diff --git a/vite.config.js b/vite.config.js
index 8b0f57b..1820849 100644
--- a/vite.config.js
+++ b/vite.config.js
@@ -1,7 +1,15 @@
 import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
 import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
 
-// https://vite.dev/config/
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [react()],
+  server: {
+    // Don't watch or serve /api — those are Vercel serverless functions, not frontend code
+    watch: { ignored: ['**/api/**'] },
+    fs: { deny: ['api'] },
+  },
+  optimizeDeps: {
+    // Don't pre-bundle serverless function files
+    exclude: ['api'],
+  },
 })