diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 41ca3b9..eebb27e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 DATABASE_URL ?= postgres://wherewoof:ww_dev_2026@192.168.20.13:5434/wherewoof
+SESSION_SECRET ?= dev-secret-change-me   # dev only — set a real secret in production
+
 export DATABASE_URL
+export SESSION_SECRET
 
 .PHONY: db-up seed run build generate psql