diff --git a/app/core/config.py b/app/core/config.py
index a63eba6..2c7a673 100644
--- a/app/core/config.py
+++ b/app/core/config.py
@@ -61,6 +61,17 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     # admin-only (POST /admin/users). Registered users are never superusers.
     allow_registration: bool = True
 
+    # -- CORS -------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Origins allowed to call the API from a browser. The web UI is multi-
+    # instance — it connects to whatever origin the operator types on the
+    # connect screen — so a page served from origin A may call this backend at
+    # origin B (e.g. the direct :8000 port, a LAN IP, or 127.0.0.1 vs localhost).
+    # Auth rides in the ``Authorization`` bearer header (not cookies), so the
+    # wildcard default is safe here — it is paired with ``allow_credentials=False``.
+    # Set explicit origins in hardened deployments. Accepts a comma-separated
+    # string in ``.env`` (``CORS_ALLOW_ORIGINS=https://a,https://b``) or ``*``.
+    cors_allow_origins: list[str] = Field(default_factory=lambda: ["*"])
+
     # -- subsonic ---------------------------------------------------------
     # Symmetric key (any string) used to encrypt each user's recoverable
     # Subsonic app-password at rest. A Fernet key is derived from it; rotating
@@ -127,6 +138,15 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
             raise ValueError("database_url must use the asyncpg driver: postgresql+asyncpg://")
         return v
 
+    @field_validator("cors_allow_origins", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def _split_cors_origins(cls, v: object) -> object:
+        # Allow a plain comma-separated string in .env (pydantic would otherwise
+        # try to JSON-decode a list field): "a, b" -> ["a", "b"]; "*" -> ["*"].
+        if isinstance(v, str):
+            return [origin.strip() for origin in v.split(",") if origin.strip()]
+        return v
+
     @property
     def is_prod(self) -> bool:
         return self.environment == "prod"
diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index a796230..3012f16 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from collections.abc import AsyncIterator
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 
 from fastapi import FastAPI, WebSocket
+from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
 
 from app.api.errors import register_exception_handlers
 from app.api.health import router as health_router
@@ -40,6 +41,19 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
     )
 
     app.add_middleware(CorrelationIdMiddleware)
+    # CORS added last → outermost, so browser preflight (OPTIONS) is answered
+    # before anything else. The web UI can connect cross-origin (direct :8000,
+    # a LAN IP, 127.0.0.1 vs localhost), which needs these headers. Bearer-token
+    # auth (no cookies) → wildcard origins are safe with allow_credentials=False.
+    if settings.cors_allow_origins:
+        app.add_middleware(
+            CORSMiddleware,
+            allow_origins=settings.cors_allow_origins,
+            allow_credentials=False,
+            allow_methods=["*"],
+            allow_headers=["*"],
+            expose_headers=["Content-Range", "Accept-Ranges", "Content-Length"],
+        )
     register_exception_handlers(app)
 
     app.include_router(health_router)