diff --git a/.github/workflows/main-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/main-release.yaml
index 90c83ac..1481ed8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main-release.yaml
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@ concurrency:
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches:
-      - main
 
 jobs:
   build-and-push:
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 290b078..11ba271 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -255,3 +255,4 @@ dist-ssr
 *.sln
 *.sw?
 
+**/.vim/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d5ad67b..8bc2cb6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ build_images:
 			FULL_TAG=$(call get_full_tag,$$SERVICE); \
 			echo "Building Docker image $$FULL_TAG"; \
 			docker build -t $$FULL_TAG --build-context core=./core $$dir; \
+			if [ $$? -ne 0 ]; then exit 1; fi; \
 		else \
 			if [ -d "$$dir" ]; then \
 				echo "Skipping $$dir, no Dockerfile found."; \
diff --git a/core/common.py b/core/common.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9335c8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import os
+
+_mongo_url = ""
+_redis_url = ""
+_litellm_url = ""
+
+
+def get_mongo_url():
+    global _mongo_url
+    if _mongo_url:
+        return _mongo_url
+
+    _mongo_url = os.getenv("MONGODB_URL")
+    if _mongo_url:
+        return _mongo_url
+
+    host = os.getenv("MONGODB_HOST", "localhost")
+    user = os.getenv("MONGODB_USER")
+    password = os.getenv("MONGODB_PASSWORD")
+    port = os.getenv("MONGODB_PORT", 27017)
+    if (
+        not user or not password
+    ):  # if any of these not passed, just return unauthenticated url
+        _mongo_url = f"mongodb://{host}:{port}"
+        return _mongo_url
+
+    _mongo_url = f"mongodb://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}"
+    return _mongo_url
+
+
+def get_litellm_proxy_url():
+    global _litellm_url
+    if _litellm_url:
+        return _litellm_url
+
+    host = os.getenv("LITELLM_HOST", "localhost")
+    port = os.getenv("LITELLM_PORT", 8002)
+
+    _litellm_url = f"http://{host}:{port}"
+    return _litellm_url
+
+
+def get_redis_url():
+    global _redis_url
+    if _redis_url:
+        return _redis_url
+
+    _redis_url = os.getenv("REDIS_URL")
+    if _redis_url:
+        return _redis_url
+
+    host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "localhost")
+    user = os.getenv("REDIS_USER")
+    password = os.getenv("REDIS_PASSWORD")
+    port = os.getenv("REDIS_PORT", 6379)
+
+    if not password:
+        _redis_url = f"redis://{host}:{port}/0"
+        return _redis_url
+
+    _redis_url = f"redis://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}/0"
+    return _redis_url
diff --git a/core/local_model.py b/core/local_model.py
index e00b52d..ac64783 100644
--- a/core/local_model.py
+++ b/core/local_model.py
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@
 QUERY_FORMAT = '{"query": "refined question"}'
 
 litellm_host = os.getenv("LITELLM_HOST", "localhost")
-
+litellm_api_key = os.getenv("LITELLM_MASTER_KEY")
 
 oai_client = OpenAI(
     base_url=f"http://{litellm_host}:8002/v1/",
     # base_url="http://localhost:1234/v1/",
-    api_key="abc",
+    api_key=litellm_api_key,
 )
 model_name = "custom"
 
diff --git a/core/tasks/celery_config.py b/core/tasks/celery_config.py
index 2e8e6b1..4597107 100644
--- a/core/tasks/celery_config.py
+++ b/core/tasks/celery_config.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # Standard Library
-import os
+from core.common import get_redis_url
 
-CELERY_REDIS_HOST = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "localhost")
-BROKER_URL = f"redis://{CELERY_REDIS_HOST}:6379/0"  # Redis configuration
-CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = f"redis://{CELERY_REDIS_HOST}:6379/0"
+BROKER_URL = get_redis_url()
+CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = BROKER_URL
 CELERY_IMPORTS = ("core.tasks.tasks",)
diff --git a/core/tasks/tasks.py b/core/tasks/tasks.py
index 3bd6eba..221c94e 100644
--- a/core/tasks/tasks.py
+++ b/core/tasks/tasks.py
@@ -31,17 +31,17 @@
 from openai import OpenAI
 from pymongo import MongoClient
 
