diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5eab7f0..ebb7995 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2077,6 +2077,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "clap",
  "db",
  "domain",
+ "dotenvy",
  "http-body-util",
  "memory-serve",
  "reqwest",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 3a86aa1..5fc4122 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,4 +28,5 @@ argon2 = "0.5"
 tower-sessions = "0.14"
 tower-sessions-sqlx-store = { version = "0.15", features = ["postgres"] }
 rpassword = "7"
+dotenvy = "0.15"
 memory-serve = "2.1"
diff --git a/crates/server/Cargo.toml b/crates/server/Cargo.toml
index 2b75d6c..aab62c5 100644
--- a/crates/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ db = { path = "../db" }
 domain = { path = "../domain" }
 search = { path = "../search" }
 rpassword.workspace = true
+dotenvy.workspace = true
 memory-serve = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 
 [build-dependencies]
diff --git a/crates/server/src/main.rs b/crates/server/src/main.rs
index 1894aa3..db1b576 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/main.rs
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ impl From<RoleArg> for Role {
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    // Load a .env file (if present) so the binary picks up config when run directly,
+    // not only via `just` (which uses `set dotenv-load`). A missing .env is fine.
+    dotenvy::dotenv().ok();
+
     tracing_subscriber::fmt()
         .with_env_filter(tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::from_default_env())
         .init();