diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.ts b/frontend/vite.config.ts
index d6d3d75..b1b2622 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.ts
@@ -5,4 +5,11 @@ import sveltePreprocess from 'svelte-preprocess';
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [svelte({ preprocess: sveltePreprocess() })],
   worker: { format: 'es' },
+  server: {
+    port: 5173,
+    proxy: {
+      // Local dev: route API calls to the FastAPI backend (mock-safe).
+      '/api': { target: 'http://127.0.0.1:18081', changeOrigin: true }
+    }
+  }
 });