diff --git a/backend/xray/config.go b/backend/xray/config.go
index e7a5a13..2b71668 100644
--- a/backend/xray/config.go
+++ b/backend/xray/config.go
@@ -130,12 +130,13 @@ func (i *Inbound) syncUsers(users []*common.User) {
 			if slices.Contains(user.Inbounds, i.Tag) {
 				account, err := api.NewVmessAccount(user)
 				if err != nil {
-					log.Println("error for user", user.GetEmail(), ":", err)
+					log.Printf("error creating vmess account for user %s in inbound %s: %v", user.GetEmail(), i.Tag, err)
 					continue
 				}
 				i.clients[user.GetEmail()] = account
 			}
 		}
+		log.Printf("inbound %s (%s): synced %d users", i.Tag, i.Protocol, len(i.clients))
 
 	case Vless:
 		for _, user := range users {
@@ -145,13 +146,14 @@ func (i *Inbound) syncUsers(users []*common.User) {
 			if slices.Contains(user.Inbounds, i.Tag) {
 				account, err := api.NewVlessAccount(user)
 				if err != nil {
-					log.Println("error for user", user.GetEmail(), ":", err)
+					log.Printf("error creating vless account for user %s in inbound %s: %v", user.GetEmail(), i.Tag, err)
 					continue
 				}
 				newAccount := checkVless(i, *account)
 				i.clients[user.GetEmail()] = &newAccount
 			}
 		}
+		log.Printf("inbound %s (%s): synced %d users", i.Tag, i.Protocol, len(i.clients))
 
 	case Trojan:
 		for _, user := range users {
@@ -162,6 +164,7 @@ func (i *Inbound) syncUsers(users []*common.User) {
 				i.clients[user.GetEmail()] = api.NewTrojanAccount(user)
 			}
 		}
+		log.Printf("inbound %s (%s): synced %d users", i.Tag, i.Protocol, len(i.clients))
 
 	case Shadowsocks:
 		method, methodOk := i.Settings["method"].(string)
@@ -186,6 +189,7 @@ func (i *Inbound) syncUsers(users []*common.User) {
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		log.Printf("inbound %s (%s): synced %d users", i.Tag, i.Protocol, len(i.clients))
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/xray/core.go b/backend/xray/core.go
index b5c70b6..616a7d9 100644
--- a/backend/xray/core.go
+++ b/backend/xray/core.go
@@ -118,10 +118,15 @@ func (c *Core) Start(xConfig *Config, debugMode bool) error {
 	accessFile, errorFile := xConfig.RemoveLogFiles()
 
 	bytesConfig, err := xConfig.ToBytes()
-	if debugMode {
-		if err = c.GenerateConfigFile(bytesConfig); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to serialize config: %w", err)
+	}
+	
+	// Always write config file for debugging, not just in debug mode
+	// This helps diagnose issues when users are missing
+	if err = c.GenerateConfigFile(bytesConfig); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("warning: failed to write config file: %v", err)
+		// Don't fail startup if config file write fails, Xray reads from stdin anyway
 	}
 
 	c.mu.Lock()
@@ -167,6 +172,14 @@ func (c *Core) Start(xConfig *Config, debugMode bool) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Verify config has content before starting
+	if len(bytesConfig) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("config is empty, cannot start xray")
+	}
+	
+	// Log config size for debugging
+	log.Printf("starting xray with config size: %d bytes", len(bytesConfig))
+	
 	cmd.Stdin = bytes.NewBuffer(bytesConfig)
 	if err = cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -258,6 +271,10 @@ func (c *Core) Restart(config *Config, debugMode bool) error {
 
 	log.Println("restarting Xray core...")
 	c.Stop()
+	
+	// Small delay to ensure previous process is fully terminated
+	time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 100)
+	
 	if err := c.Start(config, debugMode); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/backend/xray/user.go b/backend/xray/user.go
index fca5782..7a03a87 100644
--- a/backend/xray/user.go
+++ b/backend/xray/user.go
@@ -165,6 +165,16 @@ func (x *Xray) SyncUser(ctx context.Context, user *common.User) error {
 
 func (x *Xray) SyncUsers(_ context.Context, users []*common.User) error {
 	x.config.syncUsers(users)
+
+	// Verify users were synced before restarting
+	totalClients := 0
+	for _, inbound := range x.config.InboundConfigs {
+		if !inbound.exclude && inbound.clients != nil {
+			totalClients += len(inbound.clients)
+		}
+	}
+	log.Printf("syncing %d users, total clients in config: %d", len(users), totalClients)
+
 	if err := x.Restart(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -210,6 +220,16 @@ func (x *Xray) UpdateUsers(ctx context.Context, users []*common.User) error {
 
 func (x *Xray) UpdateUsersAndRestart(_ context.Context, users []*common.User) error {
 	x.config.updateUsers(users)
+
+	// Verify users were updated before restarting
+	totalClients := 0
+	for _, inbound := range x.config.InboundConfigs {
+		if !inbound.exclude && inbound.clients != nil {
+			totalClients += len(inbound.clients)
+		}
+	}
+	log.Printf("updating %d users, total clients in config: %d", len(users), totalClients)
+
 	if err := x.Restart(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/controller/rest/user.go b/controller/rest/user.go
index 896329c..40d3ec6 100644
--- a/controller/rest/user.go
+++ b/controller/rest/user.go
@@ -65,7 +65,13 @@ func (s *Service) SyncUsers(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	if err = s.Backend().SyncUsers(r.Context(), users.GetUsers()); err != nil {
+	userList := users.GetUsers()
+	log.Printf("SyncUsers: received %d users from panel", len(userList))
+	if len(userList) == 0 {
+		log.Printf("WARNING: SyncUsers received 0 users - panel may not be sending users correctly")
+	}
+
+	if err = s.Backend().SyncUsers(r.Context(), userList); err != nil {
 		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/controller/rpc/user.go b/controller/rpc/user.go
index 2e43f14..50f0a39 100644
--- a/controller/rpc/user.go
+++ b/controller/rpc/user.go
@@ -35,7 +35,13 @@ func (s *Service) SyncUser(stream grpc.ClientStreamingServer[common.User, common
 }
 
 func (s *Service) SyncUsers(ctx context.Context, users *common.Users) (*common.Empty, error) {
-	if err := s.Backend().SyncUsers(ctx, users.GetUsers()); err != nil {
+	userList := users.GetUsers()
+	log.Printf("SyncUsers: received %d users from panel", len(userList))
+	if len(userList) == 0 {
+		log.Printf("WARNING: SyncUsers received 0 users - panel may not be sending users correctly")
+	}
+
+	if err := s.Backend().SyncUsers(ctx, userList); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}