diff --git a/nginx.conf.template b/nginx.conf.template
index 37be380..dbc6c6e 100644
--- a/nginx.conf.template
+++ b/nginx.conf.template
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ http {
     resolver 127.0.0.11 valid=10s ipv6=off;
 
     upstream backend {
-        server ${API_HOST}:${API_PORT};
+        server ${API_HOST}:8080;
     }
 
     server {
@@ -56,22 +56,23 @@ http {
             access_log off;
         }
 
-        location ^~ /api/ {
-            # Proxy to Quarkus
-            proxy_pass         http://backend;
-            proxy_http_version 1.1;
-            proxy_set_header   Host              $host;
-            proxy_set_header   X-Real-IP         $remote_addr;
-            proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-For   $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
-            proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
-            proxy_set_header   Upgrade           $http_upgrade;
-            proxy_set_header   Connection        "upgrade";
+        location /api/ {
+            proxy_pass http://backend:8080/;
 
-            # Relay CORS headers from the backend
-            proxy_pass_header  Access-Control-Allow-Origin;
-            proxy_pass_header  Access-Control-Allow-Methods;
-            proxy_pass_header  Access-Control-Allow-Headers;
-            proxy_pass_header  Access-Control-Allow-Credentials;
+            # Headers for both simple and preflight requests
+            add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '$http_origin' always;
+            add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Credentials' 'true' always;
+            add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Methods' 'GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS' always;
+            add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Headers' 'Authorization,Content-Type' always;
+            add_header 'Access-Control-Expose-Headers' 'Authorization' always;
+
+            # Handle OPTIONS directly
+            if ($request_method = 'OPTIONS') {
+                add_header 'Access-Control-Max-Age' 1728000;
+                add_header 'Content-Type' 'text/plain; charset=UTF-8';
+                add_header 'Content-Length' 0;
+                return 204;
+            }
         }
 
         # Cache static assets