diff --git a/.changeset/cool-shirts-reflect.md b/.changeset/cool-shirts-reflect.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8879ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/cool-shirts-reflect.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@wpengine/site-deploy": patch
+---
+
+[CICD-761] Actually fix excludes.txt, removes out relative folder pathing
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6206910..2f785df 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -22,5 +22,11 @@ version: build
 	docker image tag $(IMAGE) $(IMAGE_NAME):v$(MAJOR_VERSION).$(MINOR_VERSION) && \
 	docker image tag $(IMAGE) $(IMAGE_NAME):v$(MAJOR_VERSION).$(MINOR_VERSION).$(PATCH_VERSION)
 
-test:
+test-unit:
 	./tests/test_functions.sh
+	
+test-integration:
+	# TODO: Currently commenting out the integration tests as they are not ready yet
+	# this was setup for the relative remote work, and is not currently working with 
+	# testing sync_files function.
+	# docker compose up test
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f48c92e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+services:
+  test:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+    image: wpengine/site-deploy:latest
+    platform: linux/amd64
+    entrypoint: /tests/test-make-relative-remote/test.sh
+    #connects local directory to container directory
+    volumes:
+      - ./tests/workspace:/workspace
+      - ./tests:/tests
+    depends_on:
+      - build
+
+  build:
+    image: wpengine/site-deploy:latest
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+    command: /bin/true
diff --git a/exclude.txt b/exclude.txt
index 9d376d4..ddc9548 100644
--- a/exclude.txt
+++ b/exclude.txt
@@ -18,17 +18,17 @@ Thumbs.db
 # NOTE:
 #     These files are excluded from the deploy so as to prevent unwanted errors from occurring, 
 #     such as accidentally deploying a local version of wp-config.php or accidentally deleting
-#     wp-content/uploads/ if a --delete flag is passed while deploying root. Most paths here 
+#     uploads/ if a --delete flag is passed while deploying root. Most paths here 
 #     are ingnored in the WPE sample .gitignore per best practice.
 wp-config.php
-wp-content/uploads/
-wp-content/blogs.dir/
-wp-content/upgrade/*
-wp-content/backup-db/*
-wp-content/advanced-cache.php
-wp-content/wp-cache-config.php
-wp-content/cache/*
-wp-content/cache/supercache/*
+uploads/
+blogs.dir/
+upgrade/*
+backup-db/*
+advanced-cache.php
+wp-cache-config.php
+cache/*
+cache/supercache/*
 
 # WP Engine specific files
 # NOTE:
@@ -44,20 +44,20 @@ wp-content/cache/supercache/*
 .wpe-devkit/
 .wpengine-conf/
 _wpeprivate
-wp-content/object-cache.php
-wp-content/mu-plugins/mu-plugin.php
-wp-content/mu-plugins/slt-force-strong-passwords.php
-wp-content/mu-plugins/wpengine-security-auditor.php
-wp-content/mu-plugins/stop-long-comments.php
-wp-content/mu-plugins/force-strong-passwords*
-wp-content/mu-plugins/wpengine-common*
-wp-content/mu-plugins/wpe-wp-sign-on-plugin*
-wp-content/mu-plugins/wpe-elasticpress-autosuggest-logger*
-wp-content/mu-plugins/wpe-cache-plugin*
-wp-content/mu-plugins/wp-cache-memcached*
-wp-content/drop-ins/
-wp-content/drop-ins/wp-cache-memcached*
-wp-content/mysql.sql
+object-cache.php
+mu-plugin.php
+slt-force-strong-passwords.php
+wpengine-security-auditor.php
+stop-long-comments.php
+force-strong-passwords*
+wpengine-common*
+wpe-wp-sign-on-plugin*
+wpe-elasticpress-autosuggest-logger*
+wpe-cache-plugin*
+wp-cache-memcached*
+drop-ins/
+drop-ins/wp-cache-memcached*
+mysql.sql
 
