diff --git a/nest-front/Dockerfile b/nest-front/Dockerfile
index 202c534..58348d6 100644
--- a/nest-front/Dockerfile
+++ b/nest-front/Dockerfile
@@ -6,13 +6,25 @@ COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
 RUN npm ci
 
 COPY . .
+
+# VITE_API_URL is baked into the JS bundle at build time.
+# Default to /api so the nginx proxy is used when not overridden.
+ARG VITE_API_URL=/api
+ENV VITE_API_URL=$VITE_API_URL
+
 RUN npm run build
 
 FROM nginx:alpine
 
 COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
-COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
+COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template
 
 EXPOSE 5173
 
-CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]
+# API_URL is the backend's public base URL used by nginx proxy_pass.
+# Set this at runtime in Coolify, e.g. API_URL=https://api.crowmate.fr
+ENV API_URL=http://localhost:3000
+
+# Substitute ${API_URL} in the nginx template at container start, then launch nginx.
+# The quoted variable list prevents envsubst from replacing nginx variables like $host.
+CMD ["/bin/sh", "-c", "envsubst '${API_URL}' < /etc/nginx/nginx.conf.template > /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf && nginx -g 'daemon off;'"]
diff --git a/nest-front/nginx.conf b/nest-front/nginx.conf
index 36fb97e..3af20f7 100644
--- a/nest-front/nginx.conf
+++ b/nest-front/nginx.conf
@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@ server {
     root /usr/share/nginx/html;
     index index.html;
 
+    location /api/ {
+        proxy_pass ${API_URL}/api/;
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+    }
+
     location / {
         try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
     }
diff --git a/nest-front/src/utils/api.ts b/nest-front/src/utils/api.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d6b3dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nest-front/src/utils/api.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// API base URL.
+// - In Docker (Coolify): nginx proxies /api/* to the backend, so we use a relative path.
+// - Set VITE_API_URL at build time to call the backend directly (e.g. during local dev without nginx).
+export const API_BASE = import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL ?? '/api'