diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fc5a246..38a7d23 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -251,14 +251,14 @@ export default function App() {
 ```
 ---
 
-## 🗄️ Email Classification Database (Flask)
+## 🗄️ Email Classification Database (FastAPI)
 
-A MySQL-based system to store and manage classified email records.
+A MySQL-based system to store and manage classified email records (located in `fastapi_backend/`).
 
 ### Database Setup
 
 ```bash
-mysql -u root -p < backend/schema.sql
+mysql -u root -p < fastapi_backend/schema.sql
 ```
 
 ### API Endpoints
diff --git a/backend/database.py b/fastapi_backend/database.py
similarity index 100%
rename from backend/database.py
rename to fastapi_backend/database.py
diff --git a/backend/emails.py b/fastapi_backend/emails.py
similarity index 98%
rename from backend/emails.py
rename to fastapi_backend/emails.py
index b31ea80..2c776a2 100644
--- a/backend/emails.py
+++ b/fastapi_backend/emails.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException
 from pydantic import BaseModel
-from backend.database import (
+from fastapi_backend.database import (
     insert_email,
     mark_email,
     get_spam_emails,
diff --git a/backend/export.py b/fastapi_backend/export.py
similarity index 98%
rename from backend/export.py
rename to fastapi_backend/export.py
index c96115c..6cc05bc 100644
--- a/backend/export.py
+++ b/fastapi_backend/export.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from fpdf import FPDF
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Query
 from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
-from backend.database import get_connection
+from fastapi_backend.database import get_connection
 
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/emails", tags=["export"])
 
diff --git a/backend/main.py b/fastapi_backend/main.py
similarity index 94%
rename from backend/main.py
rename to fastapi_backend/main.py
index 1bfae2c..2749014 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/fastapi_backend/main.py
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 logger = logging.getLogger("spam_detection_logger")
 
-xai_service = XAIService()
-
 # ── Resolve model paths relative to this file ────────────────────────────────
 # FIX: Use pathlib.Path so the app works regardless of the working directory.
 # Previously, hardcoded relative strings like "linear_svm_model.pkl" would
@@ -31,6 +29,8 @@
 vectorizer    = joblib.load(BASE_DIR / "backend" / "tfidf_vectorizer.pkl")
 label_encoder = joblib.load(BASE_DIR / "label_encoder.pkl")
 
+xai_service = XAIService(model=model, vectorizer=vectorizer, label_encoder=label_encoder)
+
 app = FastAPI(title="Spam Detection System")
 
 # ── CORS setup ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -121,16 +121,16 @@ def health():
 
 # ── Routers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # EMAIL DATABASE ROUTES (Issue #13)
-from backend.emails import router as emails_router
-# from backend.database import init_db  # Uncomment once DB is configured
+from fastapi_backend.emails import router as emails_router
+# from fastapi_backend.database import init_db  # Uncomment once DB is configured
 # init_db()
 app.include_router(emails_router)
 
 # EXPORT ROUTES (Issue #23)
-from backend.export import router as export_router
+from fastapi_backend.export import router as export_router
 app.include_router(export_router)
 
 # ── Run directly ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     import uvicorn
-    uvicorn.run("backend.main:app", host="0.0.0.0", port=PORT, reload=True)
\ No newline at end of file
+    uvicorn.run("fastapi_backend.main:app", host="0.0.0.0", port=PORT, reload=True)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/middleware/logging_middleware.py b/fastapi_backend/middleware/logging_middleware.py
similarity index 100%
rename from backend/middleware/logging_middleware.py
rename to fastapi_backend/middleware/logging_middleware.py
diff --git a/fastapi_backend/requirements.txt b/fastapi_backend/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..461e098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastapi_backend/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+fastapi
+uvicorn
+mysql-connector-python
+fpdf2
+scikit-learn==1.6.1
+joblib==1.5.1
+python-dotenv==1.1.1
+numpy
diff --git a/backend/schema.sql b/fastapi_backend/schema.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from backend/schema.sql
rename to fastapi_backend/schema.sql