diff --git a/.env b/.env
deleted file mode 100644
index 922031a..0000000
--- a/.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5181
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a547bf3..50c8dda 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,3 +22,5 @@ dist-ssr
 *.njsproj
 *.sln
 *.sw?
+
+.env
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9bbf069..63039cb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.1.5",
     "immer": "^10.1.1",
     "openapi-fetch": "^0.14.0",
+    "pica": "^9.0.1",
     "react": "^19.0.0",
     "react-dom": "^19.0.0",
     "react-router-dom": "^7.6.0",
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "@eslint/js": "^9.22.0",
     "@types/node": "^22.15.19",
+    "@types/pica": "^9.0.5",
     "@types/react": "^19.0.10",
     "@types/react-dom": "^19.0.4",
     "@types/react-router-dom": "^5.3.3",
diff --git a/scripts/get-local-api-url.js b/scripts/get-local-api-url.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 96f17b8..0000000
--- a/scripts/get-local-api-url.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-import os from 'node:os'
-
-/**
- * Get the private IP addr of the dev machine to use as the API url.
- * This is preferred to using localhost or 0.0.0.0 because it allows
- * us to use the dev client from other devices (i.e. phones)
- * @returns {string}
- */
-export function getLocalApiUrl() {
-  const addresses = Object.values(os.networkInterfaces())
-    .flat()
-    .filter((addr) => !addr.internal)
-    .filter((addr) => addr.family === 'IPv4')
-    .map((addr) => addr.address)
-
-  let address = addresses.find((addr) => addr.startsWith('192.168')) ?? addresses.at(0)
-
-  if (address === undefined) {
-    console.warn("Couldn't identify the local address for the server. falling back to localhost")
-    address = 'localhost'
-  }
-
-  if (addresses.length > 1) {
-    console.warn(`chose API URL ${address} from possible choices: ${addresses.join(', ')}`)
-  }
-
-  return `http://${address}:7295`
-}
diff --git a/src/app/feed/pages/HomePage.tsx b/src/app/feed/pages/HomePage.tsx
index 976bf83..73b6d84 100644
--- a/src/app/feed/pages/HomePage.tsx
+++ b/src/app/feed/pages/HomePage.tsx
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export default function HomePage({ postsService, mediaService }: HomePageProps)
       try {
         const media = await Promise.all(
           files.map(async ({ file, width, height }) => {
-            const { mediaId, url } = await mediaService.uploadFile(file)
+            const { mediaId, url } = await mediaService.uploadImage(file)
 
             return {
               mediaId,
diff --git a/src/app/media/mediaService.ts b/src/app/media/mediaService.ts
index 9c83d2b..c9b6f2e 100644
--- a/src/app/media/mediaService.ts
+++ b/src/app/media/mediaService.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { ApiClient } from '../api/client.ts'
 
 export class MediaService {
   constructor(private readonly client: ApiClient) {}
-  async uploadFile(file: File): Promise<{ mediaId: string; url: URL }> {
+  async uploadImage(file: File): Promise<{ mediaId: string; url: URL }> {
     const body = new FormData()
     body.append('file', file)
 
diff --git a/src/components/NewPostWidget.tsx b/src/components/NewPostWidget.tsx
index 4b5668d..0dd8968 100644
--- a/src/components/NewPostWidget.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NewPostWidget.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { useState } from 'react'
 import FancyTextEditor, { TextInputKeyDownEvent } from './inputs/FancyTextEditor.tsx'
 import Button from './buttons/Button.tsx'
 import { openFileDialog } from '../utils/openFileDialog.ts'
+import makePica from 'pica'
 
 interface NewPostWidgetProps {
   onSubmit: (
@@ -121,11 +122,13 @@ async function createAttachment(file: File): Promise<Attachment> {
     throw new Error('not an image')
   }
 
