diff --git a/backend/.dockerignore b/backend/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df4930e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+lst_backend.exe
+lst.net.exe
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index da573ea..98db621 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -3,19 +3,25 @@ FROM golang:1.24.4-alpine3.22 AS builder
 WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
-# COPY VERSION ./VERSION
+COPY docs /app/docs/
+COPY frontend /app/frontend/
 
 RUN go mod download
 
 COPY . .
+
 RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -o lst_go ./main.go
 
 FROM alpine:latest
 
 WORKDIR /root/
 
+# Copy only the binary (no need for source files)
+RUN mkdir -p ./docs ./frontend
+
 COPY --from=builder /app/lst_go .
-# COPY --from=builder /app/VERSION ./ 
+COPY --from=builder /app/docs ./docs/
+COPY --from=builder /app/frontend ./frontend/
 
 # create the volume paths
 RUN mkdir -p /data
diff --git a/backend/main.go b/backend/main.go
index 33aad19..01aa0f3 100644
--- a/backend/main.go
+++ b/backend/main.go
@@ -4,39 +4,89 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 )
 
 func main() {
-
-	err := godotenv.Load("../.env")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal("Error loading .env file")
+	// Load .env only in dev (not Docker/production)
+	if os.Getenv("RUNNING_IN_DOCKER") != "true" {
+		err := godotenv.Load("../.env")
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Println("Warning: .env file not found (ok in Docker/production)")
+		}
 	}
 
-	// name := os.Getenv("LSTV2")
+	// Set basePath dynamically
+	basePath := "/"
+	if os.Getenv("APP_ENV") != "production" {
+		basePath = "/lst" // Dev only
+	}
 
 	// fmt.Println(name)
 	fmt.Println("Welcome to lst backend where all the fun happens.")
 	r := gin.Default()
 
-	// Serve Docusaurus static files
-	r.StaticFS("/lst/docs", http.Dir("docs"))
+	// // --- Add Redirects Here ---
+	// // Redirect root ("/") to "/app" or "/lst/app"
+	// r.GET("/", func(c *gin.Context) {
+	// 	c.Redirect(http.StatusMovedPermanently, basePath+"/app")
+	// })
 
-	r.GET("/api/ping", func(c *gin.Context) {
+	// // Redirect "/lst" (if applicable) to "/lst/app"
+	// if basePath == "/lst" {
+	// 	r.GET("/lst", func(c *gin.Context) {
+	// 		c.Redirect(http.StatusMovedPermanently, basePath+"/app")
+	// 	})
+	// }
+
+	// Serve Docusaurus static files
+	r.StaticFS(basePath+"/docs", http.Dir("docs"))
+	r.StaticFS(basePath+"/app", http.Dir("frontend"))
+
+	r.GET(basePath+"/api/ping", func(c *gin.Context) {
 		c.JSON(200, gin.H{"message": "pong"})
 	})
 
-	r.Any("/api", errorApiLoc)
-	r.Any("/", errorLoc)
+	r.Any(basePath+"/api", errorApiLoc)
+
+	// // Serve static assets for Vite app
+	// r.Static("/lst/app/assets", "./dist/app/assets")
+
+	// // Catch-all for Vite app routes
+	// r.NoRoute(func(c *gin.Context) {
+	// 	path := c.Request.URL.Path
+
+	// 	// Don't handle API, assets, or docs
+	// 	if strings.HasPrefix(path, "/lst/api") ||
+	// 		strings.HasPrefix(path, "/lst/app/assets") ||
+	// 		strings.HasPrefix(path, "/lst/docs") {
+	// 		c.JSON(404, gin.H{"error": "Not found"})
+	// 		return
+	// 	}
+
+	// 	// Serve index.html for all /lst/app routes
+	// 	if strings.HasPrefix(path, "/lst/app") {
+	// 		c.File("./dist/app/index.html")
+	// 		return
+	// 	}
+
+	// 	c.JSON(404, gin.H{"error": "Not found"})
+	// })
 	r.Run(":8080")
 }
 
-func errorLoc(c *gin.Context) {
-	c.JSON(http.StatusBadRequest, gin.H{"message": "welcome to lst system you might have just encountered an incorrect area of the app"})
-}
+// func serveViteApp(c *gin.Context) {
+// 	// Set proper Content-Type for HTML
+// 	c.Header("Content-Type", "text/html")
+// 	c.File("./dist/index.html")
+// }
+
+//	func errorLoc(c *gin.Context) {
+//		c.JSON(http.StatusBadRequest, gin.H{"message": "welcome to lst system you might have just encountered an incorrect area of the app"})
+//	}
 func errorApiLoc(c *gin.Context) {
 	c.JSON(http.StatusBadRequest, gin.H{"message": "looks like you have encountered an api route that dose not exist"})
 }