diff --git a/.env-default b/.env-default
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd41370
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env-default
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:3000
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 609f659..c9f4466 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ tmp/
 frontend/dist
 static/modern
 .python-version
+.env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 256d60d..5513cdb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ poetry shell
 pre-commit install
 python manage.py migrate
 bin/run
+cp .env-default .env
 
 # in another terminal
 cd frontend
diff --git a/frontend/src/client.ts b/frontend/src/client.ts
index a3bfa2b..51ff67e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/client.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/client.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache } from "@apollo/client";
 
 const client = new ApolloClient({
-  uri: import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL || "http://localhost:8000/graphql/",
+  uri: `${import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL}/graphql/`,
   cache: new InMemoryCache(),
 });
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx
index f327e3a..99a857d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx
@@ -8,9 +8,7 @@ import { NavLink } from "react-router-dom";
 import { ReactComponent as Logo } from "../assets/brick.svg";
 import styles from "./Header.module.css";
 
-const ADMIN_URL = import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL
-  ? `${import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL}/admin`
-  : "http://localhost:8000/admin/";
+const ADMIN_URL = `${import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL}/admin`;
 
 const navLinkStyles = ({ isActive }: { isActive: boolean }) => (isActive ? "nav-link active" : "nav-link");