diff --git a/backend/src/services/ComposeService.ts b/backend/src/services/ComposeService.ts
index 594b0cf5..89f98dcc 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/ComposeService.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/ComposeService.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export class ComposeService {
   private baseDir: string;
 
   constructor() {
-    this.baseDir = process.env.COMPOSE_DIR || path.join(process.cwd(), '..', 'docker', 'compose');
+    this.baseDir = process.env.COMPOSE_DIR || '/app/compose';
   }
 
   /**
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ export class ComposeService {
       });
 
       child.on('error', (error: Error) => {
+        console.error(`Docker Compose Error for ${stackName}:`, error.message);
         ws.send(`Error: ${error.message}\n`);
       });
     }
@@ -93,6 +94,7 @@ export class ComposeService {
       });
 
       pullProcess.on('error', (error: Error) => {
+        console.error(`Docker Compose Pull Error for ${stackName}:`, error.message);
         sendOutput(`Pull error: ${error.message}\n`);
         reject(error);
       });
@@ -128,6 +130,7 @@ export class ComposeService {
       });
 
       upProcess.on('error', (error: Error) => {
+        console.error(`Docker Compose Up Error for ${stackName}:`, error.message);
         sendOutput(`Update error: ${error.message}\n`);
         reject(error);
       });
diff --git a/backend/src/services/DockerController.ts b/backend/src/services/DockerController.ts
index 96517195..df51a99f 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/DockerController.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/DockerController.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class DockerController {
   public async getContainersByStack(stackName: string) {
     try {
       const stackDir = path.join(COMPOSE_DIR, stackName);
-      const { stdout } = await execAsync('docker compose ps --format json -a', { 
+      const { stdout, stderr } = await execAsync('docker compose ps --format json -a', { 
         cwd: stackDir,
         env: { 
           ...process.env, 
@@ -65,10 +65,16 @@ class DockerController {
         // Try parsing as a standard JSON array
         const parsed = JSON.parse(stdout);
         containers = Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : [parsed];
-      } catch {
+      } catch (parseError) {
         // Fallback: parse newline-separated JSON objects, filtering out empty lines
-        const lines = stdout.trim().split('\n').filter(line => line.trim() !== '');
-        containers = lines.map(line => JSON.parse(line) as ComposeContainer);
+        try {
+          const lines = stdout.trim().split('\n').filter(line => line.trim() !== '');
+          containers = lines.map(line => JSON.parse(line) as ComposeContainer);
+        } catch (innerError) {
+          // Log parsing failure with stderr for debugging
+          console.error(`Docker Compose JSON Parse Error for ${stackName}:`, stderr || (parseError as Error).message);
+          return [];
+        }
       }
       
       // Map to frontend's expected interface
@@ -81,8 +87,9 @@ class DockerController {
         Status: c.Status || ''
       }));
     } catch (error) {
-      // If command fails (e.g., stack not deployed), return empty array
-      console.error('Failed to get containers for stack:', stackName, error);
+      // If command fails (e.g., stack not deployed, invalid YAML, missing env_file)
+      const execError = error as { stderr?: string; message?: string };
+      console.error(`Docker Compose Error for ${stackName}:`, execError.stderr || execError.message);
       return [];
     }
   }
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index a21a193f..16710e14 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
       
-      # DATA DIRECTORY
-      # Left Side: Where Sencho saves your admin login (Change this if you want it elsewhere)
-      # Right Side: Internal container path (DO NOT CHANGE)
+      # Persistent data for your admin login
       - ./data:/app/data
       
-      # STACKS DIRECTORY
-      # Left Side: The absolute path to your Docker compose stacks on your server
-      # Right Side: Internal container path (DO NOT CHANGE)
-      - /path/to/your/server/stacks:/app/compose
+      # ⚠️ THE 1:1 PATH RULE (MUST MATCH EXACTLY)
+      # Left Side (Host) === Right Side (Container)
+      # Change both sides to where you actually store your compose files!
+      - /opt/stacks:/opt/stacks
+      
+    environment:
+      # This MUST match the path you set in the volumes above!
+      - COMPOSE_DIR=/opt/stacks
\ No newline at end of file