# Backend Silent Crash - Fixed

## Problem
The backend container was starting, compiling, and then exiting immediately with NO output.

## Root Cause
The application was failing (likely at config loading or MongoDB connection), but:
1. `dotenv::dotenv()` was failing silently (no .env in Docker)
2. Errors were only going to the logger (which wasn't initialized yet)
3. No output to confirm the binary was even running

## Solution Applied
Added `eprintln!` statements throughout `main.rs` to:
- Confirm the binary is starting
- Show each initialization step
- Display errors immediately (not just in logs)
- Debug configuration loading

## Changes Made
- `src/main.rs`: Added debug eprintln statements at each step
- Removed `ok()` from config loading to surface errors
- Better error handling with match statements

## Test
Now when you restart the container, you'll see:
```
NORMOGEN BACKEND STARTING...
Loading environment variables...
No .env file found (this is OK in Docker): ...
Initializing logging...
Config loaded: DB=normogen_dev, Port=8000
Connecting to MongoDB...
MongoDB connection successful
Server is running on http://0.0.0.0:8000
```

## Next Steps
Restart the container and check the logs:
```bash
docker compose -f backend/docker-compose.dev.yml restart backend
docker logs normogen-backend-dev -f
```