diff --git a/_viash.yaml b/_viash.yaml
index f6472c608..1fd19f691 100644
--- a/_viash.yaml
+++ b/_viash.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: openproblems
 version: dev
 organization: openproblems-bio
-viash_version: 0.9.4
+viash_version: 0.9.7
 
 description: |
   Open Problems is a living, extensible, community-guided benchmarking platform.
diff --git a/src/project/render_readme/config.vsh.yaml b/src/project/render_readme/config.vsh.yaml
index f6a802f1e..c367f9b48 100644
--- a/src/project/render_readme/config.vsh.yaml
+++ b/src/project/render_readme/config.vsh.yaml
@@ -19,24 +19,17 @@ argument_groups:
         default: README.md
         required: false
 resources:
-  - type: r_script
-    path: script.R
+  - type: python_script
+    path: script.py
 test_resources:
-  - type: r_script
-    path: test.R
+  - type: python_script
+    path: test.py
 engines:
   - type: docker
-    image: openproblems/base_r:1
+    image: openproblems/base_python:1
     setup:
-      - type: r
-        cran:
-          - processx
-        github:
-          - openproblems-bio/core/packages/r/openproblems.utils
-          - openproblems-bio/core/packages/r/openproblems
-          - openproblems-bio/core/packages/r/openproblems.docs
       - type: apt
-        packages: [jq, curl]
+        packages: [jq, curl, git]
       - type: docker
         # download and install quarto-*-linux-amd64.deb from latest release
         run: |
diff --git a/src/project/render_readme/script.R b/src/project/render_readme/script.R
deleted file mode 100644
index dcd394df4..000000000
--- a/src/project/render_readme/script.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-requireNamespace("openproblems.docs", quietly = TRUE)
-requireNamespace("processx", quietly = TRUE)
-
-## VIASH START
-par <- list(
-  "input" = "path/to/input",
-  "output" = "path/to/input/README.md"
-)
-## VIASH END
-
-cat("Read task metadata\n")
-metadata <- openproblems.docs::read_task_metadata(par$input)
-
-cat("Render README.qmd content\n")
-qmd_content <- openproblems.docs::render_task_readme_qmd(metadata)
-
-cat("Write README.qmd to file\n")
-if (!dir.exists(meta$temp_dir)) {
-  dir.create(meta$temp_dir, recursive = TRUE)
-}
-qmd_file <- tempfile(
-  pattern = "README_",
-  fileext = ".qmd",
-  tmpdir = meta$temp_dir
-)
-writeLines(qmd_content, qmd_file)
-
-cat("Render README.qmd to README.md\n")
-out <- processx::run(
-  command = "quarto",
-  args = c("render", qmd_file, "--output", "-"),
-  echo = TRUE
-)
-
-writeLines(out$stdout, par$output)
diff --git a/src/project/render_readme/script.py b/src/project/render_readme/script.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7f66ba530
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/project/render_readme/script.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+import subprocess
+
+from openproblems.project import read_task_metadata, render_task_readme_qmd
+
+## VIASH START
+par = {
+    "input": "path/to/input",
+    "output": "path/to/input/README.md",
+}
+## VIASH END
+
+print("Read task metadata", flush=True)
+metadata = read_task_metadata(par["input"])
+
+print("Render README.qmd content", flush=True)
+qmd_content = render_task_readme_qmd(metadata)
+
+output_path = Path(par["output"])
+output_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+qmd_path = output_path.with_suffix(".qmd")
+
+print("Write README.qmd to file", flush=True)
+qmd_path.write_text(qmd_content)
+
+print("Render README.qmd to README.md", flush=True)
+out = subprocess.run(
+    ["quarto", "render", str(qmd_path), "--output", "-"],
+    capture_output=True,
+    text=True,
+)
+
+if out.returncode != 0:
+    stdout = (out.stdout or "").strip()
+    stderr = (out.stderr or "").strip()
+    details = []
+    if stdout:
+        details.append(f"stdout:\n{stdout}")
+    if stderr:
+        details.append(f"stderr:\n{stderr}")
+    if not details:
+        details.append("No output captured from Quarto")
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "Failed to render README.qmd with Quarto.\n\n" + "\n\n".join(details)
+    )
+
+output_path.write_text(out.stdout)
diff --git a/src/project/render_readme/test.R b/src/project/render_readme/test.R
