diff --git a/backend/.gitignore b/backend/.gitignore
index be5cd4b..db67d1f 100644
--- a/backend/.gitignore
+++ b/backend/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 /composer.lock
+/.composer
 /.phpunit.cache
 /node_modules
 /public/build
diff --git a/backend/docker-compose.override.yml b/backend/docker-compose.override.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..963e70b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/docker-compose.override.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+services:
+  backend:
+    volumes:
+      - '.:/var/www/html:Z'
+
+  mysql:
+    image: 'docker.io/library/mysql:8.0'
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_USER: '${DB_USERNAME}'
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: '${DB_PASSWORD}'
+    volumes:
+      - 'sail-mysql:/var/lib/mysql:Z'
+
+  frontend:
+    image: 'docker.io/library/node:22-alpine'
+    working_dir: /app
+    command: sh -c "npm install && npm run dev -- --host"
+    volumes:
+      - '../frontend:/app:Z'
+    ports:
+      - '5173:5173'
+    networks:
+      - sail
+    depends_on:
+      - backend
diff --git a/backend/docker-compose.yml b/backend/docker-compose.yml
index f296bc9..c66c914 100644
--- a/backend/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/backend/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 services:
-    laravel.test:
+    backend:
         build:
             context: './vendor/laravel/sail/runtimes/8.4'
             dockerfile: Dockerfile
@@ -18,22 +18,24 @@ services:
             XDEBUG_CONFIG: '${SAIL_XDEBUG_CONFIG:-client_host=host.docker.internal}'
             IGNITION_LOCAL_SITES_PATH: '${PWD}'
         volumes:
-            - '.:/var/www/html'
+            - '.:/var/www/html:Z'
         networks:
             - sail
         depends_on:
             - mysql
     mysql:
-        image: 'mysql/mysql-server:8.0'
+        image: 'docker.io/mysql/mysql-server:8.0'
         ports:
             - '${FORWARD_DB_PORT:-3306}:3306'
         environment:
             MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: '${DB_PASSWORD}'
             MYSQL_ROOT_HOST: '%'
             MYSQL_DATABASE: '${DB_DATABASE}'
+            MYSQL_USER: '${DB_USERNAME}'
+            MYSQL_PASSWORD: '${DB_PASSWORD}'
             MYSQL_ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD: 1
         volumes:
-            - 'sail-mysql:/var/lib/mysql'
+            - 'sail-mysql:/var/lib/mysql:Z'
         networks:
             - sail
         healthcheck:
diff --git a/bin/start-dev b/bin/start-dev
index ff67da1..4d31519 100755
--- a/bin/start-dev
+++ b/bin/start-dev
@@ -79,36 +79,65 @@ else
     echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Backend dependencies already installed${NC}\n"
 fi
 
-# Fix docker-compose.yml for Podman (needs full registry paths)
-if [ "$CONTAINER_CLI" = "podman" ]; then
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}Patching docker-compose.yml for Podman compatibility...${NC}"
-    sed -i "s|image: 'mysql/mysql-server:|image: 'docker.io/mysql/mysql-server:|g" docker-compose.yml
+# Check if database volume exists - if not, we're doing fresh initialization
+FRESH_DB=false
+if ! $CONTAINER_CLI volume inspect sail-mysql &>/dev/null && ! $CONTAINER_CLI volume inspect backend_sail-mysql &>/dev/null; then
+    FRESH_DB=true
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Fresh database initialization detected${NC}"
 fi
 
-# Start Laravel Sail (database + backend services)
-echo -e "${YELLOW}Starting Laravel Sail containers...${NC}"
-if ./vendor/bin/sail up -d 2>&1 | tee /tmp/sail-up.log; then
+# Start containers using compose directly (docker-compose.override.yml is automatically used)
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Starting backend containers...${NC}"
+if $CONTAINER_CLI compose up -d 2>&1 | tee /tmp/compose-up.log; then
     echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Containers started${NC}\n"
 else
-    echo -e "${RED}✗ Failed to start containers. Check /tmp/sail-up.log for details${NC}"
+    echo -e "${RED}✗ Failed to start containers. Check /tmp/compose-up.log for details${NC}"
     exit 1
 fi
 
