diff --git a/backend/config/middleware.py b/backend/config/middleware.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8d85e60f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/config/middleware.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+"""middleware"""
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.utils.deprecation import MiddlewareMixin
+
+
+class StartTimeMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin):
+    """add a start time header"""
+
+    def __call__(self, request):
+        response = self.get_response(request)
+        response["X-Start-Timestamp"] = settings.TA_START
+        return response
diff --git a/backend/config/settings.py b/backend/config/settings.py
index f19688e0..04b41879 100644
--- a/backend/config/settings.py
+++ b/backend/config/settings.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.2/ref/settings/
 """
 
 import hashlib
+from datetime import datetime
 from os import environ, path
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ MIDDLEWARE = [
     "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
     "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
     "corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware",
+    "config.middleware.StartTimeMiddleware",
     "whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware",
@@ -220,10 +222,13 @@ CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS = True
 CORS_ALLOW_HEADERS = list(default_headers) + [
     "mode",
 ]
+CORS_EXPOSE_HEADERS = ["X-Start-Timestamp"]
+
 
 # TA application settings
 TA_UPSTREAM = "https://github.com/tubearchivist/tubearchivist"
 TA_VERSION = "v0.5.8-unstable"
+TA_START = str(int(datetime.now().timestamp()))
 
 # API
 REST_FRAMEWORK = {
diff --git a/docker_assets/nginx.conf b/docker_assets/nginx.conf
index 8c4a15ec..ee2841ab 100644
--- a/docker_assets/nginx.conf
+++ b/docker_assets/nginx.conf
@@ -50,17 +50,21 @@ server {
     root   /app/static;
     index  index.html;
 
-    location ~* .(?:css|js)$ {    
+    location ~* ^/(?!static/|cache/).*\.(?:css|js|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff2?)$ {
         try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html =404;
     }
 
     location = /index.html {
-        add_header Cache-Control 'no-store';
+        add_header Cache-Control "no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate";
+        add_header Pragma "no-cache";
+        add_header Expires 0;
         expires 0;
     }
 
     location / {
-        add_header Cache-Control 'no-store';
+        add_header Cache-Control "no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate";
+        add_header Pragma "no-cache";
+        add_header Expires 0;
         try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html =404;
     }
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/functions/APIClient.ts b/frontend/src/functions/APIClient.ts
index 02a8d1d2..c5c88e81 100644
--- a/frontend/src/functions/APIClient.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/functions/APIClient.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import getFetchCredentials from '../configuration/getFetchCredentials';
 import logOut from '../api/actions/logOut';
 import getCookie from './getCookie';
 import Routes from '../configuration/routes/RouteList';
+import { useBackendStore } from '../stores/BackendStore';
 
 export interface ApiClientOptions extends Omit<RequestInit, 'body'> {
   method?: 'GET' | 'POST' | 'PUT' | 'PATCH' | 'DELETE';
@@ -44,6 +45,12 @@ const APIClient = async <T>(
     ...options,
   });
 
+  const backendTimestamp = response.headers.get('X-Start-Timestamp');
+  if (backendTimestamp) {
+    const { setStartTimestamp } = useBackendStore.getState();
+    setStartTimestamp(backendTimestamp);
+  }
+
   // Handle common errors
   if (response.status === 400) {
     const data = await response.json();
diff --git a/frontend/src/stores/BackendStore.ts b/frontend/src/stores/BackendStore.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a88ff3c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/stores/BackendStore.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { create } from 'zustand';
+
+interface BackendState {
+  startTimestamp: string | null;
+  setStartTimestamp: (timestamp: string) => void;
+}
+
+export const useBackendStore = create<BackendState>((set, get) => ({
+  startTimestamp: null,
+  setStartTimestamp: timestamp => {
+    const prev = get().startTimestamp;
+    if (prev && prev !== timestamp) {
+      console.warn('Backend restart detected — reloading frontend...');
+      window.location.reload();
+    }
+    set({ startTimestamp: timestamp });
+  },
+}));
diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.ts b/frontend/vite.config.ts
index 1065e7ce..47fb65ef 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.ts
@@ -8,14 +8,22 @@ export default defineConfig({
   base: '/',
   server: {
     host: true,
-    port: 3000, // This is the port which we will use in docker
-    // Thanks @sergiomoura for the window fix
-    // add the next lines if you're using windows and hot reload doesn't work
+    port: 3000,
     watch: {
       usePolling: true,
     },
   },
   build: {
     sourcemap: true,
+    outDir: 'dist',
+    assetsDir: 'assets',
+    manifest: true,
+    rollupOptions: {
+      output: {
+        entryFileNames: 'assets/[name].[hash].js',
+        chunkFileNames: 'assets/[name].[hash].js',
+        assetFileNames: 'assets/[name].[hash].[ext]',
+      },
+    },
   },
 });