diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index db6e423..7808522 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,16 @@
 # Root Makefile for CMMC-Platform local dev
 
+############################################################
+#  Load .env into Make's environment  (must be first!)
+############################################################
+ifneq (,$(wildcard .env))
+include .env
+export $(shell sed -E 's/#.*//' .env | cut -d= -f1)
+endif
+
+# ─────────────  rest of your Makefile below  ─────────────
 compose = podman-compose -f dev-compose.yaml
+#
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------
 #  Helpers
@@ -11,9 +21,12 @@ create-proxy-net:
 # probe external Keycloak once and cache the flag
 check-idp:
 	@echo "🔍  Probing $(KEYCLOAK_URL) for existing Keycloak..."
-	@if curl -sf "${KEYCLOAK_URL:-http://keycloak.local:8080}/realms/master" >/dev/null ; \
-	then echo "🥳  External Keycloak detected!"; echo 1 >.idp_flag ; \
-	else echo "🛠  No external Keycloak found.";  echo 0 >.idp_flag ; fi
+	@if curl -skL --max-time 5 "$${KEYCLOAK_URL:-http://keycloak.local:8080}/realms/master" >/dev/null ; then \
+	    echo "🥳  External Keycloak detected!"; echo 1 >.idp_flag ; \
+	  else \
+	    echo "🛠  No external Keycloak found.";  echo 0 >.idp_flag ; \
+	  fi
+
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------
 #  Lifecycle targets