diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d7895d7..411063d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@ services:
       apply:
         condition: service_started
     environment:
-      # Coolify injects SOURCE_COMMIT at runtime on every deploy; settings.py
-      # reads GIT_COMMIT and renders it in the footer.
-      - GIT_COMMIT=${SOURCE_COMMIT:-dev}
+      # SOURCE_COMMIT is auto-injected by Coolify at runtime; settings.py
+      # reads it and renders it in the footer. Don't reference it here —
+      # Coolify treats any ${SOURCE_COMMIT} in the compose as a user env
+      # var and stops injecting the real SHA.
       - AUTH_USERNAME=${AUTH_USERNAME}
       - AUTH_PASSWORD_HASH=${AUTH_PASSWORD_HASH}
       - SESSION_SECRET=${SESSION_SECRET}
diff --git a/web/settings.py b/web/settings.py
index dfed3e9..7e8a09d 100644
--- a/web/settings.py
+++ b/web/settings.py
@@ -62,6 +62,6 @@ ANTHROPIC_MODEL: str = getenv("ANTHROPIC_MODEL", "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001")
 
 # --- Build info --------------------------------------------------------------
 # Coolify injects SOURCE_COMMIT into the container's runtime env on every
-# deploy; docker-compose.yml maps it to GIT_COMMIT. Rendered in the site
-# footer so the running commit is visible at a glance.
-GIT_COMMIT: str = getenv("GIT_COMMIT", "").strip() or "dev"
+# deploy. GIT_COMMIT is the local-dev override. Rendered in the footer so
+# the running commit is visible at a glance.
+GIT_COMMIT: str = (getenv("GIT_COMMIT") or getenv("SOURCE_COMMIT") or "").strip() or "dev"