PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION, PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC, PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false, ]; try { $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=$host;dbname=$db;charset=utf8mb4", $user, $pass, $options); } catch (\PDOException $e) { // Show a cleaner error if DB connection fails die("Database Connection Failed. Check your .env file and container status."); } ?>