diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 28865d3..fd21fa5 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# ---------- Build stage (Keep this the same) ----------
+# Build stage
 FROM node:20-alpine AS build
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
@@ -6,18 +6,11 @@ RUN npm ci
 COPY . .
 RUN npm run build
 
-# ---------- Diagnostic Production stage ----------
-FROM python:3.11-slim
-
-# Set the working directory to where the React files live
-WORKDIR /usr/share/nginx/html
-
-# Copy build output from the build stage
-COPY --from=build /app/dist .
-
-# Expose port 80 (Cloud Run expects this)
+# Production stage
+FROM node:20-alpine
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY --from=build /app/dist ./dist
+COPY server.js .
+RUN npm install express
 EXPOSE 80
-
-# Run Python's built-in simple HTTP server
-# This server is very "dumb" and will ignore/accept large IAP headers
-CMD ["python", "-m", "http.server", "80"]
+CMD ["node", "server.js"]
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02ada4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server.js
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+const express = require('express');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const app = express();
+const PORT = process.env.PORT || 80;
+const BACKEND_URL = process.env.BACKEND_URL;
+
+app.use(express.json());
+
+// Serve static React build
+app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'dist')));
+
+// Proxy endpoint - fetches identity token and forwards to backend
+app.post('/api/chat/stream', async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    // Fetch identity token from GCP metadata server
+    const tokenResponse = await fetch(
+      `http://metadata.google.internal/computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/default/identity?audience=${BACKEND_URL}`,
+      { headers: { 'Metadata-Flavor': 'Google' } }
+    );
+    const identityToken = await tokenResponse.text();
+
+    // Forward request to backend with auth
+    const backendResponse = await fetch(`${BACKEND_URL}/chat/stream`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: {
+        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+        'Authorization': `Bearer ${identityToken}`,
+      },
+      body: JSON.stringify(req.body),
+    });
+
+    // Stream response back to client
+    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/event-stream');
+    res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'no-cache');
+    res.setHeader('Connection', 'keep-alive');
+
+    const reader = backendResponse.body.getReader();
+    const pump = async () => {
+      const { done, value } = await reader.read();
+      if (done) {
+        res.end();
+        return;
+      }
+      res.write(value);
+      pump();
+    };
+    pump();
+
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Proxy error:', error);
+    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Proxy error' });
+  }
+});
+
+// SPA fallback - all other routes serve index.html
+app.get('*', (req, res) => {
+  res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, 'dist', 'index.html'));
+});
+
+app.listen(PORT, () => {
+  console.log(`Server running on port ${PORT}`);
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/api.ts b/src/lib/api.ts
index fcc7571..804b3f1 100644
--- a/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import type { ChatMode } from '@/types/chat'
 
-const API_BASE_URL = import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL || 'http://localhost:8000'
+// In production, use relative URL to route through the proxy server
+// For local development, set VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000 in .env
+const API_BASE_URL = import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL || '/api'
 const API_ENDPOINT = import.meta.env.VITE_API_ENDPOINT || '/chat/stream'
 const USE_MOCK_DATA = false // Set to true to use mock data for testing