diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..43b27d2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# Git & version control
+.git
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+# Build artifacts (very important!)
+target/
+build/
+*.jar               # unless you COPY it explicitly – but usually not needed
+*.war
+
+# IDE & editor files
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+*.iml
+*.iws
+*.swp
+*.swo
+.DS_Store
+
+# Logs, temp, local configs
+*.log
+logs/
+tmp/
+temp/
+*.tmp
+*.bak
+
+# Maven/Gradle wrapper & cache
+.mvn/
+gradle/
+gradlew
+gradlew.bat
+.m2/
+.gradle/
+
+# Docker & compose files (optional – prevents sending them unnecessarily)
+Dockerfile*
+docker-compose*
+*.dockerignore
+
+# Environment & secrets (critical!)
+.env
+.env.*
+*.secret
+application-secrets.yml
+
+# Tests & coverage
+coverage/
+jacoco.exec
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 667aaef0..7d039038 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -31,3 +31,7 @@ build/
 
 ### VS Code ###
 .vscode/
+
+.env
+.env.local
+.env.*
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index c47f68ff..a29be3e6 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -6,11 +6,15 @@ services:
       dockerfile: users_microservice/Dockerfile
     image: leonard1thecoder/aa-users-microservice:latest  
     environment:
-     SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE: docker
-     SPRING_REDIS_HOST: redis
-     SPRING_REDIS_PORT: 6379
+     SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE: ${SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE:-dev} 
+     SPRING_REDIS_HOST: ${REDIS_HOST:-redis}
+     SPRING_REDIS_PORT: ${REDIS_PORT:-6379}
+     SUPABASE_URL: ${SUPABASE_URL}      # ← pulled from .env
+     MAIL_USERNAME: ${MAIL_USERNAME}
+     MAIL_PASSWORD: ${MAIL_PASSWORD}
+     PORT: ${CONTAINER_PORT:-9098}
     ports:
-      - "8080:9098"                     # Adjust if needed
+      - "${APP_EXTERNAL_PORT:-8080}:${CONTAINER_PORT:-9098}"                     # Adjust if needed
     depends_on:
       redis:
         condition: service_healthy      # Waits until Redis reports healthy
diff --git a/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-dev.properties b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-dev.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3d4d953
--- /dev/null
+++ b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-dev.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+spring.config.active.on-profile=dev
+
+spring.sql.unit.mode= always
+
+
+# MySQL Database Configuration
+spring.datasource.url=${SUPABASE_URL}
+
+spring.flyway.clean-disabled=false
+
+server.port=${PORT}
+spring.mail.host=smtp.gmail.com
+spring.mail.port=587
+spring.mail.username=${MAIL_USERNAME}
+spring.mail.password=${MAIL_PASSWORD}
+spring.mail.properties.mail.smtp.auth=true
+spring.mail.properties.mail.smtp.starttls.enable=true
+spring.docker.compose.enabled=true
diff --git a/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-docker.properties b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-docker.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index 376596db..00000000
--- a/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-docker.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-# Server port (mapped in docker-compose.yml)
-server.port=9098
-
-# Redis connection (service name from docker-compose.yml)
-spring.redis.host=redis
-spring.redis.port=6379
-
-# Optional: logging level
-logging.level.org.springframework=INFO
diff --git a/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-prod.properties b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-prod.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bbe0b336
--- /dev/null
+++ b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application-prod.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+spring.config.active.on-profile=prod
+# MySQL Database Configuration
+spring.datasource.url=${SUPABASE_URL}
+
+spring.flyway.clean-disabled=true
+spring.flyway.enabled=true
+
+logging.level.root=WARN
+logging.level.org.springframework=INFO
+logging.level.org.hibernate=WARN
+
+
+server.port=${PORT}
+spring.mail.host=smtp.gmail.com
+spring.mail.port=587
+spring.mail.username=${MAIL_USERNAME}
+spring.mail.password=${MAIL_PASSWORD}
+spring.mail.properties.mail.smtp.auth=true
+spring.mail.properties.mail.smtp.starttls.enable=true
+spring.docker.compose.enabled=false
+
+spring.datasource.hikari.maximum-pool-size=10
+spring.datasource.hikari.minimum-idle=5
+spring.datasource.hikari.idle-timeout=300000
+spring.datasource.hikari.connection-timeout=20000
+spring.datasource.hikari.max-lifetime=1800000
+spring.datasource.hikari.leak-detection-threshold=2000
+spring.datasource.hikari.pool-name=UsersHikariPool
diff --git a/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application.properties b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 5cb4a663..1148abac 100644
--- a/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/users_microservice/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 spring.application.name=AA
-# MySQL Database Configuration
-spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/aa
-spring.datasource.username=root
-spring.datasource.password=
-spring.datasource.driver-class-name=com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
+
+spring.docker.compose.file=src/main/resources/compose.yaml
+logging.level.org.springframework.boot.docker.compose=DEBUG
+spring.docker.compose.lifecycle-management=start_only
+spring.threads.virtual.enabled= true
+
+spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.postgresql.Driver
+
+
 
 # JPA Configuration
 spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
 hibernate.temp.use_jdbc_metadata_defaults=false
 spring.jpa.show-sql=true
 spring.jpa.format-sql=true
-spring.jpa.open-in-view=false
-spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect.storage_engine=innodb
+spring.jpa.open-in-view=false
\ No newline at end of file