diff --git a/backend/src/services/deploy.ts b/backend/src/services/deploy.ts
index 524e360d..1ed99f22 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/deploy.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/deploy.ts
@@ -252,12 +252,15 @@ async function firstDeploy(
 
   try {
     if (repoConfig.aptPackages.length > 0) {
-      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `sudo apt-get install -y ${repoConfig.aptPackages.join(" ")}`);
+      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y ${repoConfig.aptPackages.join(" ")}`);
     }
 
     const giteaPat = user.giteaPAT ? decrypt(user.giteaPAT) : "";
-    const authCloneUrl = cloneUrl.replace("https://", `https://${user.giteaUsername}:${giteaPat}@`);
-    await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `git clone ${authCloneUrl} /opt/app`);
+    const parsedUrl = new URL(cloneUrl.startsWith("http") ? cloneUrl : `https://${cloneUrl}`);
+    parsedUrl.username = encodeURIComponent(user.giteaUsername || "");
+    parsedUrl.password = encodeURIComponent(giteaPat);
+    const authCloneUrl = parsedUrl.toString();
+    await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `git clone '${authCloneUrl}' /opt/app`);
     await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `cd /opt/app && git fetch origin pull/${prNumber}/head:pp-pr && git checkout pp-pr`);
 
     await setupAndBuild(previewId, sshSession, repoConfig, preview, commitSha, true);
@@ -334,6 +337,12 @@ async function redeploy(
   }
 }
 
+const NVM_PREFIX = `export NVM_DIR="/root/.nvm"; source "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" 2>/dev/null;`;
+
+function withNvm(cmd: string): string {
+  return `bash -c '${NVM_PREFIX} ${cmd.replace(/'/g, `'"'"'`)}'`;
+}
+
 async function setupAndBuild(
   previewId: number,
   sshSession: SshSession,
@@ -342,15 +351,22 @@ async function setupAndBuild(
   commitSha: string,
   isFirstProvision: boolean,
 ) {
-  await detectAndUseNode(previewId, sshSession);
+  // Detect and use Node version
+  const nvmCmd = `${NVM_PREFIX} if [ -f /opt/app/.nvmrc ]; then nvm install && nvm use; else nvm use default; fi`;
+  await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `bash -c '${nvmCmd}'`, false);
 
+  // Write .env file
   const envVars = repoConfig.envVars as Record<string, string>;
-  const envContent = Object.entries(envVars).map(([k, v]) => `${k}=${v}`).join("\n");
-  await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `cat > /opt/app/.env << 'PPEOF'\n${envContent}\nPPEOF`);
+  const envLines = Object.entries(envVars).map(([k, v]) => `${k}=${v}`).join("\\n");
+  if (envLines) {
+    await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `printf '${envLines}\\n' > /opt/app/.env`, false);
+  } else {
+    await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `touch /opt/app/.env`, false);
+  }
 
   if (isFirstProvision) {
     for (const cmd of repoConfig.setupCommands) {
-      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `cd /opt/app && ${cmd}`);
+      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, withNvm(`cd /opt/app && ${cmd}`));
     }
   }
 
@@ -361,16 +377,15 @@ async function setupAndBuild(
     await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `cd /opt/app && docker compose -f ${composePath} up -d --build --force-recreate 2>&1`);
   } else {
     for (const cmd of repoConfig.buildCommands) {
-      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `cd /opt/app && ${cmd}`);
+      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, withNvm(`cd /opt/app && ${cmd}`));
     }
     for (const cmd of repoConfig.postBuildCommands) {
-      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `cd /opt/app && ${cmd}`);
+      await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, withNvm(`cd /opt/app && ${cmd}`));
     }
 
     if (repoConfig.runCommand) {
-      const res = await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession,
-        `cd /opt/app && nohup ${repoConfig.runCommand} > /opt/app/pp.log 2>&1 & echo $!`
-      );
+      const startCmd = withNvm(`cd /opt/app && nohup ${repoConfig.runCommand} > /opt/app/pp.log 2>&1 & echo $!`);
+      const res = await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, startCmd);
       const pid = parseInt(res.stdout.trim(), 10);
       if (!isNaN(pid)) {
         await prisma.preview.update({ where: { id: previewId }, data: { pid } });
@@ -379,11 +394,6 @@ async function setupAndBuild(
   }
 }
 
-async function detectAndUseNode(previewId: number, sshSession: SshSession) {
-  const nvmSource = `export NVM_DIR="/root/.nvm" && source "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"`;
-  const res = await runSshStep(previewId, sshSession, `${nvmSource} && [ -f /opt/app/.nvmrc ] && nvm install && nvm use || nvm use default 2>&1`, false);
-}
-
 async function runSshStep(previewId: number, sshSession: SshSession, command: string, throwOnFail = true) {
   checkAbortSession(sshSession);
   await appendLog(previewId, `$ ${command}\n`);