diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 2f2b6268..786e2744 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "config"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "base64",
  "chrono",
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ checksum = "d0a5c400df2834b80a4c3327b3aad3a4c4cd4de0629063962b03235697506a28"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "crypto"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "aes-gcm",
  "base64",
@@ -3215,7 +3215,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "testutils"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "pem",
  "rsa",
@@ -3485,7 +3485,7 @@ checksum = "5d99f8c9a7727884afe522e9bd5edbfc91a3312b36a77b5fb8926e4c31a41801"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "tokio",
  "tower-api",
@@ -3510,7 +3510,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-api"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "reqwest",
  "serde",
@@ -3522,7 +3522,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-cmd"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "axum",
  "bytes",
@@ -3592,7 +3592,7 @@ checksum = "121c2a6cda46980bb0fcd1647ffaf6cd3fc79a013de288782836f6df9c48780e"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-package"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "async-compression",
  "config",
@@ -3611,7 +3611,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-runtime"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "chrono",
  "config",
@@ -3632,7 +3632,7 @@ checksum = "8df9b6e13f2d32c91b9bd719c00d1958837bc7dec474d94952798cc8e69eeec3"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-telemetry"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "tracing",
  "tracing-appender",
@@ -3641,7 +3641,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-uv"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "async-compression",
  "async_zip",
@@ -3655,7 +3655,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-version"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "chrono",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2a69b74e..aa5c264f 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ resolver = "2"
 
 [workspace.package]
 edition = "2021"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 description = "Tower is the best way to host Python data apps in production"
 rust-version = "1.81"
 authors = ["Brad Heller <brad@tower.dev>"]
diff --git a/crates/tower-package/src/lib.rs b/crates/tower-package/src/lib.rs
index c32ae959..caaabcab 100644
--- a/crates/tower-package/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/tower-package/src/lib.rs
@@ -35,8 +35,13 @@ pub const MAX_BUNDLE_SIZE: u64 = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
 
 #[derive(Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
 pub struct Parameter {
+    #[serde(default)]
     pub name: String,
-    pub description: String,
+
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub description: Option<String>,
+
+    #[serde(default)]
     pub default: String,
 }
 
@@ -115,7 +120,7 @@ fn get_parameters(towerfile: &Towerfile) -> Vec<Parameter> {
     for p in &towerfile.parameters {
         parameters.push(Parameter {
             name: p.name.clone(),
-            description: p.description.clone(),
+            description: Some(p.description.clone()),
             default: p.default.clone(),
         });
     }
@@ -190,16 +195,16 @@ impl Package {
         }
     }
 
-    pub async fn from_unpacked_path(path: PathBuf) -> Self {
+    pub async fn from_unpacked_path(path: PathBuf) -> Result<Self, Error> {
         let manifest_path = path.join("MANIFEST");
-        let manifest = Manifest::from_path(&manifest_path).await.unwrap();
+        let manifest = Manifest::from_path(&manifest_path).await?;
 
-        Self {
+        Ok(Self {
             tmp_dir: None,
             package_file_path: None,
             unpacked_path: Some(path),
             manifest,
-        }
+        })
     }
 
     // build creates a new package from a PackageSpec. PackageSpec is typically composed of fields
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 100c4643..3d1998b5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "maturin"
 
 [project]
 name = "tower"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 description = "Tower CLI and runtime environment for Tower."
 authors = [{ name = "Tower Computing Inc.", email = "brad@tower.dev" }]
 readme = "README.md"
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index d984e3c4..620c0b67 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -2744,7 +2744,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tower"
-version = "0.3.41"
+version = "0.3.42"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "attrs" },