fix(backend): Add debug output to diagnose silent crash

backend/SILENT-CRASH-FIX.md

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# Backend Silent Crash - Root Cause & Fix
+
+## Problem
+The backend container starts, compiles, runs the binary, then exits immediately with NO output.
+
+## Analysis
+
+### What We Know
+1. Cargo builds successfully: "Finished dev profile"
+2. Binary starts: "Running target/debug/normogen-backend"
+3. Process exits silently (no logs, no errors)
+4. This repeats in a restart loop
+
+### Root Cause: Missing Runtime Output
+
+The application is exiting before it can produce any output. This happens when:
+
+1. **main() function exits immediately**
+   - Missing `#[tokio::main]` attribute on async main
+   - Main returns before async code runs
+
+2. **Panic before logger initializes**
+   - Env vars missing before dotenv loads
+   - Config error before logging setup
+
+3. **Docker command issue**
+   - Using `cargo run` which exits after compilation
+   - Should use compiled binary directly
+
+## The Fix
+
+### Option 1: Fix Dockerfile Command (Recommended)
+
+The issue is the Dockerfile uses `cargo run` which rebuilds every time.
+Change to run the compiled binary directly:
+
+```dockerfile
+# In Dockerfile.dev, change:
+CMD ["cargo run"]
+
+# To:
+CMD ["./target/debug/normogen-backend"]
+```
+
+### Option 2: Add Debug Output to main.rs
+
+Before anything in main(), add:
+```rust
+fn main() {
+    eprintln!("NORMOGEN BACKEND STARTING...");
+    // rest of code
+}
+```
+
+### Option 3: Fix Async Runtime
+
+If using async, ensure:
+```rust
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() {
+    // your code
+}
+```
+
+## Immediate Action
+
+Add `eprintln!` at the very start of main.rs to confirm code is running.
+If we see the eprintln, we know the issue is elsewhere.
+If we DON'T see it, the binary isn't even executing.