diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 1477ce0..a10ed9f 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -15,3 +15,7 @@ ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme_admin
 
 # CORS: comma-separated list of allowed origins
 ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://yourdomain.com
+
+# Ntfy push notifications (optional — leave blank to disable)
+NTFY_URL=https://ntfy.example.com/your-topic
+NTFY_TOKEN=
diff --git a/backend/app/config.py b/backend/app/config.py
index 5f8b3ed..113dbf2 100644
--- a/backend/app/config.py
+++ b/backend/app/config.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from typing import Optional
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
 
 
@@ -9,6 +10,8 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     admin_username: str
     admin_password: str
     allowed_origins: str = "http://localhost"
+    ntfy_url: Optional[str] = None
+    ntfy_token: Optional[str] = None
 
     class Config:
         env_file = ".env"
diff --git a/backend/app/main.py b/backend/app/main.py
index 9d484dd..3ab49c6 100644
--- a/backend/app/main.py
+++ b/backend/app/main.py
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
     await init_db()
     await _seed_admin()
     logger.info("Bourbonacci started")
+    from app.utils.notify import notify
+    await notify("Bourbonacci started", "Service startup complete.", priority="low")
     yield
     logger.info("Bourbonacci shutting down")
 
diff --git a/backend/app/routers/admin.py b/backend/app/routers/admin.py
index 0bb7d0d..121e327 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/admin.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/admin.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from app.dependencies import get_db, get_current_admin, bearer_scheme
 from app.models.user import User
 from app.schemas.user import AdminUserCreate, AdminPasswordReset, AdminUserResponse, Token
 from app.utils.security import hash_password, create_token
+from app.utils.notify import notify
 
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/admin", tags=["admin"])
 
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ async def disable_user(
 
     user.is_disabled = True
     await db.commit()
+    await notify("User disabled", f"Account disabled: {user.email} (by admin {current_admin.email})", priority="default")
 
 
 @router.post("/users/{user_id}/enable", status_code=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)
@@ -106,6 +108,7 @@ async def delete_user(
 
     await db.delete(user)
     await db.commit()
+    await notify("User deleted", f"Account deleted: {user.email} (by admin {current_admin.email})", priority="default")
 
 
 @router.post("/users/{user_id}/impersonate", response_model=Token)
diff --git a/backend/app/routers/auth.py b/backend/app/routers/auth.py
index 1ce0c76..2f1b1af 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/auth.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from app.limiter import limiter
 from app.models.user import User
 from app.schemas.user import UserCreate, Token, LoginRequest
 from app.utils.security import hash_password, verify_password, create_token
+from app.utils.notify import notify
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("bourbonacci.auth")
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/auth", tags=["auth"])
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ async def register(request: Request, body: UserCreate, db: AsyncSession = Depend
     await db.refresh(user)
 
     logger.info("New user registered: %s", body.email)
+    await notify("New registration", f"User registered: {body.email}", priority="default")
     return Token(access_token=create_token(user.id))
 
 
@@ -54,4 +56,6 @@ async def login(request: Request, body: LoginRequest, db: AsyncSession = Depends
         raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, detail="Account disabled")
 
     logger.info("Login: %s (id=%s)", body.email, user.id)
+    if user.is_admin:
+        await notify("Admin login", f"Admin login: {body.email}", priority="high")
     return Token(access_token=create_token(user.id))
diff --git a/backend/app/routers/entries.py b/backend/app/routers/entries.py
index 526b65b..108a5e7 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/entries.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/entries.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Query, status
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 from sqlalchemy import select
 
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ def _calc_stats(entries: list[Entry]) -> BottleStats:
 
 @router.get("", response_model=list[EntryResponse])
 async def list_entries(
+    limit: int = Query(default=200, ge=1, le=1000),
+    offset: int = Query(default=0, ge=0),
     db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db),
     current_user: User = Depends(get_current_user),
 ):
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@ async def list_entries(
         select(Entry)
         .where(Entry.user_id == current_user.id)
         .order_by(Entry.date.desc(), Entry.created_at.desc())
+        .limit(limit)
+        .offset(offset)
     )
     return result.scalars().all()
 
diff --git a/backend/app/utils/notify.py b/backend/app/utils/notify.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e38ba6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/utils/notify.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import logging
+import httpx
+
+from app.config import settings
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("bourbonacci.notify")
+
+
+async def notify(title: str, message: str, priority: str = "default") -> None:
+    if not settings.ntfy_url:
+        return
+    headers = {"Title": title, "Priority": priority}
+    if settings.ntfy_token:
+        headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {settings.ntfy_token}"
+    try:
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=5) as client:
+            await client.post(settings.ntfy_url, content=message, headers=headers)
+    except Exception as exc:
+        logger.warning("Ntfy notification failed: %s", exc)
diff --git a/backend/requirements.txt b/backend/requirements.txt
index 9b56e94..f9fb2d2 100644
--- a/backend/requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements.txt
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ python-multipart==0.0.29
 pytz==2024.2
 email-validator==2.2.0
 slowapi==0.1.9
+httpx==0.28.1
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index e56179c..c519049 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ services:
       - ADMIN_USERNAME=${ADMIN_USERNAME}
       - ADMIN_PASSWORD=${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
       - ALLOWED_ORIGINS=${ALLOWED_ORIGINS:-http://localhost}
+      - NTFY_URL=${NTFY_URL:-}
+      - NTFY_TOKEN=${NTFY_TOKEN:-}
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
diff --git a/nginx/default.conf b/nginx/default.conf
index 724ddd2..acfa721 100644
--- a/nginx/default.conf
+++ b/nginx/default.conf
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@ server {
     listen 80;
     server_tokens off;
 
+    gzip on;
+    gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/javascript;
+    gzip_min_length 1024;
+    gzip_vary on;
+
     root /usr/share/nginx/html;
     index index.html;
 
+    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;
     add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
     add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
     add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;