+  file = await optimizeImageSize(file)
+
   const objectUrl = URL.createObjectURL(file)
   const { width, height } = await getImageFileDimensions(objectUrl)
 
   return {
-    id: crypto.randomUUID(),
+    id: getRandomId(),
     file,
     objectUrl,
     width,
@@ -144,3 +147,82 @@ function getImageFileDimensions(objectURL: string): Promise<{ width: number; hei
     img.src = objectURL
   })
 }
+
+const pica = makePica()
+
+async function optimizeImageSize(
+  file: File,
+  {
+    targetMaxWidth = 1920,
+    targetMaxHeight = 1080,
+    targetSizeBytes = 500 * 1024,
+    outputType = 'image/jpeg',
+    quality = 0.9,
+  }: {
+    targetMaxWidth?: number
+    targetMaxHeight?: number
+    targetSizeBytes?: number
+    outputType?: string
+    quality?: number
+  } = {},
+): Promise<File> {
+  const img = document.createElement('img')
+  const url = URL.createObjectURL(file)
+  img.src = url
+
+  await img.decode()
+
+  console.debug('processing image', {
+    width: img.width,
+    height: img.height,
+    targetMaxWidth,
+    targetMaxHeight,
+    targetSizeBytes,
+    outputType,
+    quality,
+  })
+
+  const scale = Math.min(1, targetMaxWidth / img.width, targetMaxHeight / img.height)
+  const width = Math.floor(img.width * scale)
+  const height = Math.floor(img.height * scale)
+
+  const srcCanvas = document.createElement('canvas')
+  srcCanvas.width = img.width
+  srcCanvas.height = img.height
+  srcCanvas.getContext('2d')!.drawImage(img, 0, 0)
+
+  const dstCanvas = document.createElement('canvas')
+  dstCanvas.width = width
+  dstCanvas.height = height
+
+  await pica.resize(srcCanvas, dstCanvas)
+
+  let blob = await pica.toBlob(dstCanvas, outputType, quality)
+
+  while (blob.size > targetSizeBytes && quality > 0.1) {
+    quality = parseFloat((quality - 0.1).toFixed(2))
+    blob = await pica.toBlob(dstCanvas, outputType, quality)
+  }
+
+  URL.revokeObjectURL(url)
+
+  return new File([blob], file.name, { type: file.type })
+}
+
+function getRandomId() {
+  if (window.isSecureContext) {
+    return crypto.randomUUID()
+  }
+
+  // Fallback using getRandomValues
+  const bytes = new Uint8Array(16)
+  crypto.getRandomValues(bytes)
+
+  // Format according to RFC4122 version 4
+  bytes[6] = (bytes[6]! & 0x0f) | 0x40
+  bytes[8] = (bytes[8]! & 0x3f) | 0x80
+
+  const hex = [...bytes].map((b) => b.toString(16).padStart(2, '0'))
+
+  return `${hex.slice(0, 4).join('')}-${hex.slice(4, 6).join('')}-${hex.slice(6, 8).join('')}-${hex.slice(8, 10).join('')}-${hex.slice(10, 16).join('')}`
+}
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index 2833f82..1ea03c3 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
 import tailwindcss from '@tailwindcss/vite'
 import fs from 'node:fs'
 
-const packageJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./package.json', 'utf-8'))
-
-process.env.VITE_FEMTO_VERSION = packageJson.version
-
 // https://vite.dev/config/
-export default defineConfig({
-  plugins: [react(), tailwindcss()],
+export default defineConfig(() => {
+  const packageJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./package.json', 'utf-8'))
+
+  process.env.VITE_FEMTO_VERSION = packageJson.version
+
+  return {
+    plugins: [react(), tailwindcss()],
+  }
 })
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 33f166d..02021f7 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -785,6 +785,11 @@
   dependencies:
     undici-types "~6.21.0"
 
+"@types/pica@^9.0.5":
+  version "9.0.5"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/pica/-/pica-9.0.5.tgz#a526b51d45b7cb70423b7af0223ab9afd151a26e"
+  integrity sha512-OSd4905yxFNtRanHuyyQAfC9AkxiYcbhlzP606Gl6rFcYRgq4vdLCZuYKokLQBihgrkNzyPkoeykvJDWcPjaCw==
+
 "@types/react-dom@^19.0.4":
   version "19.1.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/react-dom/-/react-dom-19.1.3.tgz#3f0c60804441bf34d19f8dd0d44405c0c0e21bfa"
@@ -1574,6 +1579,11 @@ globals@^16.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/globals/-/globals-16.0.0.tgz#3d7684652c5c4fbd086ec82f9448214da49382d8"
   integrity sha512-iInW14XItCXET01CQFqudPOWP2jYMl7T+QRQT+UNcR/iQncN/F0UNpgd76iFkBPgNQb4+X3LV9tLJYzwh+Gl3A==
 
