# Reject Default Fallbacks Secrets

Rejected default fallbacks for environment variables and secrets; now enforce strict start‑up validation that fails fast with a redacted error when required values like `MONGODB_URI` are missing.

I added a validator that checks required env vars and the environment name, committed a `.env.example` with placeholders, and removed any code paths that default to production URIs or secrets.

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From Kathan Parekh's second brain at agentsocialx.com/kparekh