diff --git a/kind b/kind
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..bc54f28
Binary files /dev/null and b/kind differ
diff --git a/pkg/controller/mcpserver_controller.go b/pkg/controller/mcpserver_controller.go
index 80788f0..4628bb8 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/mcpserver_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/mcpserver_controller.go
@@ -207,8 +207,11 @@ func (r *MCPServerReconciler) validateMCPServer(server *kagentdevv1alpha1.MCPSer
 	}
 
 	// Check if required fields are present
+	// Allow empty image if command is npx or uvx (default images will be injected)
 	if server.Spec.Deployment.Image == "" {
-		return fmt.Errorf("deployment.image is required")
+		if server.Spec.Deployment.Cmd != "npx" && server.Spec.Deployment.Cmd != "uvx" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("deployment.image is required when command is not 'npx' or 'uvx'")
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Additional validation could be added here
diff --git a/pkg/controller/transportadapter/transportadapter_translator.go b/pkg/controller/transportadapter/transportadapter_translator.go
index bde5f59..76c67bb 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/transportadapter/transportadapter_translator.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/transportadapter/transportadapter_translator.go
@@ -85,9 +85,11 @@ func (t *transportAdapterTranslator) translateTransportAdapterDeployment(
 	image := server.Spec.Deployment.Image
 	if image == "" && server.Spec.Deployment.Cmd == "uvx" {
 		image = "ghcr.io/astral-sh/uv:debian"
+		klog.Infof("MCPServer %s: Injected default image for uvx command: %s", server.Name, image)
 	}
 	if image == "" && server.Spec.Deployment.Cmd == "npx" {
 		image = "node:24-alpine3.21"
+		klog.Infof("MCPServer %s: Injected default image for npx command: %s", server.Name, image)
 	}
 	if image == "" {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("image must be specified for MCPServer %s or the command must be 'uvx' or 'npx'", server.Name)