diff --git a/src/components/dashboard/ProfilePage.tsx b/src/components/dashboard/ProfilePage.tsx
index 2e4e297..4f46b95 100644
--- a/src/components/dashboard/ProfilePage.tsx
+++ b/src/components/dashboard/ProfilePage.tsx
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ import {
   type DocField,
 } from "~/lib/profile-fields-config";
 
-const API = "/api";
+// The K8s ingress routes /api/* directly to the Rust gateway service in
+// production — there is no /api/gateway rewrite layer, so paths below are
+// hit as-is (each apiFetch() call already passes a fully-qualified /api/... path).
+const API = "";
 
 const PORTFOLIO_PREFIX: Record<string, string> = {
   PHOTOGRAPHER: "photographers",
@@ -800,7 +803,7 @@ export default function ProfilePage(props: Props) {
           : "";
       const fd = new FormData();
       fd.append("file", file);
-      const res = await fetch(`${API}/profile/photo`, {
+      const res = await fetch(`${API}/api/profile/photo`, {
         method: "POST",
         credentials: "include",
         headers: token ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` } : {},
diff --git a/src/components/dashboard/VerificationStatusPage.tsx b/src/components/dashboard/VerificationStatusPage.tsx
index c9b881c..721fc69 100644
--- a/src/components/dashboard/VerificationStatusPage.tsx
+++ b/src/components/dashboard/VerificationStatusPage.tsx
@@ -9,19 +9,20 @@ import { ShieldCheck, FileText, Activity } from 'lucide-solid';
 import { CARD, BTN_ORANGE, BTN_GHOST } from '~/components/DashboardShell';
 import { getDocFields } from '~/lib/profile-fields-config';
 
-const API = '/api/gateway';
 const NAVY = '#0D0D2A';
 const ORANGE = '#FF5E13';
 
 type TabKey = 'approval_status' | 'documents' | 'activity';
 
+// The K8s ingress routes /api/* directly to the Rust gateway service in
+// production — there is no /api/gateway rewrite layer, so paths (already
+// fully-qualified /api/... from callers) are hit as-is.
 async function apiFetch(path: string, opts?: RequestInit) {
   const token =
     typeof window !== "undefined"
       ? window.sessionStorage.getItem("nxtgauge_access_token") || ""
       : "";
-  const cleanPath = path.startsWith("/api/") ? path.slice(4) : path;
-  return fetch(`${API}${cleanPath}`, {
+  return fetch(path, {
     ...opts,
     credentials: "include",
     headers: {
diff --git a/src/lib/api.ts b/src/lib/api.ts
index a7f31c9..2339a2c 100644
--- a/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-const API = '/api/gateway';
+// The K8s ingress routes any /api/* path directly to the Rust gateway service —
+// there is no /api/gateway indirection or rewrite in production (a dev-only
+// vite proxy used to do that rewrite, but it doesn't exist in the deployed
+// build). Callers already pass fully-qualified /api/... paths; hit them as-is.
 
 function getAuthHeaders(): Record<string, string> {
   const token = typeof window !== 'undefined'
@@ -12,8 +15,7 @@ function getAuthHeaders(): Record<string, string> {
 }
 
 export async function apiFetch(path: string, options?: RequestInit): Promise<any> {
-  const cleanPath = path.startsWith('/api/') ? path.slice(4) : path;
-  const res = await fetch(`${API}${cleanPath}`, {
+  const res = await fetch(path, {
     headers: getAuthHeaders(),
     credentials: 'include',
     ...options,
@@ -47,8 +49,7 @@ export async function request<T = any>(
   if (options?.body !== undefined) {
     init.body = JSON.stringify(options.body);
   }
-  const cleanPath = path.startsWith('/api/') ? path.slice(4) : path;
-  const res = await fetch(`${API}${cleanPath}`, init);
+  const res = await fetch(path, init);
   const raw = await res.text();
   const data = raw ? JSON.parse(raw) : null;
   if (!res.ok) {
@@ -223,7 +224,7 @@ export async function uploadDocument(rolePrefix: string, file: File, documentTyp
     ? (sessionStorage.getItem('nxtgauge_access_token') || '')
     : '';
 
-  const res = await fetch(`${API}/api/${rolePrefix}/profile/documents`, {
+  const res = await fetch(`/api/${rolePrefix}/profile/documents`, {
     method: 'POST',
     headers: {
       ...(token ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` } : {}),
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ export async function submitCompanyProfileWithDocuments(
     // Append a stable filename so the backend can derive document_type from the stem
     fd.append('documents', file, `${documentType}_${file.name}`);
   }
-  const res = await fetch(`${API}/api/companies/profile/submit-with-documents`, {
+  const res = await fetch(`/api/companies/profile/submit-with-documents`, {
     method: 'POST',
     headers: token ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` } : {},
     credentials: 'include',