diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index daf0e3c..8fe2deb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@ public/uploads
 /config/*-local.json
 .vscode
 **.DS_Store
+.env
 ecosystem.config.js
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index eeff044..fb4731d 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+require('dotenv').config();
 const express = require('express');
 const path = require('path');
 const logger = require('morgan');
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 6f3dd3b..68f89d7 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -2740,6 +2740,11 @@
         "is-obj": "^2.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "dotenv": {
+      "version": "8.2.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/dotenv/-/dotenv-8.2.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-8sJ78ElpbDJBHNeBzUbUVLsqKdccaa/BXF1uPTw3GrvQTBgrQrtObr2mUrE38vzYd8cEv+m/JBfDLioYcfXoaw=="
+    },
     "duplexer3": {
       "version": "0.1.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/duplexer3/-/duplexer3-0.1.4.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 397f3e0..4b8f17d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
     "colors": "^1.4.0",
     "connect-mongodb-session": "^2.2.0",
     "cookie-parser": "^1.4.4",
+    "dotenv": "^8.2.0",
     "express": "^4.17.1",
     "express-handlebars": "^3.1.0",
     "express-rate-limit": "^5.0.0",