diff --git a/server/src/app.ts b/server/src/app.ts
index 55e6395d..a51bccb4 100644
--- a/server/src/app.ts
+++ b/server/src/app.ts
@@ -14,19 +14,19 @@ export function createServerApplication(): ServerApplication {
     start: async () => {
       // ----------------------------------------------
       // Legacy backend Runner
-      // logger.info('Bootstrapping backend via legacy runtime bridge', {
-      //   legacyRuntime: runtimePaths.legacyRuntimePath,
-      // });
-      // await import(pathToFileURL(runtimePaths.legacyRuntimePath).href);
+      logger.info('Bootstrapping backend via legacy runtime bridge', {
+        legacyRuntime: runtimePaths.legacyRuntimePath,
+      });
+      await import(pathToFileURL(runtimePaths.legacyRuntimePath).href);
       // ----------------------------------------------
 
 
       // ----------------------------------------------
       // Refactor backend Runner
-      logger.info('Bootstrapping backend via refactor runtime', {
-        refactorRuntime: runtimePaths.refactorRuntimePath,
-      });
-      await import(pathToFileURL(runtimePaths.refactorRuntimePath).href);
+      // logger.info('Bootstrapping backend via refactor runtime', {
+      //   refactorRuntime: runtimePaths.refactorRuntimePath,
+      // });
+      // await import(pathToFileURL(runtimePaths.refactorRuntimePath).href);
     },
   };
 }
diff --git a/server/src/runner.ts b/server/src/runner.ts
index cc472545..9630a3a3 100644
--- a/server/src/runner.ts
+++ b/server/src/runner.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 import express from 'express';
 import http from 'http';
+import cors from 'cors';
+import path from 'path';
+import fs from "fs";
 
-import { userDb } from "@/shared/database/repositories/users.js";
 import { initializeDatabase } from '@/shared/database/init-db.js';
 import { initializeWatcher } from '@/modules/sessions/sessions.watcher.js';
+import { getConnectableHost } from '@/shared/utils/networkHosts.js';
+
 
 console.log("----------------Hello there, Refactored Runner!-------------------");
 
@@ -18,6 +22,74 @@ if (Number.isNaN(SERVER_PORT)) {
 }
 const HOST = process.env.HOST || '0.0.0.0';
 
+const DISPLAY_HOST = getConnectableHost(HOST);
+const VITE_PORT = process.env.VITE_PORT || 5173;
+
+// ---------- MIDDLEWARES ----------------
+app.use(cors({ exposedHeaders: ['X-Refreshed-Token'] }));
+app.use(express.json({
+    limit: '50mb',
+    type: (req) => {
+        // Skip multipart/form-data requests (for file uploads like images)
+        const contentType = req.headers['content-type'] || '';
+        if (contentType.includes('multipart/form-data')) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        return contentType.includes('json');
+    }
+}));
+app.use(express.urlencoded({ limit: '50mb', extended: true }));
+
+
+// This matches files found in the root public folder (like api-docs.html when we run `/api-docs.html`).
+// If the file is found, it's automatically sent. If it is not, it passes it to the next route checker.
+// This will run in production as well as development URLs.
+app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, '../../public')));
+
+// If the file is not in the public directory, it's checked if it exists in the root dist folder which was built from vite.
+//  * Note: If the request is for `/` (i.e. homepage), `express.static` automatically maps the request to `/index.html`.
+app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, '../../dist'), {
+    setHeaders: (res, filePath) => {
+        if (filePath.endsWith('.html')) {
+            // Prevent HTML caching to avoid service worker issues after builds
+            res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate');
+            res.setHeader('Pragma', 'no-cache');
+            res.setHeader('Expires', '0');
+        } else if (filePath.match(/\.(js|css|woff2?|ttf|eot|svg|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico)$/)) {
+            // Vite injects a unique hash into the filenames of assets (e.g., main.a1b2c3d4.js). 
+            // Since the filename changes every time the file's content changes, the browser can safely cache it forever
+            // and it will know when the file changes and recache the changed content when it's necessary too.
+            res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'public, max-age=31536000, immutable');
+        }
+    }
+}));
+
+// Serve React app for all other routes (excluding static files)
+app.get('*', (req, res) => {
+    // Skip requests for static assets (files with extensions)
+    if (path.extname(req.path)) {
+        return res.status(404).send('Not found');
+    }
+    
+    // Only serve index.html for HTML routes, not for static assets
+    // Static assets should already be handled by express.static middleware above
+    const indexPath = path.join(__dirname, '../dist/index.html');
+
+    // Check if dist/index.html exists (production build available)
+    if (fs.existsSync(indexPath)) {
+        // Set no-cache headers for HTML to prevent service worker issues
+        res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate');
+        res.setHeader('Pragma', 'no-cache');
+        res.setHeader('Expires', '0');
+        res.sendFile(indexPath);
+    } else {
+        // In development, redirect to Vite dev server only if dist doesn't exist
+        const redirectHost = getConnectableHost(req.hostname);
+        res.redirect(`${req.protocol}://${redirectHost}:${VITE_PORT}`);
+    }
+});
+
+
 async function main() {
     try {
         await initializeDatabase();
diff --git a/server/src/shared/utils/networkHosts.ts b/server/src/shared/utils/networkHosts.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6dd3e649
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/shared/utils/networkHosts.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+export function isWildcardHost(host: string) {
+  return host === '0.0.0.0' || host === '::';
+}
+
+export function isLoopbackHost(host: string) {
+  return host === 'localhost' || host === '127.0.0.1' || host === '::1' || host === '[::1]';
+}
+
+export function normalizeLoopbackHost(host: string) {
+  if (!host) {
+    return host;
+  }
+  return isLoopbackHost(host) ? 'localhost' : host;
+}
+
+// Use localhost for connectable loopback and wildcard addresses in browser-facing URLs.
+export function getConnectableHost(host: string) {
+  if (!host) {
+    return 'localhost';
+  }
+  return isWildcardHost(host) || isLoopbackHost(host) ? 'localhost' : host;
+}