+from core.common import get_redis_url, get_litellm_proxy_url, get_mongo_url
+
 litellm_host = os.getenv("LITELLM_HOST", "localhost")
-redis_host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "localhost")
-mongodb_host = os.getenv("MONGODB_HOST", "localhost")
 
-redis_client = redis.Redis(host=redis_host, port=6379, db=0)
-app = Celery("tasks", broker=f"redis://{redis_host}:6379/0")
+redis_client = redis.Redis(get_redis_url())
+app = Celery("tasks", broker=get_redis_url())
 app.config_from_object("core.tasks.celery_config")
 app.autodiscover_tasks(["core.tasks"])  # Explicitly discover tasks in 'app' package
 
 # MongoDB Configuration
-MONGODB_URL = f"mongodb://{mongodb_host}:27017"
+MONGODB_URL = get_mongo_url()
 DATABASE_NAME = "rubra_db"
 
 # Global MongoDB client
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 @signals.worker_process_init.connect
 def setup_mongo_connection(*args, **kwargs):
     global mongo_client
-    mongo_client = MongoClient(f"mongodb://{mongodb_host}:27017")
+    mongo_client = MongoClient(MONGODB_URL)
 
 
 def create_assistant_message(
@@ -216,7 +216,8 @@ def form_openai_tools(tools, assistant_id: str):
 def execute_chat_completion(assistant_id, thread_id, redis_channel, run_id):
     try:
         oai_client = OpenAI(
-            base_url=f"http://{litellm_host}:8002/v1/",
+            base_url=get_litellm_proxy_url(),
+            # FIXME: actual master key
             api_key="abc",  # point to litellm server
         )
         db = mongo_client[DATABASE_NAME]
diff --git a/core/tools/knowledge/vector_db/milvus/custom_embeddigs.py b/core/tools/knowledge/vector_db/milvus/custom_embeddigs.py
index 085f281..9a60413 100644
--- a/core/tools/knowledge/vector_db/milvus/custom_embeddigs.py
+++ b/core/tools/knowledge/vector_db/milvus/custom_embeddigs.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 from langchain.embeddings.base import Embeddings
 
 HOST = os.getenv("EMBEDDING_HOST", "localhost")
-EMBEDDING_URL = f"http://{HOST}:8020/embed_multiple"
+EMBEDDING_URL = os.getenv("EMBEDDING_URL", f"http://{HOST}:8020/embed_multiple")
 
 
 def embed_text(texts: List[str]) -> List[List[float]]:
diff --git a/services/backend/api_server/Dockerfile b/services/backend/api_server/Dockerfile
index 4a905e5..a9f5ee7 100644
--- a/services/backend/api_server/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/backend/api_server/Dockerfile
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ COPY . /app
 COPY --from=core ./ /app/core
 
 # Install any needed packages specified in requirements.txt
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install gcc g++ -y
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 RUN spacy download en_core_web_sm
 RUN playwright install
diff --git a/services/backend/api_server/app/backend.py b/services/backend/api_server/app/backend.py
index 9d67d55..afa3b5c 100644
--- a/services/backend/api_server/app/backend.py
+++ b/services/backend/api_server/app/backend.py
@@ -104,18 +104,16 @@
     generate_thread_id,
 )
 
-litellm_host = os.getenv("LITELLM_HOST", "localhost")
-redis_host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "localhost")
-mongodb_host = os.getenv("MONGODB_HOST", "localhost")
-
 app = FastAPI()
 
-origins = [
+default_origins = [
     "http://localhost:3000",  # Add the frontend host here
     "http://localhost",
     "https://docs.rubra.ai",
 ]
 
+origins = os.getenv("CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS", default_origins)
+
 app.add_middleware(
     CORSMiddleware,
     allow_origins=origins,
@@ -124,17 +122,59 @@
     allow_headers=["*"],  # Allows all headers
 )
 
