diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5485fbfd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+/dist
+node_modules
+.env
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1f0d3775c..bf9b5fd1c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ Created by [@ammaar](https://x.com/ammaar)
 
 - `GOOGLE_API_KEY`: Your Google API key with access to Gemini API
 - `NODE_ENV`: Set to "development" by default, use "production" for production builds
+- `BASE_URL`: Set this to your own proxied API base URL (e.g., Cloudflare AI gateway endpoint). Defaults to 'https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com'.
 
 ## Development
 
diff --git a/server/env.ts b/server/env.ts
index 3259812b1..5847fd6a7 100644
--- a/server/env.ts
+++ b/server/env.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ export function setupEnvironment() {
 
   return {
     GOOGLE_API_KEY: process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY,
+    BASE_URL: process.env.BASE_URL || "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com",
     NODE_ENV: process.env.NODE_ENV || "development",
   };
 }
diff --git a/server/routes.ts b/server/routes.ts
index f205ffd2c..6421dd69c 100644
--- a/server/routes.ts
+++ b/server/routes.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-import type { Express } from "express";
-import { createServer, type Server } from "http";
 import {
   GoogleGenerativeAI,
-  type ChatSession,
-  type GenerateContentResult,
+  type ChatSession
 } from "@google/generative-ai";
+import type { Express } from "express";
+import { createServer, type Server } from "http";
 import { marked } from "marked";
 import { setupEnvironment } from "./env";
 
@@ -18,6 +17,8 @@ const model = genAI.getGenerativeModel({
     topK: 1,
     maxOutputTokens: 2048,
   },
+}, {
+  baseUrl: env.BASE_URL,
 });
 
 // Store chat sessions in memory
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index 89b614bc9..ecd59891b 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -20,4 +20,9 @@ export default defineConfig({
     outDir: path.resolve(__dirname, "dist/public"),
     emptyOutDir: true,
   },
+  server: {
+    proxy: {
+      "/api": "http://localhost:3000",
+    },
+  }
 });