+glur@^1.1.2:
+  version "1.1.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/glur/-/glur-1.1.2.tgz#f20ea36db103bfc292343921f1f91e83c3467689"
+  integrity sha512-l+8esYHTKOx2G/Aao4lEQ0bnHWg4fWtJbVoZZT9Knxi01pB8C80BR85nONLFwkkQoFRCmXY+BUcGZN3yZ2QsRA==
+
 gopd@^1.2.0:
   version "1.2.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/gopd/-/gopd-1.2.0.tgz#89f56b8217bdbc8802bd299df6d7f1081d7e51a1"
@@ -1922,6 +1932,14 @@ ms@^2.1.3:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ms/-/ms-2.1.3.tgz#574c8138ce1d2b5861f0b44579dbadd60c6615b2"
   integrity sha512-6FlzubTLZG3J2a/NVCAleEhjzq5oxgHyaCU9yYXvcLsvoVaHJq/s5xXI6/XXP6tz7R9xAOtHnSO/tXtF3WRTlA==
 
+multimath@^2.0.0:
+  version "2.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/multimath/-/multimath-2.0.0.tgz#0d37acf67c328f30e3d8c6b0d3209e6082710302"
+  integrity sha512-toRx66cAMJ+Ccz7pMIg38xSIrtnbozk0dchXezwQDMgQmbGpfxjtv68H+L00iFL8hxDaVjrmwAFSb3I6bg8Q2g==
+  dependencies:
+    glur "^1.1.2"
+    object-assign "^4.1.1"
+
 nanoid@^3.3.8:
   version "3.3.11"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/nanoid/-/nanoid-3.3.11.tgz#4f4f112cefbe303202f2199838128936266d185b"
@@ -1942,7 +1960,7 @@ node-releases@^2.0.19:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/node-releases/-/node-releases-2.0.19.tgz#9e445a52950951ec4d177d843af370b411caf314"
   integrity sha512-xxOWJsBKtzAq7DY0J+DTzuz58K8e7sJbdgwkbMWQe8UYB6ekmsQ45q0M/tJDsGaZmbC+l7n57UV8Hl5tHxO9uw==
 
-object-assign@^4:
+object-assign@^4, object-assign@^4.1.1:
   version "4.1.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/object-assign/-/object-assign-4.1.1.tgz#2109adc7965887cfc05cbbd442cac8bfbb360863"
   integrity sha512-rJgTQnkUnH1sFw8yT6VSU3zD3sWmu6sZhIseY8VX+GRu3P6F7Fu+JNDoXfklElbLJSnc3FUQHVe4cU5hj+BcUg==
@@ -2052,6 +2070,16 @@ path-to-regexp@^8.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/path-to-regexp/-/path-to-regexp-8.2.0.tgz#73990cc29e57a3ff2a0d914095156df5db79e8b4"
   integrity sha512-TdrF7fW9Rphjq4RjrW0Kp2AW0Ahwu9sRGTkS6bvDi0SCwZlEZYmcfDbEsTz8RVk0EHIS/Vd1bv3JhG+1xZuAyQ==
 
+pica@^9.0.1:
+  version "9.0.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/pica/-/pica-9.0.1.tgz#9ba5a5e81fc09dca9800abef9fb8388434b18b2f"
+  integrity sha512-v0U4vY6Z3ztz9b4jBIhCD3WYoecGXCQeCsYep+sXRefViL+mVVoTL+wqzdPeE+GpBFsRUtQZb6dltvAt2UkMtQ==
+  dependencies:
+    glur "^1.1.2"
+    multimath "^2.0.0"
+    object-assign "^4.1.1"
+    webworkify "^1.5.0"
+
 picocolors@^1.1.1:
   version "1.1.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/picocolors/-/picocolors-1.1.1.tgz#3d321af3eab939b083c8f929a1d12cda81c26b6b"
@@ -2495,6 +2523,11 @@ vite@^6.3.1:
   optionalDependencies:
     fsevents "~2.3.3"
 
+webworkify@^1.5.0:
+  version "1.5.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/webworkify/-/webworkify-1.5.0.tgz#734ad87a774de6ebdd546e1d3e027da5b8f4a42c"
+  integrity sha512-AMcUeyXAhbACL8S2hqqdqOLqvJ8ylmIbNwUIqQujRSouf4+eUFaXbG6F1Rbu+srlJMmxQWsiU7mOJi0nMBfM1g==
+
 which@^2.0.1:
   version "2.0.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/which/-/which-2.0.2.tgz#7c6a8dd0a636a0327e10b59c9286eee93f3f51b1"