diff --git a/.env.sample b/.env.sample
index c1e3bf1aa..c5ea5bcf7 100644
--- a/.env.sample
+++ b/.env.sample
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ NOSTR_PRIVATE_KEY=<YOUR NOSTR PRIVATE KEY IN HEX>
 
 # static things
 NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000/api/auth
-SELF_URL=http://localhost:3000
+SELF_URL=http://app:3000
 PUBLIC_URL=http://localhost:3000
 LND_CONNECT_ADDRESS=03cc1d0932bb99b0697f5b5e5961b83ab7fd66f1efc4c9f5c7bad66c1bcbe78f02@xhlmkj7mfrl6ejnczfwl2vqik3xim6wzmurc2vlyfoqw2sasaocgpuad.onion:9735
 NEXTAUTH_SECRET=3_0W_PhDRZVanbeJsZZGIEljexkKoGbL6qGIqSwTjjI
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 350261834..07635ff3b 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ services:
       - ./:/app
     links:
       - db
+      - opensearch
   worker:
     container_name: worker
     build: ./worker
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ services:
       - ./:/app
     links:
       - db
+      - app
+      - opensearch
     entrypoint: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
     command:
       - node worker/index.js
@@ -71,41 +74,42 @@ services:
     image: opensearchproject/opensearch:latest
     container_name: opensearch
     environment:
-      - cluster.name=opensearch-cluster
-      - node.name=opensearch
-      - discovery.seed_hosts=opensearch
-      - cluster.initial_cluster_manager_nodes=opensearch
-      - bootstrap.memory_lock=true
+      - discovery.type=single-node
       - plugins.security.disabled=true
-      - action.auto_create_index=true
-      - "OPENSEARCH_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m"
-    ulimits:
-      memlock:
-        soft: -1
-        hard: -1
-      nofile:
-        soft: 65536
-        hard: 65536
-    volumes:
-      - opensearch-data:/usr/share/opensearch/data
-      - ./opensearch:/sn
     ports:
       - 9200:9200 # REST API
       - 9600:9600 # Performance Analyzer
-    entrypoint: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
-    command:
-      - /sn/init-shim.sh
-  dashboards:
-    profiles:
-      - aux
-    build: ./opensearch/dashboards
-    container_name: dashboards
+    volumes:
+      - os:/usr/share/opensearch/data
+      - ./:/app
+    command: >
+      bash -c '
+        set -m
+        /usr/share/opensearch/opensearch-docker-entrypoint.sh &
+        until curl -sS "http://localhost:9200/_cat/health?h=status" -ku admin:admin | grep -q "green\|yellow"; do
+          echo "Waiting for OpenSearch to start..."
+          sleep 1
+        done
+        echo "OpenSearch started."
+        curl -X PUT "http://localhost:9200/item" -ku admin:admin
+        echo "OpenSearch index created."
+        fg
+      '
+  os-dashboard:
+    image: opensearchproject/opensearch-dashboards:latest
+    container_name: os-dashboard
+    environment:
+      - opensearch.ssl.verificationMode=none
+      - server.ssl.enabled=false
+      - plugins.security.disabled=true
+      - DISABLE_SECURITY_DASHBOARDS_PLUGIN=true
+      - OPENSEARCH_HOSTS=http://opensearch:9200
     ports:
       - 5601:5601
     expose:
       - "5601"
-    environment:
-      OPENSEARCH_HOSTS: '["http://opensearch:9200"]'
+    links:
+      - opensearch
 volumes:
   db:
-  opensearch-data:
+  os:
diff --git a/opensearch/dashboards/Dockerfile b/opensearch/dashboards/Dockerfile
deleted file mode 100644
index 37639a686..000000000
--- a/opensearch/dashboards/Dockerfile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-FROM opensearchproject/opensearch-dashboards:latest
-RUN /usr/share/opensearch-dashboards/bin/opensearch-dashboards-plugin remove securityDashboards
-COPY --chown=opensearch-dashboards:opensearch-dashboards ./opensearch_dashboards.yml /usr/share/opensearch-dashboards/config/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/opensearch/dashboards/opensearch_dashboards.yml b/opensearch/dashboards/opensearch_dashboards.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index c9ff12c29..000000000
--- a/opensearch/dashboards/opensearch_dashboards.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
----
-server.host: "0.0.0.0"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/opensearch/first-time-check.sh b/opensearch/first-time-check.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 3330185c7..000000000
--- a/opensearch/first-time-check.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# wait for opensearch API to come online
-sleep 10
-while ! (echo > /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/9200) >/dev/null 2>&1; do
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-# check if index is missing
-ERR_RESP=`curl http://localhost:9200/item 2>/dev/null |grep index_not_found_exception`
-if [ "$ERR_RESP" != "" ]; then
-  echo "$0: first-time run detected: creating index and mappings"
-  set -x
-
-  curl 2>/dev/null -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" http://localhost:9200/item \
-    --data "{}"
-
-  curl 2>/dev/null -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" http://localhost:9200/item/_mapping \
-    --data "{\"properties\":{\"wvotes\":{\"type\":\"integer\"}}}"
-
-  curl 2>/dev/null -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" http://localhost:9200/item/_mapping \
-    --data "{\"properties\":{\"sats\":{\"type\":\"integer\"}}}"
-
-  set +x
-  echo "$0: one-time initialization done"
-else
-  echo "$0: indices and mappings detected: first-time check done"
-fi
-
-
diff --git a/opensearch/init-shim.sh b/opensearch/init-shim.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e4b00bdf..000000000
--- a/opensearch/init-shim.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-/sn/first-time-check.sh &
-source /usr/share/opensearch/opensearch-docker-entrypoint.sh
diff --git a/worker/search.js b/worker/search.js
index eff068e4d..c92937f58 100644
--- a/worker/search.js
+++ b/worker/search.js
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ async function _indexItem (item) {
 
 export function indexItem ({ apollo }) {
   return async function ({ data: { id } }) {
+    console.log('indexing item, fetching ...', id)
     // 1. grab item from database
     // could use apollo to avoid duping logic
     // when grabbing sats and user name, etc