From 0cbf5c7021edd5bba1ca093eec02ff3c55b2576b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: gitgrahamdunn <grahamdunn92@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:04:21 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Fix frontend auth API base URL for Vercel

---
 frontend/.env.example |  4 ++--
 frontend/README.md    | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 frontend/src/api.ts   | 16 +++++++++++++---
 3 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/frontend/.env.example b/frontend/.env.example
index 15f3710..35270f9 100644
--- a/frontend/.env.example
+++ b/frontend/.env.example
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-# Frontend API base URL (single source of truth used by src/api.ts)
-VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000
+# Backend API origin used by frontend requests (no trailing slash)
+VITE_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000
diff --git a/frontend/README.md b/frontend/README.md
index 5dce044..d1cea78 100644
--- a/frontend/README.md
+++ b/frontend/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,27 @@ React + Vite frontend for the EDMS backend.
 - Mark READY / Abandon / Merge to Plant from project detail
 - Document search (`/documents` and `/documents/search`)
 
+## Environment configuration
+
+Set `VITE_API_URL` to your backend origin (no trailing slash). The frontend now reads this value for all API requests.
+
+```bash
+cd frontend
+cp .env.example .env
+# local backend example
+VITE_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000
+```
+
+If `VITE_API_URL` is missing, the app logs a clear `console.error` and falls back to same-origin requests.
+
+### Vercel setup
+
+In the Vercel frontend project, add:
+
+- `VITE_API_URL=https://gitplant-backend.vercel.app`
+
+Then redeploy so auth/login requests target the deployed backend.
+
 ## Run locally
 ```bash
 cd frontend
diff --git a/frontend/src/api.ts b/frontend/src/api.ts
index bf2c3df..425a614 100644
--- a/frontend/src/api.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/api.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,19 @@ import type {
   WorkingRevisionStatusResponse,
 } from "./types";
 
-const API_BASE_URL =
-  (import.meta as ImportMeta & { env?: Record<string, string | undefined> }).env
-    ?.VITE_API_BASE_URL ?? "http://localhost:8000";
+const frontendEnv = (import.meta as ImportMeta & {
+  env?: Record<string, string | undefined>;
+}).env;
+
+const configuredApiUrl = frontendEnv?.VITE_API_URL?.trim();
+const API_BASE_URL = configuredApiUrl || window.location.origin;
+
+if (!configuredApiUrl) {
+  console.error(
+    "[api] Missing required VITE_API_URL. Falling back to same-origin requests. " +
+      "Set VITE_API_URL to your deployed backend URL (for example, https://gitplant-backend.vercel.app).",
+  );
+}
 
 function getAuthHeaders(token: string): HeadersInit {
   return { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` };