diff --git a/backend/src/main.ts b/backend/src/main.ts
index 426104c..69401c2 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.ts
+++ b/backend/src/main.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 import { NestFactory } from '@nestjs/core';
 import { ValidationPipe } from '@nestjs/common';
-import { WsAdapter } from '@nestjs/platform-ws';
 import { AppModule } from './app.module';
+import { WebSocketServer } from 'ws';
+import { TerminalGateway } from './terminal/terminal.gateway';
+import { SftpGateway } from './terminal/sftp.gateway';
 
 async function bootstrap() {
   const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);
   app.setGlobalPrefix('api');
   app.useGlobalPipes(new ValidationPipe({ whitelist: true, transform: true }));
-  app.useWebSocketAdapter(new WsAdapter(app));
   app.enableCors({
     origin: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? false : 'http://localhost:3001',
     credentials: true,
@@ -15,10 +16,40 @@ async function bootstrap() {
   await app.listen(3000);
   console.log('Wraith backend running on port 3000');
 
-  // Debug: monitor WebSocket upgrades at the HTTP server level
+  // Manual WebSocket handling — bypasses NestJS WsAdapter entirely
   const server = app.getHttpServer();
-  server.on('upgrade', (req: any, socket: any) => {
-    console.log(`[HTTP-UPGRADE] ${req.method} ${req.url} from ${req.headers.origin || 'unknown'}`);
+  const terminalGateway = app.get(TerminalGateway);
+  const sftpGateway = app.get(SftpGateway);
+
+  const terminalWss = new WebSocketServer({ noServer: true });
+  const sftpWss = new WebSocketServer({ noServer: true });
+
+  terminalWss.on('connection', (ws, req) => {
+    console.log(`[WS] Terminal connection from ${req.url}`);
+    terminalGateway.handleConnection(ws, req);
+  });
+
+  sftpWss.on('connection', (ws, req) => {
+    console.log(`[WS] SFTP connection from ${req.url}`);
+    sftpGateway.handleConnection(ws, req);
+  });
+
+  server.on('upgrade', (req: any, socket: any, head: any) => {
+    const pathname = req.url?.split('?')[0];
+    console.log(`[HTTP-UPGRADE] path=${pathname}`);
+
+    if (pathname === '/api/ws/terminal') {
+      terminalWss.handleUpgrade(req, socket, head, (ws) => {
+        terminalWss.emit('connection', ws, req);
+      });
+    } else if (pathname === '/api/ws/sftp') {
+      sftpWss.handleUpgrade(req, socket, head, (ws) => {
+        sftpWss.emit('connection', ws, req);
+      });
+    } else {
+      console.log(`[HTTP-UPGRADE] Unknown WS path: ${pathname}, destroying socket`);
+      socket.destroy();
+    }
   });
 }
 bootstrap();
diff --git a/backend/src/terminal/sftp.gateway.ts b/backend/src/terminal/sftp.gateway.ts
index c1b8e60..c63957c 100644
--- a/backend/src/terminal/sftp.gateway.ts
+++ b/backend/src/terminal/sftp.gateway.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
-import { WebSocketGateway, WebSocketServer, OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect } from '@nestjs/websockets';
-import { Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
-import { Server } from 'ws';
+import { Injectable, Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { WsAuthGuard } from '../auth/ws-auth.guard';
 import { SshConnectionService } from './ssh-connection.service';
 
 const MAX_EDIT_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB
 
-@WebSocketGateway({ path: '/api/ws/sftp' })
-export class SftpGateway implements OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect {
-  @WebSocketServer() server: Server;
+@Injectable()
+export class SftpGateway {
   private readonly logger = new Logger(SftpGateway.name);
 
   constructor(
@@ -34,8 +31,6 @@ export class SftpGateway implements OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect {
     });
   }
 
-  handleDisconnect() {}
-
   private async handleMessage(client: any, msg: any) {
     const { sessionId } = msg;
     if (!sessionId) {
@@ -103,7 +98,6 @@ export class SftpGateway implements OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect {
         break;
       }
       case 'delete': {
-        // Try unlink (file), fallback to rmdir (directory)
         sftp.unlink(msg.path, (err: any) => {
           if (err) {
             sftp.rmdir(msg.path, (err2: any) => {
@@ -140,7 +134,6 @@ export class SftpGateway implements OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect {
         break;
       }
       case 'download': {
-        // Stream file data to client in chunks
         const readStream = sftp.createReadStream(msg.path);
         sftp.stat(msg.path, (err: any, stats: any) => {
           if (err) return this.send(client, { type: 'error', message: err.message });
diff --git a/backend/src/terminal/terminal.gateway.ts b/backend/src/terminal/terminal.gateway.ts
index 4642ff2..35b7612 100644
--- a/backend/src/terminal/terminal.gateway.ts
+++ b/backend/src/terminal/terminal.gateway.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
-import { WebSocketGateway, WebSocketServer, OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect } from '@nestjs/websockets';
-import { Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
-import { Server } from 'ws';
+import { Injectable, Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { WsAuthGuard } from '../auth/ws-auth.guard';
 import { SshConnectionService } from './ssh-connection.service';
 
-@WebSocketGateway({ path: '/api/ws/terminal' })
-export class TerminalGateway implements OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect {
-  @WebSocketServer() server: Server;
+@Injectable()
+export class TerminalGateway {
   private readonly logger = new Logger(TerminalGateway.name);
   private clientSessions = new Map<any, string[]>(); // ws client → sessionIds
 
@@ -36,12 +33,13 @@ export class TerminalGateway implements OnGatewayConnection, OnGatewayDisconnect
         this.send(client, { type: 'error', message: err.message });
       }
     });
-  }
 
-  handleDisconnect(client: any) {
-    const sessions = this.clientSessions.get(client) || [];
-    sessions.forEach((sid) => this.ssh.disconnect(sid));
-    this.clientSessions.delete(client);
+    client.on('close', () => {
+      this.logger.log(`[WS] Client disconnected`);
+      const sessions = this.clientSessions.get(client) || [];
+      sessions.forEach((sid) => this.ssh.disconnect(sid));
+      this.clientSessions.delete(client);
+    });
   }
 
   private async handleMessage(client: any, msg: any) {
diff --git a/backend/src/terminal/terminal.module.ts b/backend/src/terminal/terminal.module.ts
index 77a7f52..99e9df8 100644
--- a/backend/src/terminal/terminal.module.ts
+++ b/backend/src/terminal/terminal.module.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ import { AuthModule } from '../auth/auth.module';
 @Module({
   imports: [VaultModule, ConnectionsModule, AuthModule],
   providers: [SshConnectionService, TerminalGateway, SftpGateway],
-  exports: [SshConnectionService],
+  exports: [SshConnectionService, TerminalGateway, SftpGateway],
 })
 export class TerminalModule {}