diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5832d918..e9355d90 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 up:
 	docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d
 down:
-	docker compose -f docker-compose.yml down
\ No newline at end of file
+	docker compose -f docker-compose.yml down
+
+run-local:
+	poetry run daphne -b 0.0.0.0 -p 8000 procollab.asgi:application
diff --git a/core/log/middleware.py b/core/log/middleware.py
index 55462ef9..f20e7951 100644
--- a/core/log/middleware.py
+++ b/core/log/middleware.py
@@ -1,30 +1,34 @@
-from loguru import logger
-from django.conf import settings
+import copy
 import logging
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from loguru import logger
+
 from core.log.utils import InterceptHandler
 
 
+def _add_logger_handler(path: str, level: str) -> None:
+    """
+    Attach loguru handler, falling back to synchronous mode if multiprocessing
+    queues are not permitted (e.g. limited dev envs).
+    """
+    kwargs = copy.deepcopy(settings.LOGURU_LOGGING)
+    try:
+        logger.add(path, level=level, **kwargs)
+    except PermissionError:
+        kwargs.pop("enqueue", None)
+        logger.add(path, level=level, **kwargs)
+
+
 class CustomLoguruMiddleware:
     def __init__(self, get_response):
         self.get_response = get_response
         logging.basicConfig(handlers=[InterceptHandler()], level=0, force=True)
 
         if settings.DEBUG:
-            logger.add(
-                f"{settings.BASE_DIR}/log/debug.log",
-                level="DEBUG",
-                **settings.LOGURU_LOGGING,
-            )
-        logger.add(
-            f"{settings.BASE_DIR}/log/info.log",
-            level="INFO",
-            **settings.LOGURU_LOGGING,
-        )
-        logger.add(
-            f"{settings.BASE_DIR}/log/warning.log",
-            level="WARNING",
-            **settings.LOGURU_LOGGING,
-        )
+            _add_logger_handler(f"{settings.BASE_DIR}/log/debug.log", "DEBUG")
+        _add_logger_handler(f"{settings.BASE_DIR}/log/info.log", "INFO")
+        _add_logger_handler(f"{settings.BASE_DIR}/log/warning.log", "WARNING")
 
     def __call__(self, request):
         response = self.get_response(request)
diff --git a/files/models.py b/files/models.py
index 7c43149c..ea7393cf 100644
--- a/files/models.py
+++ b/files/models.py
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 import reprlib
 
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import models
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 
 class UserFile(models.Model):
     """
@@ -20,7 +18,11 @@ class UserFile(models.Model):
     """
 
     link = models.URLField(primary_key=True, null=False)
-    user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.SET_NULL, null=True)
+    user = models.ForeignKey(
+        settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL,
+        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
+        null=True,
+    )
     datetime_uploaded = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
     name = models.TextField(blank=False, default="file")
     extension = models.TextField(blank=True, default="")
diff --git a/procollab/asgi.py b/procollab/asgi.py
index 5ba84539..13f70e69 100644
--- a/procollab/asgi.py
+++ b/procollab/asgi.py
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
 import os
-import chats.routing
 
 from channels.routing import ProtocolTypeRouter, URLRouter
 from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application
 
-from chats.middleware import TokenAuthMiddleware
-
 os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "procollab.settings")
 
+# Ensure Django app registry is loaded before importing project routes.
+django_asgi_app = get_asgi_application()
+
+import chats.routing  # noqa: E402
+from chats.middleware import TokenAuthMiddleware  # noqa: E402
+
 application = ProtocolTypeRouter(
     {
-        "http": get_asgi_application(),
+        "http": django_asgi_app,
         "websocket": TokenAuthMiddleware(URLRouter(chats.routing.websocket_urlpatterns)),
     }
 )
diff --git a/scripts/startup.sh b/scripts/startup.sh
index 3b4eef7a..6c35ebf8 100644
--- a/scripts/startup.sh
+++ b/scripts/startup.sh
@@ -2,4 +2,6 @@
 
 python manage.py migrate
 python manage.py collectstatic --no-input
-python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000
\ No newline at end of file
+
+# Use Daphne ASGI server instead of Django's dev server.
+exec daphne -b 0.0.0.0 -p 8000 procollab.asgi:application