diff --git a/src/axios.ts b/src/axios.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5bd2328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/axios.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import axios from 'axios'
+import JSONbig from 'json-big'
+
+// Defines the API instance in Axios with special handling for big integers.
+const axiosInstance = axios.create({
+  baseURL: import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL,
+  timeout: 5000,
+  transformResponse: [
+    function transform(data) {
+      // Replacing the default transformResponse in axios because this uses JSON.parse and causes problems
+      // with precision of big numbers.
+      if (typeof data === 'string') {
+        try {
+          data = JSONbig.parse(data)
+        } catch (e) {
+          /* Ignore */
+        }
+      }
+      return data
+    }
+  ]
+})
+
+export default axiosInstance
diff --git a/src/views/Search.vue b/src/views/Search.vue
index d6acc8c..2e43edb 100644
--- a/src/views/Search.vue
+++ b/src/views/Search.vue
@@ -80,17 +80,18 @@
 
 <script setup lang="ts">
 
-import axios from 'axios'
 import { ref, onMounted, watch } from 'vue'
 import TextInput from '@/components/TextInput.vue'
 import DropdownSelect from '@/components/DropdownSelect.vue';
 import { useRouter } from 'vue-router';
 import { useAppStore } from '@/store/app'
+import axiosInstance from '@/axios'
 
 // get the application state store and router
 const store = useAppStore()
 const router = useRouter()
 
+
 // set up a form reference, is the name in v-form ref="form"
 let form = ref(null);
 
@@ -163,13 +164,11 @@ async function submit_form(this: any) {
     [formData.value.ra, formData.value.dec] = formData.value.coords ? formData.value.coords.split(',') : ["", ""]
     console.log('submitting', formData.value)
 
-    // submit the POST request to Valis
-    await axios.post(import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + '/query/main',
-        formData.value,
-        {headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'}})
+    await axiosInstance.post('/query/main',
+        formData.value, {headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'}})
         .then((response) => {
           // handle the initial response
-            console.log(response.data)
+            console.log(response)
 
             // check for good status in response
             if (response.data['status'] != 'success') {
@@ -236,9 +235,9 @@ onMounted(() => {
 
   // set up API call endpoints
     let endpoints = [
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/query/list/cartons`,
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/query/list/programs`,
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/query/list/program-map`
+        `/query/list/cartons`,
+        `/query/list/programs`,
+        `/query/list/program-map`
         ]
 
     // check if the store already has data saved
@@ -248,7 +247,7 @@ onMounted(() => {
     }
 
     // await the promises and cache the results in the store
-    Promise.all(endpoints.map((endpoint) => axios.get(endpoint)))
+    Promise.all(endpoints.map((endpoint) => axiosInstance.get(endpoint)))
     .then(([{data: carts}, {data: progs}, {data: progmap}] )=> {
       console.log({ carts, progs, progmap })
       store.store_cartons(carts, progs, progmap)
@@ -277,4 +276,3 @@ onMounted(() => {
 // }, { immediate: true, deep: true })
 
 </script>
-
diff --git a/src/views/Target.vue b/src/views/Target.vue
index 1b4ca73..d8f471c 100644
--- a/src/views/Target.vue
+++ b/src/views/Target.vue
@@ -96,17 +96,17 @@
 
 <script setup lang="ts">
 
-import axios from 'axios'
 import { useAppStore } from '@/store/app'
 import { useRoute } from 'vue-router'
 import { ref, onMounted } from 'vue'
-import JSONbig from 'json-big'
 
 import Solara from '@/components/Solara.vue'
 import AladinLite from '@/components/AladinLite.vue'
 import TargetResolver from '@/components/TargetResolver.vue'
 import DataDownload from '@/components/DataDownload.vue'
 
+import axiosInstance from '@/axios'
+
 // get the application state store and router
 const store = useAppStore()
 const route = useRoute()
@@ -165,29 +165,14 @@ async function get_target_info() {
 
     // set up API call endpoints
     let endpoints = [
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/target/ids/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`,
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/target/cartons/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`,
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/target/catalogs/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`,
-        import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + `/target/pipelines/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`
+        `/target/ids/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`,
+        `/target/cartons/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`,
+        `/target/catalogs/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`,
+        `/target/pipelines/${sdss_id}?release=${rel}`
         ]
 
-    // axios config
-    // see https://axios-http.com/docs/req_config
-    const config = {
-        transformResponse: [function transform(data) {
-            // Replacing the default transformResponse in axios because this uses JSON.parse and causes problems
-            // with precision of big numbers.
-            if (typeof data === 'string') {
-                try {
-                    data = JSONbig.parse(data);
-                } catch (e) { /* Ignore */ }
-            }
-            return data
-        }],
-    }
-
     // await the promises
-    await Promise.all(endpoints.map((endpoint) => axios.get(endpoint, config)))
+    await Promise.all(endpoints.map((endpoint) => axiosInstance.get(endpoint)))
     .then(([{data: target}, {data: cartons}, {data: catalogs}, {data: pipes}] )=> {
       console.log({ target, cartons, catalogs, pipes })
       loading.value = false
@@ -225,7 +210,7 @@ async function get_db_info() {
         return
     }
 
-    await axios.get(import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL + '/info/database')
+    await axiosInstance.get('/info/database')
         .then((response) => {
             console.log('db info', response.data)
             // store the db metadata