diff --git a/backend/core/__pycache__/config.cpython-312.pyc b/backend/core/__pycache__/config.cpython-312.pyc
index 261556e..69708b2 100644
Binary files a/backend/core/__pycache__/config.cpython-312.pyc and b/backend/core/__pycache__/config.cpython-312.pyc differ
diff --git a/backend/core/config.py b/backend/core/config.py
index e795778..f8ffbe0 100644
--- a/backend/core/config.py
+++ b/backend/core/config.py
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     # Database settings - reads from environment or .env
     DB_PORT: int = 5432
     DB_NAME: str = "maia"
-    DB_HOST: str
-    DB_USER: str
-    DB_PASSWORD: str
+    DB_HOST: str = "localhost"
+    DB_USER: str = "maia"
+    DB_PASSWORD: str = "maia"
 
     DB_URL: str = ""
 
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     JWT_ALGORITHM: str = "HS256"
     ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES: int = 30
     REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRE_DAYS: int = 7
-    PEPPER: str
-    JWT_SECRET_KEY: str
+    PEPPER: str = "pepper"
+    JWT_SECRET_KEY: str = "secret"
 
     # Other settings
     GOOGLE_API_KEY: str