diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.js b/frontend/vite.config.js
index 8173d08..54c6dd8 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.js
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.js
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 import { sveltekit } from '@sveltejs/kit/vite';
 
+// Dev API target. Defaults to the live API so `npm run dev` works on its own
+// (no local backend to run). To test LOCAL backend changes, start a host API
+// (`goodnews serve --port 8000`) and run:
+//   GOODNEWS_DEV_API=http://127.0.0.1:8000 npm run dev
+const API = process.env.GOODNEWS_DEV_API || 'https://upbeatbytes.com';
+const proxy = { target: API, changeOrigin: true, secure: true };
+
 export default {
   plugins: [sveltekit()],
-  // Dev convenience: proxy API calls to the FastAPI server.
-  server: { proxy: { '/api': 'http://127.0.0.1:8000', '/healthz': 'http://127.0.0.1:8000' } },
+  server: { proxy: { '/api': proxy, '/healthz': proxy } },
 };