 # Wait for database to be ready
 echo -e "${YELLOW}Waiting for database to be ready...${NC}"
-sleep 5
+MAX_ATTEMPTS=30
+ATTEMPT=0
+while [ $ATTEMPT -lt $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]; do
+    if $CONTAINER_CLI compose exec mysql mysqladmin ping -h localhost --silent 2>/dev/null; then
+        echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Database is ready${NC}"
+        break
+    fi
+    ATTEMPT=$((ATTEMPT + 1))
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Waiting for database... (attempt $ATTEMPT/$MAX_ATTEMPTS)${NC}"
+    sleep 2
+done
+
+if [ $ATTEMPT -eq $MAX_ATTEMPTS ]; then
+    echo -e "${RED}✗ Database failed to become ready${NC}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Give MySQL extra time on fresh initialization to create users
+if [ "$FRESH_DB" = true ]; then
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Waiting for fresh database to complete initialization...${NC}"
+    sleep 10
+else
+    sleep 3
+fi
 
 # Run migrations
 echo -e "${YELLOW}Running database migrations...${NC}"
-./vendor/bin/sail artisan migrate --force
+$CONTAINER_CLI compose exec backend php artisan migrate --force
 
 # Check if database has data
-TABLE_COUNT=$(./vendor/bin/sail artisan tinker --execute="echo \DB::table('users')->count();")
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Checking if database needs seeding...${NC}"
+TABLE_COUNT=$($CONTAINER_CLI compose exec backend php artisan tinker --execute="echo \DB::table('users')->count();" 2>/dev/null | tail -1 | tr -d '[:space:]' || echo "0")
+# Default to 0 if not a number
+if ! [[ "$TABLE_COUNT" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+    TABLE_COUNT=0
+fi
 if [ "$TABLE_COUNT" -eq "0" ]; then
     echo -e "${YELLOW}Database is empty. Run seeders? (y/n)${NC}"
     read -r response
     if [[ "$response" =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
-        ./vendor/bin/sail artisan db:seed
+        $CONTAINER_CLI compose exec backend php artisan db:seed
         echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Database seeded${NC}\n"
     fi
 fi
@@ -116,28 +145,15 @@ fi
 echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Backend setup complete${NC}"
 echo -e "${GREEN}Backend API running at: http://localhost:8000${NC}\n"
 
-# Frontend setup
-echo -e "${GREEN}=== Frontend Setup ===${NC}"
-cd "$PROJECT_ROOT/frontend"
-
-if [ ! -d "node_modules" ]; then
-    echo -e "${YELLOW}Installing frontend dependencies (npm)...${NC}"
-    npm install
-    echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Frontend dependencies installed${NC}\n"
-else
-    echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Frontend dependencies already installed${NC}\n"
-fi
-
-echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Frontend setup complete${NC}\n"
-
 # Display summary
 echo -e "${GREEN}=== Development Environment Ready ===${NC}"
 echo -e "${GREEN}Backend API:${NC} http://localhost:8000"
-echo -e "${GREEN}Frontend:${NC} http://localhost:5173 (start with: cd frontend && npm run dev)"
+echo -e "${GREEN}Frontend:${NC} http://localhost:5173"
 echo -e "${GREEN}Database:${NC} MySQL on localhost:3306"
 echo -e ""
-echo -e "${YELLOW}To start the frontend dev server, run:${NC}"
-echo -e "  cd frontend && npm run dev"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}Note:${NC} Frontend container will install dependencies and start automatically."
+echo -e "${YELLOW}To view frontend logs:${NC}"
+echo -e "  cd backend && $CONTAINER_CLI compose logs -f frontend"
 echo -e ""
-echo -e "${YELLOW}To stop backend services:${NC}"
-echo -e "  cd backend && ./vendor/bin/sail down"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}To stop all services:${NC}"
+echo -e "  cd backend && $CONTAINER_CLI compose down"
diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.ts b/frontend/vite.config.ts
index 4a88d58..93a885d 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.ts
@@ -5,4 +5,16 @@ import tsconfigPaths from "vite-tsconfig-paths";
 
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [tailwindcss(), reactRouter(), tsconfigPaths()],
+  server: {
+    proxy: {
+      "/api": {
+        target: "http://localhost:8000",
+        changeOrigin: true,
+      },
+      "/sanctum": {
+        target: "http://localhost:8000",
+        changeOrigin: true,
+      },
+    },
+  },
 });