diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 0296ae7..c697806 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -19,6 +19,20 @@ COPY package*.json ./
 RUN npm ci --no-audit --no-fund
 
 COPY . .
+
+# Where the bundle points at the backend, fixed HERE rather than left to `.env`.
+#
+# Deployment platforms write their own `.env` into the source directory before
+# building — Dokploy does — which overwrites the committed one and takes
+# VITE_API_BASE with it. The build then fell through to a same-origin path and
+# the console called `https://<its own domain>/fiesta/live/api/...`. A build
+# argument outranks the file, so the host survives that overwrite.
+#
+# Override per environment with `--build-arg VITE_API_BASE=...` (Dokploy: Build
+# Args), e.g. to point a staging console at a staging Fiesta.
+ARG VITE_API_BASE="https://fiesta.nearle.app"
+ENV VITE_API_BASE=$VITE_API_BASE
+
 RUN npm run build
 
 # Stage 2 — serve
diff --git a/src/api/client.ts b/src/api/client.ts
index 6a46c6b..f7d48cc 100644
--- a/src/api/client.ts
+++ b/src/api/client.ts
@@ -20,14 +20,31 @@ import type { FiestaEnvelope } from './types';
  * this, production means that" is invisible from the outside, and someone
  * reading `.env` to find the backend would have found nothing.
  *
- * The `'/fiesta'` fallback is for a build with no `.env` at all. It routes
- * through the dev proxy (`vite.config.ts`) or nginx (`nginx.conf.template`),
- * both of which forward to the same host — so a missing variable degrades to a
- * working same-origin path rather than to a broken one.
+ * The fallback is the REAL HOST, not the same-origin `/fiesta` prefix it used
+ * to be. That prefix looked like a safe degradation and was not: a platform
+ * that writes its own `.env` into the build context (Dokploy does) erases the
+ * committed `VITE_API_BASE`, and the bundle then aims every call at whatever
+ * domain serves the console — `https://app.nearledaily.com/fiesta/live/api/...`
+ * instead of Fiesta. It kept working only because nginx happens to proxy that
+ * prefix, which is what made the misconfiguration invisible.
  *
- * Override per machine with `.env.local`, which is gitignored.
+ * Defaulting to the host means a missing variable can no longer silently
+ * re-point the backend at the console's own domain. `Dockerfile` also passes
+ * `VITE_API_BASE` as a build argument, so the value survives an overwritten
+ * `.env`.
+ *
+ * A trailing slash is stripped: every path below starts with `/`, and
+ * `https://host//live/api/...` is a different URL to the upstream router.
+ *
+ * Override per machine with `.env.local`, which is gitignored — set it to
+ * `/fiesta` to route through the dev proxy or nginx instead.
  */
-export const API_BASE = import.meta.env['VITE_API_BASE'] ?? '/fiesta';
+const configuredBase = (import.meta.env['VITE_API_BASE'] ?? '').trim();
+
+export const API_BASE = (configuredBase || 'https://fiesta.nearle.app').replace(
+  /\/+$/,
+  '',
+);
 
 /** Every console route lives under this prefix. */
 export const WEB = '/live/api/v1/web';