diff --git a/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.test.ts b/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c0c351
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { clearSessionCookie, setSessionCookie } from './sessionCookies'
+
+const originalEnv = { ...process.env }
+
+function mockResponse() {
+  return {
+    cookie: vi.fn(),
+    clearCookie: vi.fn(),
+  }
+}
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  process.env = { ...originalEnv }
+})
+
+describe('session cookies', () => {
+  it('sets employee session cookies for the configured parent domain', () => {
+    process.env.NODE_ENV = 'production'
+    process.env.SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN = '.rentaldrivego.ma'
+    const res = mockResponse()
+
+    setSessionCookie(res as never, 'employee', 'token-123', 1000)
+
+    expect(res.cookie).toHaveBeenCalledWith('employee_session', 'token-123', {
+      httpOnly: true,
+      secure: true,
+      sameSite: 'lax',
+      path: '/',
+      domain: '.rentaldrivego.ma',
+      maxAge: 1000,
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('clears cookies with the same domain attributes used when setting them', () => {
+    process.env.NODE_ENV = 'production'
+    process.env.SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN = '.rentaldrivego.ma'
+    const res = mockResponse()
+
+    clearSessionCookie(res as never, 'employee')
+
+    expect(res.clearCookie).toHaveBeenCalledWith('employee_session', {
+      httpOnly: true,
+      secure: true,
+      sameSite: 'lax',
+      path: '/',
+      domain: '.rentaldrivego.ma',
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('omits the domain option when no shared cookie domain is configured', () => {
+    delete process.env.SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN
+    const res = mockResponse()
+
+    setSessionCookie(res as never, 'employee', 'token-123')
+
+    expect(res.cookie).toHaveBeenCalledWith('employee_session', 'token-123', {
+      httpOnly: true,
+      secure: false,
+      sameSite: 'lax',
+      path: '/',
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.ts b/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.ts
index 71f4038..0cbb77f 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/security/sessionCookies.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { Response } from 'express'
+import type { CookieOptions, Response } from 'express'
 import type { ActorType } from './tokens'
 
 const COOKIE_NAMES: Record<ActorType, string> = {
@@ -11,21 +11,23 @@ export function getSessionCookieName(actorType: ActorType) {
   return COOKIE_NAMES[actorType]
 }
 
-export function setSessionCookie(res: Response, actorType: ActorType, token: string, maxAgeMs?: number) {
-  res.cookie(getSessionCookieName(actorType), token, {
+function getSessionCookieOptions(actorType: ActorType, maxAgeMs?: number): CookieOptions {
+  const domain = process.env.SESSION_COOKIE_DOMAIN?.trim()
+
+  return {
     httpOnly: true,
     secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
     sameSite: actorType === 'admin' ? 'strict' : 'lax',
     path: '/',
-    maxAge: maxAgeMs,
-  })
+    ...(domain ? { domain } : {}),
+    ...(maxAgeMs !== undefined ? { maxAge: maxAgeMs } : {}),
+  }
+}
+
+export function setSessionCookie(res: Response, actorType: ActorType, token: string, maxAgeMs?: number) {
+  res.cookie(getSessionCookieName(actorType), token, getSessionCookieOptions(actorType, maxAgeMs))
 }
 
 export function clearSessionCookie(res: Response, actorType: ActorType) {
-  res.clearCookie(getSessionCookieName(actorType), {
-    httpOnly: true,
-    secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
-    sameSite: actorType === 'admin' ? 'strict' : 'lax',
-    path: '/',
-  })
+  res.clearCookie(getSessionCookieName(actorType), getSessionCookieOptions(actorType))
 }
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.test.ts b/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.test.ts
index 6a10d38..cc972f2 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.test.ts
+++ b/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.test.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ describe('dashboard apiFetch', () => {
     }))
   })
 
-  it('keeps browser requests on the dashboard proxy even when a public API origin is configured', async () => {
+  it('normalizes a public API origin to the versioned API base', async () => {
     installBrowser()
     process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL = 'https://api.rentaldrivego.ma'
     const fetchMock = vi.fn(async () => ({
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ describe('dashboard apiFetch', () => {
     const { apiFetch } = await import('./api')
     await apiFetch('/auth/account/start', { method: 'POST', body: JSON.stringify({}) })
 
-    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/dashboard/api/v1/auth/account/start', expect.any(Object))
+    expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('https://api.rentaldrivego.ma/api/v1/auth/account/start', expect.any(Object))
   })
 
   it('does not force JSON content type for FormData payloads', async () => {
diff --git a/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.ts b/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.ts
index 3e533f7..e0aeda8 100644
--- a/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.ts
+++ b/apps/dashboard/src/lib/api.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ function normalizeApiBase(value: string): string {
 export const API_BASE = normalizeApiBase(
   typeof window === 'undefined'
     ? (process.env.API_INTERNAL_URL || 'http://localhost:4000/api/v1')
-    : '/dashboard/api/v1',
+    : (process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || '/dashboard/api/v1'),
 )
 
 export const EMPLOYEE_PROFILE_KEY = 'employee_profile'