diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 0af7a64..d45ddd9 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ WORK_DIR="/Users/username/Documents/workspace_with_my_files"
 OLLAMA_PORT="11434"
 LM_STUDIO_PORT="1234"
 BACKEND_PORT="7777"
+# Set this to your server's public IP/hostname when accessing the UI from a remote machine.
+# Example: REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL=http://192.168.1.100:7777
+REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:7777
 CUSTOM_ADDITIONAL_LLM_PORT="11435"
 OPENAI_API_KEY='xxxxx'
 DEEPSEEK_API_KEY='xxxxx'
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 939e0a9..4ee63af 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - NODE_ENV=development
       - CHOKIDAR_USEPOLLING=true
-      - REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:7777
+      - REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL=${REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL:-http://localhost:7777}
     networks:
       - agentic-seek-net