diff --git a/.github/workflows/_release.yml b/.github/workflows/_release.yml
index ee02baa..75f44be 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/_release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/_release.yml
@@ -165,9 +165,14 @@ jobs:
         run: make tests
         working-directory: ${{ inputs.working-directory }}
 
+      - name: Start local Atlas
+        run: bash scripts/start_local_atlas.sh
+
+      - name: Get MongoDB URI
+        run: cat .local_atlas_uri >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
       - name: Run integration tests
         env:
-          MONGODB_URI: ${{ secrets.MONGODB_ATLAS_URI }}
           OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}
         run: make integration_tests
         working-directory: ${{ inputs.working-directory }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/_test.yml b/.github/workflows/_test.yml
index 89f8422..68bbee0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/_test.yml
@@ -47,17 +47,18 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           make test
 
+      - name: Start local Atlas
+        working-directory: .
+        run: bash scripts/start_local_atlas.sh
+
+      - name: Get MongoDB URI
+        working-directory: .
+        run: cat .local_atlas_uri >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
       - name: Run integration tests
         env:
-          MONGODB_URI: ${{ secrets.MONGODB_ATLAS_URI }}
           OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          if [[ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "push" ]]; then
-            # Only run on the min python version.
-            if [[ "${{ matrix.python-version }}" == "3.9" ]]; then
-              make integration_tests
-            fi
-          fi
+        run: make integration_tests
         working-directory: ${{ inputs.working-directory }}
 
       - name: Ensure the tests did not create any additional files
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 45d553b..de92250 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ __pycache__
 .mypy_cache_test
 .env
 .venv*
+.local_atlas_uri
diff --git a/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_chain_example.py b/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_chain_example.py
index a67147b..1e61698 100644
--- a/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_chain_example.py
+++ b/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_chain_example.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def collection() -> Collection:
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
-    "OPENAI_API_KEY" not in os.environ, reason="Requires OpenAI for chat responses."
+    os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY") is not None, reason="Requires OpenAI for chat responses."
 )
 def test_chain(
     collection: Collection,
diff --git a/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_retrievers.py b/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_retrievers.py
index db299cc..9c64e64 100644
--- a/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_retrievers.py
+++ b/libs/mongodb/tests/integration_tests/test_retrievers.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def embedding_openai() -> Embeddings:
             model="text-embedding-3-small",
         )
     except Exception:
-        pytest.fail("test_retrievers expects OPENAI_API_KEY in os.environ")
+        pytest.skip("test_retrievers expects OPENAI_API_KEY in os.environ")
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="module")
diff --git a/scripts/start_local_atlas.sh b/scripts/start_local_atlas.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..883e971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start_local_atlas.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -eu
+
+echo "Starting the container"
+
+IMAGE=mongodb/mongodb-atlas-local:latest
+podman pull $IMAGE
+
+CONTAINER_ID=$(podman run --rm -d -e DO_NOT_TRACK=1 --name mongodb_atlas_local -P $IMAGE)
+
+function wait() {
+  CONTAINER_ID=$1
+  echo "waiting for container to become healthy..."
+  podman logs mongodb_atlas_local
+}
+
+wait "$CONTAINER_ID"
+
+EXPOSED_PORT=$(podman inspect --format='{{ (index (index .NetworkSettings.Ports "27017/tcp") 0).HostPort }}' "$CONTAINER_ID")
+export CONN_STRING="mongodb://127.0.0.1:$EXPOSED_PORT/?directConnection=true"
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(realpath "$(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]})")
+ROOT_DIR=$(dirname $SCRIPT_DIR)
+echo "MONGODB_URI=mongodb://127.0.0.1:$EXPOSED_PORT/?directConnection=true" > $ROOT_DIR/.local_atlas_uri