+
+def _get_mongo_url():
+    url = os.getenv("MONGODB_URL")
+    if url:
+        return url
+
+    host = os.getenv("MONGODB_HOST", "localhost")
+    user = os.getenv("MONGODB_USER")
+    password = os.getenv("MONGODB_PASSWORD")
+    port = os.getenv("MONGODB_PORT", 27017)
+    if (
+        not user or not password
+    ):  # if any of these not passed, just return unauthenticated url
+        return f"mongodb://{host}:{port}"
+
+    return f"mongodb://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}"
+
+
+def _get_litellm_proxy_url():
+    host = os.getenv("LITELLM_HOST", "localhost")
+    port = os.getenv("LITELLM_PORT", 8002)
+    return f"http://{host}:{port}"
+
+
+def _get_redis_url():
+    url = os.getenv("REDIS_URL")
+    if url:
+        return url
+
+    host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "localhost")
+    user = os.getenv("REDIS_USER")
+    password = os.getenv("REDIS_PASSWORD")
+    port = os.getenv("REDIS_PORT", 6379)
+
+    if not password:
+        return f"redis://{host}:{port}/0"
+
+    return f"redis://{user}:{password}@{host}:{port}/0"
+
+
 # MongoDB Configurationget
-MONGODB_URL = f"mongodb://{mongodb_host}:27017"
-DATABASE_NAME = "rubra_db"
-LITELLM_URL = f"http://{litellm_host}:8002"
+MONGODB_URL = _get_mongo_url()
+DATABASE_NAME = os.getenv("MONGODB_DATABASE", "rubra_db")
+LITELLM_URL = _get_litellm_proxy_url()
 HEADERS = {"accept": "application/json", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
 
 # Initialize MongoDB client
 mongo_client = AsyncIOMotorClient(MONGODB_URL)
 database = mongo_client[DATABASE_NAME]
 
-celery_app = Celery(broker=f"redis://{redis_host}:6379/0")
+redis_url = _get_redis_url()
+
+celery_app = Celery(broker=redis_url)
 
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 
@@ -203,7 +243,7 @@ async def on_startup():
 async def get_api_key_status():
     try:
         redis = await aioredis.from_url(
-            f"redis://{redis_host}:6379/0", encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
+            redis_url, encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
         )
         openai_key = await redis.get("OPENAI_API_KEY")
         anthropic_key = await redis.get("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY")
@@ -226,7 +266,7 @@ async def get_api_key_status():
 async def set_api_key_status(api_keys: ApiKeysUpdateModel):
     try:
         redis = await aioredis.from_url(
-            f"redis://{redis_host}:6379/0", encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
+            redis_url, encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
         )
 
         logging.info("Setting API keys")
@@ -752,7 +792,7 @@ async def list_messages(
 async def redis_subscriber(channel, timeout=1):
     logging.info(f"Connecting to Redis and subscribing to channel: {channel}")
     redis = await aioredis.from_url(
-        f"redis://{redis_host}:6379/0", encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
+        redis_url, encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
     )
     pubsub = redis.pubsub()
     await pubsub.subscribe(channel)
@@ -782,7 +822,7 @@ async def listen_for_task_status(
     pubsub = None
     try:
         redis = await aioredis.from_url(
-            f"redis://{redis_host}:6379/0", encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
+            redis_url, encoding="utf-8", decode_responses=True
         )
         pubsub = redis.pubsub()
         await pubsub.subscribe(task_status_channel)
diff --git a/services/backend/task_executor/Dockerfile b/services/backend/task_executor/Dockerfile
index 4844f47..eabb063 100644
--- a/services/backend/task_executor/Dockerfile
+++ b/services/backend/task_executor/Dockerfile
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ WORKDIR /app
 ADD requirements.txt /app/
 
 # Install any needed packages specified in requirements.txt
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install gcc g++ -y
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 RUN spacy download en_core_web_sm
 RUN playwright install