diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index c32b041..b60f7a2 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ with open(config_file) as config_f:
 
 def main() -> None:
     print(os.getenv("MY_ENV_VAR"))
+    print(config["Startup"])
     # load the data and create the data manager
     data = load_spc_data(config["DATA_PATH"])
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ef2402f..9c0daab 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,4 +7,5 @@ requires-python = ">=3.11"
 dependencies = [
     "dash>=3.2.0",
     "dash-bootstrap-components>=2.0.4",
+    "dotenv>=0.9.9",
 ]
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 527ba0c..fe58951 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@ source = { virtual = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "dash" },
     { name = "dash-bootstrap-components" },
+    { name = "dotenv" },
 ]
 
 [package.metadata]
 requires-dist = [
     { name = "dash", specifier = ">=3.2.0" },
     { name = "dash-bootstrap-components", specifier = ">=2.0.4" },
+    { name = "dotenv", specifier = ">=0.9.9" },
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -141,6 +143,17 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/d6/38/1efeec8b4d741c09ccd169baf8a00c07a0176b58e418d4cd0c30dffedd22/dash_bootstrap_components-2.0.4-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:767cf0084586c1b2b614ccf50f79fe4525fdbbf8e3a161ed60016e584a14f5d1", size = 204044 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dotenv"
+version = "0.9.9"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "python-dotenv" },
+]
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/b2/b7/545d2c10c1fc15e48653c91efde329a790f2eecfbbf2bd16003b5db2bab0/dotenv-0.9.9-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:29cf74a087b31dafdb5a446b6d7e11cbce8ed2741540e2339c69fbef92c94ce9", size = 1892 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "flask"
 version = "3.1.2"
@@ -288,6 +301,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/95/a9/12e2dc726ba1ba775a2c6922d5d5b4488ad60bdab0888c337c194c8e6de8/plotly-6.3.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:7ad806edce9d3cdd882eaebaf97c0c9e252043ed1ed3d382c3e3520ec07806d4", size = 9791257 },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "python-dotenv"
+version = "1.1.1"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/f6/b0/4bc07ccd3572a2f9df7e6782f52b0c6c90dcbb803ac4a167702d7d0dfe1e/python_dotenv-1.1.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:a8a6399716257f45be6a007360200409fce5cda2661e3dec71d23dc15f6189ab", size = 41978 }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5f/ed/539768cf28c661b5b068d66d96a2f155c4971a5d55684a514c1a0e0dec2f/python_dotenv-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:31f23644fe2602f88ff55e1f5c79ba497e01224ee7737937930c448e4d0e24dc", size = 20556 },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "requests"
 version = "2.32.5"