diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ed2d46e..142b6d5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ src/frontend/tsconfig.node.tsbuildinfo
 *.iml
 .DS_Store
 *.log
+build-output/
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/l2/shots/auth/AuthService.java b/src/main/java/com/l2/shots/auth/AuthService.java
index 395d94e..64b03c0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/l2/shots/auth/AuthService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/l2/shots/auth/AuthService.java
@@ -67,9 +67,17 @@ public class AuthService {
     @Transactional
     public Optional<User> authenticate(String username, String password) {
         if (username == null || password == null) return Optional.empty();
-        User user = User.findByUsernameCaseInsensitive(username.trim());
-        if (user == null) return Optional.empty();
-        if (!BcryptUtil.matches(password, user.passwordHash)) return Optional.empty();
+        String trimmed = username.trim();
+        LOG.infof("authenticate: username=%s trimmed=%s pw.len=%d", trimmed, trimmed, password.length());
+        User user = User.findByUsernameCaseInsensitive(trimmed);
+        if (user == null) {
+            LOG.warnf("authenticate: user '%s' NOT FOUND in DB", trimmed);
+            return Optional.empty();
+        }
+        LOG.infof("authenticate: found user id=%s hash.len=%d hash.prefix=%s", user.id, user.passwordHash == null ? -1 : user.passwordHash.length(), user.passwordHash == null ? "null" : user.passwordHash.substring(0, Math.min(7, user.passwordHash.length())));
+        boolean matches = BcryptUtil.matches(password, user.passwordHash);
+        LOG.infof("authenticate: bcrypt.matches=%s for user=%s", matches, trimmed);
+        if (!matches) return Optional.empty();
         user.lastLoginAt = Instant.now();
         user.persist();
         return Optional.of(user);