deleted file mode 100644
index 96b029d1c..000000000
--- a/src/project/render_readme/test.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-requireNamespace("assertthat", quietly = TRUE)
-
-## VIASH START
-## VIASH END
-
-input <- system.file("extdata", "example_project", "api", package = "openproblems.docs")
-
-output_path <- "output.md"
-
-cat(">> Running the script as test\n")
-out <- processx::run(
-  meta[["executable"]],
-  args = c("--input", input, "--output", output_path)
-)
-
-cat(">> Checking whether output files exist\n")
-assertthat::assert_that(file.exists(output_path))
-
-cat(">> Checking file contents\n")
-lines <- readLines(output_path)
-assertthat::assert_that(any(grepl("# Template", lines)))
-assertthat::assert_that(any(grepl("## Description", lines)))
-# assertthat::assert_that(any(grepl("## Authors", lines)))
-assertthat::assert_that(any(grepl("flowchart TB", lines)))
-assertthat::assert_that(any(grepl("## File format:", lines)))
-
-cat("All checks succeeded!\n")
diff --git a/src/project/render_readme/test.py b/src/project/render_readme/test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..74777fe57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/project/render_readme/test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
+
+## VIASH START
+meta = {
+    "executable": "foo",
+}
+## VIASH END
+
+task_template_repo = "https://github.com/openproblems-bio/task_template.git"
+
+with TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+    tmpdir_path = Path(tmpdir)
+    task_template_path = tmpdir_path / "task_template"
+    input_path = task_template_path / "src" / "api"
+    output_path = Path(tmpdir) / "README.md"
+    qmd_path = Path(tmpdir) / "README.qmd"
+
+    clone_cmd = [
+        "git",
+        "clone",
+        "--depth",
+        "1",
+        task_template_repo,
+        str(task_template_path),
+    ]
+
+    print(">> Cloning task_template", flush=True)
+    clone_out = subprocess.run(clone_cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
+
+    if clone_out.stdout:
+        print(clone_out.stdout)
+    if clone_out.stderr:
+        print(clone_out.stderr)
+
+    if clone_out.returncode:
+        print(f"script: '{' '.join(clone_cmd)}' exited with an error.")
+        exit(clone_out.returncode)
+
+    cmd = [
+        meta["executable"],
+        "--input",
+        str(input_path),
+        "--output",
+        str(output_path),
+    ]
+
+    print(">> Running the script as test", flush=True)
+    out = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
+
+    if out.stdout:
+        print(out.stdout)
+    if out.stderr:
+        print(out.stderr)
+
+    if out.returncode:
+        print(f"script: '{' '.join(cmd)}' exited with an error.")
+        exit(out.returncode)
+
+    print(">> Checking whether output files exist", flush=True)
+    assert output_path.exists(), "README.md was not generated"
+    assert qmd_path.exists(), "README.qmd was not generated"
+
+    print(">> Checking file contents", flush=True)
+    output_lines = output_path.read_text().splitlines()
+    qmd_lines = qmd_path.read_text().splitlines()
+
+    assert any("## Description" in line for line in output_lines), "README.md is missing description section"
+    assert any("flowchart TB" in line for line in output_lines), "README.md is missing task graph"
+    assert any("## File format:" in line for line in output_lines), "README.md is missing file format section"
+    assert any("format: gfm" in line for line in qmd_lines), "README.qmd header is missing gfm format"
+
+print("All checks succeeded!", flush=True)
diff --git a/src/reporting/render_report/config.vsh.yaml b/src/reporting/render_report/config.vsh.yaml
index 8864c7978..0afbc251e 100644
--- a/src/reporting/render_report/config.vsh.yaml
+++ b/src/reporting/render_report/config.vsh.yaml
@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ test_resources:
 
 engines:
   - type: docker
-    image: openproblems/base_r:1.0.0
+    image: openproblems/base_r:1
     setup:
+      - type: apt
+        packages: [wget]
       - type: docker
         run: |
           export QUARTO_VERSION="1.7.32" && \