diff --git a/start_server.sh b/start_server.sh
index 51f2edd6..b3a603d9 100755
--- a/start_server.sh
+++ b/start_server.sh
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ pip install -q -r backend/requirements.txt
 LOCAL_IP=$(ipconfig getifaddr en0 || ipconfig getifaddr en1 || echo "localhost")
 export ALLOWED_ORIGINS="http://localhost:$FRONTEND_PORT,http://localhost:$BACKEND_PORT,https://localhost:$FRONTEND_SSL_PORT,https://localhost:$BACKEND_SSL_PORT,https://$LOCAL_IP:$FRONTEND_SSL_PORT,https://$LOCAL_IP:$BACKEND_SSL_PORT"
 export JWT_SECRET_KEY="${JWT_SECRET_KEY:-ephemeral-dev-key-$(date +%s)}"
-export DATA_DIR="./data"
-export LOGS_DIR="./logs"
+export DATA_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)/data"
+export LOGS_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)/logs"
 
 echo "🔥 Starting Backend on port $BACKEND_PORT..."
 echo "   CORS origins: $ALLOWED_ORIGINS"