diff --git a/src/app/layout.tsx b/src/app/layout.tsx
index 4c8d744..971b0f4 100644
--- a/src/app/layout.tsx
+++ b/src/app/layout.tsx
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ export const metadata: Metadata = {
 // This is appropriate for a social network where all content is user-generated
 export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic';
 
+// This is appropriate for a social network where all content is user-generated
+
 export default function RootLayout({
   children,
 }: {
diff --git a/src/db/index.ts b/src/db/index.ts
index bc05f9d..e4bbfdc 100644
--- a/src/db/index.ts
+++ b/src/db/index.ts
@@ -2,33 +2,18 @@ import { drizzle, NeonHttpDatabase } from 'drizzle-orm/neon-http';
 import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
 import * as schema from './schema';
 
-// Lazy initialization to prevent build-time crashes
-let _db: NeonHttpDatabase<typeof schema> | null = null;
+// Best Practice:
+// In Vercel builds, environment variables might be missing during the "Build" step.
+// We provide a fallback connection string to allow the code to load and type-check.
+// The app will fail fast at runtime if it tries to actually query with this invalid URL.
+const connectionString = process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'postgres://placeholder:placeholder@localhost:5432/placeholder';
 
-export const db = new Proxy({} as NeonHttpDatabase<typeof schema>, {
-    get: (target, prop) => {
-        if (!_db) {
-            if (!process.env.DATABASE_URL) {
-                // Allow build to pass by returning a dummy if accessed during build
-                if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
-                    console.warn('Database accessed during build without DATABASE_URL. Returning dummy.');
-                    // We return a proxy that logs on any access to avoid hard crashes if possible,
-                    // but typically this path is creating the client.
-                    // Returning a dummy DB object that matches the shape is hard.
-                    // But if we throw, we crash.
-                    // The issue is verify the build doesn't crash on import.
-                    // If we are here, something ACCESSED db.
-                }
-                throw new Error('DATABASE_URL is not defined');
-            }
-            const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
-            _db = drizzle(sql, { schema });
-        }
-        return Reflect.get(_db, prop);
-    },
-});
+const sql = neon(connectionString);
 
-// Helper to check if DB is available
+// Create the Drizzle client with the specific schema type
+export const db = drizzle(sql, { schema });
+
+// Helper to check if DB is configured (useful for UI checks)
 export const isDbAvailable = () => !!process.env.DATABASE_URL;
 
 // Export schema for use elsewhere