diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.ts b/frontend/vite.config.ts
index 4b6639a7..44eb0999 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.ts
@@ -25,10 +25,18 @@ export default defineConfig({
     port: 3000,
     watch: {
       usePolling: true, // Important for Docker file watching
+      // Ignore these directories to prevent "too many open files" error in Kubernetes
+      ignored: [
+        '**/node_modules/**',
+        '**/dist/**',
+        '**/.git/**',
+        '**/coverage/**',
+        '**/.cache/**',
+      ],
     },
     proxy: {
       '/api': {
-        target: process.env.VITE_API_URL !== undefined 
+        target: process.env.VITE_API_URL !== undefined
                 ? (process.env.VITE_API_URL || '')  // Use value or empty string
                 : (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' && process.env.KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST
                     ? 'http://gateway-service:8000'  // Kubernetes internal service