diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..590a6ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+backend/.env
+backend/tmp
+backend/*.db
+frontend/node_modules
+frontend/.env
+frontend/.env.local
+frontend/.env.production
+.git
+.github
+.gitea
+*.md
+logs.txt
diff --git a/backend/internal/config/config.go b/backend/internal/config/config.go
index 7d6e644..e096b9b 100644
--- a/backend/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/backend/internal/config/config.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
 import (
+	"log"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ type SMTPConfig struct {
 var AppConfig *Config
 
 func Load() {
-	godotenv.Load()
+	_ = godotenv.Load()
 
 	AppConfig = &Config{
 		Server: ServerConfig{
@@ -88,6 +89,8 @@ func Load() {
 			From:     getEnv("SMTP_FROM", ""),
 		},
 	}
+
+	log.Printf("Config loaded: DB_DRIVER=%s, DB_FILEPATH=%s", AppConfig.Database.Driver, AppConfig.Database.FilePath)
 }
 
 func getEnv(key, defaultValue string) string {
diff --git a/backend/internal/utils/database.go b/backend/internal/utils/database.go
index c97779b..bc43ee4 100644
--- a/backend/internal/utils/database.go
+++ b/backend/internal/utils/database.go
@@ -41,8 +41,11 @@ func InitDB() {
 		})
 	default:
 		dbDir := filepath.Dir(cfg.FilePath)
-		if err := os.MkdirAll(dbDir, 0755); err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("Failed to create database directory: %v", err)
+		if dbDir != "." && dbDir != "/" {
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(dbDir, 0755); err != nil {
+				log.Fatalf("Failed to create database directory %s: %v", dbDir, err)
+			}
+			log.Printf("Database directory ensured: %s", dbDir)
 		}
 		DB, err = gorm.Open(sqlite.Open(cfg.FilePath), &gorm.Config{
 			Logger: logger.Default.LogMode(logger.Info),
@@ -83,5 +86,7 @@ func AutoMigrate() {
 		log.Fatalf("Failed to migrate database: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	log.Println("Database migrated successfully")
+	var userCount int64
+	DB.Model(&models.User{}).Count(&userCount)
+	log.Printf("Database migrated successfully (users: %d)", userCount)
 }