diff --git a/packages/backend/src/index.ts b/packages/backend/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6fb1f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import express from "express";
+import cors from "cors";
+import { createServer } from "http";
+import path from "path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
+import { initWebSocket, getClientCount } from "./services/ws.service.js";
+
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const app = express();
+const server = createServer(app);
+
+app.use(cors());
+app.use(express.json());
+
+initWebSocket(server);
+
+app.get("/api/health", (_req, res) => {
+  res.json({
+    status: "ok",
+    wsClients: getClientCount(),
+    uptime: process.uptime(),
+  });
+});
+
+const frontendDist = path.resolve(__dirname, "../../frontend/dist");
+app.use(express.static(frontendDist));
+app.get("*path", (_req, res) => {
+  res.sendFile(path.join(frontendDist, "index.html"));
+});
+
+const PORT = parseInt(process.env.PORT || "3000", 10);
+server.listen(PORT, "0.0.0.0", () => {
+  console.log(`Layonara Forge listening on http://0.0.0.0:${PORT}`);
+});
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/services/ws.service.ts b/packages/backend/src/services/ws.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1432b4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend/src/services/ws.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { WebSocketServer, WebSocket } from "ws";
+import type { Server } from "http";
+
+type EventType = "docker" | "build" | "log" | "toolset" | "git";
+
+interface ForgeEvent {
+  type: EventType;
+  action: string;
+  data: unknown;
+  timestamp: number;
+}
+
+const clients = new Set<WebSocket>();
+
+let wss: WebSocketServer;
+
+export function initWebSocket(server: Server): WebSocketServer {
+  wss = new WebSocketServer({ server, path: "/ws" });
+
+  wss.on("connection", (ws) => {
+    clients.add(ws);
+    ws.on("close", () => clients.delete(ws));
+    ws.on("error", () => clients.delete(ws));
+  });
+
+  return wss;
+}
+
+export function broadcast(type: EventType, action: string, data: unknown): void {
+  const event: ForgeEvent = {
+    type,
+    action,
+    data,
+    timestamp: Date.now(),
+  };
+  const message = JSON.stringify(event);
+  for (const client of clients) {
+    if (client.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
+      client.send(message);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export function getClientCount(): number {
+  return clients.size;
+}