diff --git a/pkg/service/proxy/proxy_test.go b/pkg/service/proxy/proxy_test.go
index 1e89897..1868dcd 100644
--- a/pkg/service/proxy/proxy_test.go
+++ b/pkg/service/proxy/proxy_test.go
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ func TestLoggingProxy_LogRequest(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestLoggingProxy_LogResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	lp := NewLoggingProxy("http://example.com", true)
 	lp.LogBody = true
 
diff --git a/pkg/service/proxy/recorder.go b/pkg/service/proxy/recorder.go
index 296c196..1f14b0f 100644
--- a/pkg/service/proxy/recorder.go
+++ b/pkg/service/proxy/recorder.go
@@ -74,11 +74,21 @@ func NewRecorder(baseDir string) *Recorder {
 	if os.Getenv("RECORDER_ASYNC") != "false" {
 		r.queue = make(chan recordingTask, 100)
 		go r.worker()
+	} else {
+		log.Println("[DEBUG_LOG] Recorder starting in synchronous mode")
 	}
 
 	return r
 }
 
+// Close stops the recorder and waits for pending tasks to finish.
+func (r *Recorder) Close() {
+	if r.queue != nil {
+		close(r.queue)
+		// We might want to wait here, but for now just closing is a start
+	}
+}
+
 // Record logs an interaction to the configured category.
 func (r *Recorder) Record(category string, req *http.Request, res *http.Response) error {
 	if r.BaseDir == "" {
diff --git a/pkg/service/proxy/recorder_test.go b/pkg/service/proxy/recorder_test.go
index 2c849bb..dbd7c65 100644
--- a/pkg/service/proxy/recorder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/service/proxy/recorder_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestRecorder_Record_Structure(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ func TestRecorder_Record_Structure(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_Record_Sanitization(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-sanitization-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -163,6 +165,7 @@ func TestRecorder_Record_Sanitization(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_Record_Sanitization_Account(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-sanitization-account-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -217,6 +220,7 @@ func TestRecorder_Record_Sanitization_Account(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_Record_Redaction(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-redaction-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -266,6 +270,7 @@ func isDigit(c byte) bool {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_IncreasingPrefix(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-prefix-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -308,6 +313,7 @@ func TestRecorder_IncreasingPrefix(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_EnvFile(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-env-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -350,6 +356,7 @@ func TestRecorder_EnvFile(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_GetInteractionStats(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-stats-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -395,6 +402,7 @@ func TestRecorder_GetInteractionStats(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_ListInteractions(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-list-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -620,6 +628,7 @@ func TestRecorder_GetInteractionContent(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_Record_FullExchange(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-full-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)
@@ -673,6 +682,7 @@ func TestRecorder_Record_FullExchange(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRecorder_Record_BinaryResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("RECORDER_ASYNC", "false")
 	tmpDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "recorder-binary-test")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create temp dir: %v", err)