diff --git a/packages/api/src/config/api.config.ts b/packages/api/src/config/api.config.ts
index fd0e65e..29d3f38 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/config/api.config.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/config/api.config.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export const apiEnv = envSchema.parse({
  * In development, falls back to localhost.
  */
 export function getCorsOrigins(): string | string[] {
-  const origins = (apiEnv.ALLOWED_ORIGINS || '').split(',').filter(Boolean);
+  const origins = (apiEnv.ALLOWED_ORIGINS || '').split(',').map(s => s.trim()).filter(Boolean);
 
   if (apiEnv.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
     if (origins.length === 0) {
@@ -42,15 +42,17 @@ export function getCorsOrigins(): string | string[] {
           'CORS origin validation (FRE-4749): wildcard (*) ALLOWED_ORIGIN in production.'
         );
       }
+      let isValidProtocol = true;
       try {
         const url = new URL(origin);
         if (url.protocol !== 'https:' && url.protocol !== 'http:') {
+          isValidProtocol = false;
           throw new Error(
             `CORS origin validation (FRE-4749): invalid protocol "${url.protocol}" in "${origin}". Expected http: or https:`
           );
         }
       } catch (err) {
-        if (err instanceof Error && err.message.startsWith('CORS origin')) throw err;
+        if (err instanceof Error && !isValidProtocol) throw err;
         throw new Error(
           `CORS origin validation (FRE-4749): malformed origin "${origin}": ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`
         );
diff --git a/packages/api/src/index.ts b/packages/api/src/index.ts
index a3350a3..5048aef 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/index.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { errorHandlingMiddleware } from './middleware/error-handling.middleware'
 import { loggingMiddleware } from './middleware/logging.middleware';
 import { apiEnv, loggingConfig, getCorsOrigins } from './config/api.config';
 import { routes } from './routes';
-import { initDatadog, initSentry, setSentryUser } from '@shieldai/monitoring';
+import { initDatadog, initSentry } from '@shieldai/monitoring';
 
 const fastify = Fastify({
   logger: loggingConfig,