diff --git a/Apply spotless.launch b/Apply spotless.launch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..374c84b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Apply spotless.launch	
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
+<launchConfiguration type="org.eclipse.m2e.Maven2LaunchConfigurationType">
+    <intAttribute key="M2_COLORS" value="0"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="M2_DEBUG_OUTPUT" value="false"/>
+    <stringAttribute key="M2_GOALS" value="spotless:apply"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="M2_NON_RECURSIVE" value="false"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="M2_OFFLINE" value="true"/>
+    <stringAttribute key="M2_PROFILES" value=""/>
+    <listAttribute key="M2_PROPERTIES"/>
+    <stringAttribute key="M2_RUNTIME" value="EMBEDDED"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="M2_SKIP_TESTS" value="true"/>
+    <intAttribute key="M2_THREADS" value="1"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="M2_UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS" value="false"/>
+    <stringAttribute key="M2_USER_SETTINGS" value=""/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="M2_WORKSPACE_RESOLUTION" value="true"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="org.eclipse.debug.core.ATTR_FORCE_SYSTEM_CONSOLE_ENCODING" value="false"/>
+    <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.debug.core.ATTR_REFRESH_SCOPE" value="${workspace}"/>
+    <listAttribute key="org.eclipse.debug.ui.favoriteGroups">
+        <listEntry value="org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchGroup.run"/>
+    </listAttribute>
+    <booleanAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.ATTR_ATTR_USE_ARGFILE" value="false"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.ATTR_SHOW_CODEDETAILS_IN_EXCEPTION_MESSAGES" value="true"/>
+    <booleanAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.ATTR_USE_CLASSPATH_ONLY_JAR" value="false"/>
+    <stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.WORKING_DIRECTORY" value="${workspace_loc:/ml}"/>
+</launchConfiguration>
diff --git a/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/pom.xml b/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/pom.xml
index b3fd1632..a5c6bc7e 100644
--- a/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/pom.xml
+++ b/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/pom.xml
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>3.4.1</version>
+        <version>3.6.0</version>
         <configuration>
           <filters>
             <filter>
diff --git a/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/run.sh b/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/run.sh
index bcd9476c..f42e8e77 100755
--- a/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/run.sh
+++ b/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml/run.sh
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@
 ME=`realpath $0`
 DIR=`dirname $ME`
 
-cat -u | tee -a /tmp/lsp.in.log | $JAVA_HOME/bin/java -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=127.0.0.1:6660,server=y,suspend=n -jar $DIR/target/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml-0.6.0-SNAPSHOT.jar --mode stdio | tee -a /tmp/lsp.out.log
+cat -u | tee -a /tmp/lsp.in.log | $JAVA_HOME/bin/java -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=127.0.0.1:6660,server=y,suspend=n -jar $DIR/target/com.ibm.wala.cast.python.ml-0.38.0-SNAPSHOT.jar --mode stdio | tee -a /tmp/lsp.out.log
diff --git a/com.ibm.wala.cast.python/source/com/ibm/wala/cast/python/util/Util.java b/com.ibm.wala.cast.python/source/com/ibm/wala/cast/python/util/Util.java
index 233fc038..4af60a1b 100644
--- a/com.ibm.wala.cast.python/source/com/ibm/wala/cast/python/util/Util.java
+++ b/com.ibm.wala.cast.python/source/com/ibm/wala/cast/python/util/Util.java
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ public static String removeFileProtocolFromPath(String path) {
    *     presented in the CAst.
    */
   public static Collection<String> getNames(Collection<CAstAnnotation> annotations) {
+    if (annotations == null) return emptyList();
     return annotations.stream().map(Util::getName).flatMap(Optional::stream).toList();
   }
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 6876f3ca..ad2b44c0 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-black==24.8.0
+black==24.10.0