 # Local specific
-wp-content/mu-plugins/local-by-flywheel-live-link-helper.php
+local-by-flywheel-live-link-helper.php
diff --git a/tests/.gitignore b/tests/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b39f5aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+workspace/**/*
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/mu-plugins/.gitkeep b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/mu-plugins/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/plugins/sample_plugin.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/plugins/sample_plugin.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34404e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/plugins/sample_plugin.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Sample plugin file
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/themes/sample_theme.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/themes/sample_theme.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8ed081
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/themes/sample_theme.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Sample theme file
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/uploads/sample_upload.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/uploads/sample_upload.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e946a2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-3/uploads/sample_upload.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Sample upload file
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-4/themes/beautiful-pro/sample_theme.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-4/themes/beautiful-pro/sample_theme.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8ed081
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-4/themes/beautiful-pro/sample_theme.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Sample theme file
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-5/my-awesome-plugins/elwood-plugin/dry-white-toast.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-5/my-awesome-plugins/elwood-plugin/dry-white-toast.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-5/my-awesome-plugins/jake-plugin/four-whole-fried-chickens.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-5/my-awesome-plugins/jake-plugin/four-whole-fried-chickens.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-6/my-awesome-plugins/blues-brothers/elwood-plugin/dry-white-toast.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-6/my-awesome-plugins/blues-brothers/elwood-plugin/dry-white-toast.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-6/my-awesome-plugins/blues-brothers/jake-plugin/four-whole-fried-chickens.txt b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/data/repository-6/my-awesome-plugins/blues-brothers/jake-plugin/four-whole-fried-chickens.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test-make-relative-remote/test.sh b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7889511
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-make-relative-remote/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Get the directory of the current script
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+source "${SCRIPT_DIR}/../common.sh"
+source "${SCRIPT_DIR}/../../functions.sh"
+source "${SCRIPT_DIR}/../../entrypoint.sh"
+
+setup() {
+    rm -rf /workspace/*
+    local test_data_dir="${SCRIPT_DIR}/data/repository-${1}/"
+    if [[ -d "${test_data_dir}" ]]; then
+    # Works like GitHub action, checking out the workspace directory
+        cp -r "${test_data_dir}"* /workspace/
+    fi
+    ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048 -f /workspace/mock_ssh_key -N ""
+    chmod 600 /workspace/mock_ssh_key
+    
+    cd /workspace
+}
+
+# Test resulting directory structure from calling sync_files
+test_sync_files() {
+  setup "$1"
+  SRC_PATH=$2
+  REMOTE_PATH=$3
+
+  WPE_SSHG_KEY_PRIVATE=$(cat /workspace/mock_ssh_key)
+
+  echo -e "${GREEN}REMOTE_PATH='$REMOTE_PATH' SRC_PATH='$SRC_PATH'${NC}" 
+  
+  # Assign flag values to FLAGS_ARRAY
+  FLAGS_ARRAY=("-azvr" "--dry-run" "--inplace" "--exclude='.*'")
+  
+  # Print the flags for debugging
+  echo "Using the following rsync flags:"
+  for flag in "${FLAGS_ARRAY[@]}"; do
+    echo "$flag"
+  done
+
+  sync_files
+
+  # Only compare the expected directory structure if REMOTE_PATH is not empty and REMOTE_PATH is not equal to SRC_PATH
+  if [[ -n "$REMOTE_PATH" && "$REMOTE_PATH" != "$SRC_PATH" ]]; then
+    # Verify that REMOTE_PATH and its folders exist in /workspace
+    if [ -d "/workspace/$REMOTE_PATH" ]; then
+        echo -e "${GREEN}REMOTE_PATH exists in /workspace${NC}"
+        
+        # Compare the contents of the moved REMOTE_PATH to the corresponding files in the data directory
+        EXPECTED_PATH="${SCRIPT_DIR}/data/repository-${1}/$SRC_PATH"
+        diff -r "/workspace/$REMOTE_PATH" "$EXPECTED_PATH"
+        
+        # Check the result of the diff command
+        if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+            echo -e "${RED}Verification failed: expected structure does not match.${NC}"
+        else
+            echo -e "${GREEN}Verification passed: expected structure matches.${NC}"
+        fi
+    else
+        echo -e "${RED}Verification failed: REMOTE_PATH does not exist in /workspace.${NC}"
+    fi
+  else
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}REMOTE_PATH is empty or equal to SRC_PATH, skipping comparison.${NC}"
+  fi
+}
+
+# Test cases, make remote directory relative to to the tests directory
+#test_sync_files "1" "." ""
+#test_sync_files "2" "./wp-content" "./wp-content"
+#test_sync_files "3" "." "wp-content/"
+#test_sync_files "4" "." "wp-content/themes/beautiful-pro" 
+#test_sync_files "5" "my-awesome-plugins" "wp-content/plugins" 
+#test_sync_files "6" "my-awesome-plugins/blues-brothers" "wp-content/plugins"