diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 43828fbc..dc7e5b25 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -128,4 +128,11 @@ jobs:
           # It will START the process if it's not running, or RELOAD it if it is.
           # We also add `&& pm2 save` to persist the process list across server reboots.
           pm2 startOrReload ecosystem.config.cjs --env production && pm2 save
-          echo "Backend server reloaded successfully."
\ No newline at end of file
+          echo "Backend server reloaded successfully."
+
+      - name: Show PM2 Environment for Production
+        run: |
+          echo "--- PM2 Environment for flyer-crawler-app ---"
+          # This command inspects the running process and shows its environment variables.
+          # It helps verify that the correct .env file or ecosystem variables are being used.
+          pm2 describe flyer-crawler-app | grep -E 'DB_DATABASE|DB_NAME|DB_USER|DB_HOST' || echo "Could not find process or DB variables."
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/etc-nginx-sites-available-flyer-crawler.projectium.com b/etc-nginx-sites-available-flyer-crawler.projectium.com
index 86fa0482..364da591 100644
--- a/etc-nginx-sites-available-flyer-crawler.projectium.com
+++ b/etc-nginx-sites-available-flyer-crawler.projectium.com
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ server {
         # The trailing slash on the proxy_pass URL is crucial.
         # It tells Nginx to strip the `/api/` prefix from the request URI
         # before passing it to the backend server.
-        proxy_pass http://localhost:3001/;
+        proxy_pass http://localhost:3001;
         proxy_http_version 1.1;
         proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
         proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ server {
     ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/flyer-crawler.projectium.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
     include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
     ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot
-
 }
+
 server {
     if ($host = flyer-crawler.projectium.com) {
         return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
@@ -67,6 +67,4 @@ server {
     listen [::]:80;
     server_name flyer-crawler.projectium.com;
     return 404; # managed by Certbot
-
-
 }
diff --git a/src/db/seed.ts b/src/db/seed.ts
index 24deafba..8e17d5e7 100644
--- a/src/db/seed.ts
+++ b/src/db/seed.ts
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ dotenv.config({ path: '../../.env' });
 const pool = new Pool({
   user: process.env.DB_USER || 'postgres',
   host: process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost',
-  database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'flyer-crawler',
-  password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'your_db_password',
+  // Default to 'flyer-crawler' for local development.
+  database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'flyer-crawler-test', 
+  password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'fake_test_db_password', // do not replace this - use appropriate .env file
   port: parseInt(process.env.DB_PORT || '5432', 10),
 });
 
diff --git a/src/db/seed_admin_account.ts b/src/db/seed_admin_account.ts
index 3218cde6..00921d7a 100644
--- a/src/db/seed_admin_account.ts
+++ b/src/db/seed_admin_account.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ dotenv.config();
 const pool = new Pool({
   user: process.env.DB_USER || 'postgres',
   host: process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost',
-  database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'flyer-crawler',
-  password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'your_db_password',
+  // Default to 'flyer-crawler' for local development.
+  database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'flyer-crawler-dev', 
+  password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'fake_test_db_password', // do not replace this - use appropriate .env file
   port: parseInt(process.env.DB_PORT || '5432', 10),
 });
 
diff --git a/src/services/db/connection.ts b/src/services/db/connection.ts
index 0546e4da..f43a5858 100644
--- a/src/services/db/connection.ts
+++ b/src/services/db/connection.ts
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ const createPool = (): Pool => {
   const newPool = new Pool({
     user: process.env.DB_USER || 'postgres',
     host: process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost',
-    database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'flyer-crawler',
-    password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'your_db_password',
+    database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'flyer-crawler-test',
+    password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'fake_test_db_password', // do not replace this - use appropriate .env file
     port: parseInt(process.env.DB_PORT || '5432', 10),
   });
   logger.info(`Database connection pool created for host: ${process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost'}`);