gitService).toBe('github')
-    expect(codeRepo.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe('https://github.test.com')
+    expect(codeRepo.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe('https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git')
     expect(codeRepo.spec.private).toBe(true)
     expect(codeRepo.spec.secret).toBe('test')
 
     const stored = otomiStack.fileStore.getTeamResource('AplTeamCodeRepo', 'demo', 'ext-priv-1')
+
     expect(stored).toBeDefined()
+    expect(stored?.spec.gitService).toBe('github')
+    expect(stored?.spec.repositoryUrl).toBe('https://github.com/github-samples/pets-workshop.git')
     expect(stored?.spec.private).toBe(true)
     expect(stored?.spec.secret).toBe('test')
 
diff --git a/src/otomi-stack.ts b/src/otomi-stack.ts
index a8c4818e..7f2a6927 100644
--- a/src/otomi-stack.ts
+++ b/src/otomi-stack.ts
@@ -1434,18 +1434,65 @@ export default class OtomiStack {
   }
 
   async createAplCodeRepo(teamId: string, data: AplCodeRepoRequest): Promise<AplCodeRepoResponse> {
-    // Check if URL already exists
     const existingRepos = this.getTeamAplCodeRepos(teamId)
-    const allRepoUrls = existingRepos.map((repo) => repo.spec.repositoryUrl) || []
-    if (allRepoUrls.includes(data.spec.repositoryUrl)) throw new AlreadyExists('Code repository URL already exists')
-    const allNames = existingRepos.map((repo) => repo.metadata.name) || []
-    if (allNames.includes(data.metadata.name)) throw new AlreadyExists('Code repo name already exists')
-    if (!data.spec.private) unset(data.spec, 'secret')
-    if (data.spec.gitService === 'gitea') unset(data.spec, 'private')
 
-    const teamObject = toTeamObject(teamId, data)
+    const isExternalRepo = data.spec.gitService !== 'gitea'
+
+    const repositoryUrl = isExternalRepo
+      ? normalizeRepoUrl(
+          data.spec.repositoryUrl,
+          data.spec.private ?? false,
+          false, // SSH is not allowed
+        )
+      : data.spec.repositoryUrl.trim().replace(/\/$/, '')
+
+    if (!repositoryUrl) {
+      throw new Error('Invalid repository URL')
+    }
+
+    const normalizeForComparison = (repo: AplCodeRepoResponse) => {
+      if (repo.spec.gitService === 'gitea') {
+        return repo.spec.repositoryUrl.trim().replace(/\/$/, '')
+      }
+
+      return normalizeRepoUrl(repo.spec.repositoryUrl, repo.spec.private ?? false, false)
+    }
+
+    const allRepoUrls = existingRepos
+      .map(normalizeForComparison)
+      .filter((repoUrl): repoUrl is string => Boolean(repoUrl))
+
+    if (allRepoUrls.includes(repositoryUrl)) {
+      throw new AlreadyExists('Code repository URL already exists')
+    }
+
+    const allNames = existingRepos.map((repo) => repo.metadata.name)
+
+    if (allNames.includes(data.metadata.name)) {
+      throw new AlreadyExists('Code repo name already exists')
+    }
+
+    const sanitizedData: AplCodeRepoRequest = {
+      ...data,
+      spec: {
+        ...data.spec,
+        repositoryUrl,
+      },
+    }
+
+    if (!sanitizedData.spec.private) {
+      unset(sanitizedData.spec, 'secret')
+    }
+
+    if (sanitizedData.spec.gitService === 'gitea') {
+      unset(sanitizedData.spec, 'private')
+    }
+
+    const teamObject = toTeamObject(teamId, sanitizedData)
     const aplRecord = await this.saveTeamConfigItem(teamObject)
+
     await this.doDeployment(aplRecord)
+
     return aplRecord.content as AplCodeRepoResponse
   }