diff --git a/ecosystem-test.config.cjs b/ecosystem-test.config.cjs
index 3941ba0..312d004 100644
--- a/ecosystem-test.config.cjs
+++ b/ecosystem-test.config.cjs
@@ -7,10 +7,53 @@
 //
 // These apps:
 // - Run from /var/www/flyer-crawler-test.projectium.com
-// - Use NODE_ENV='test' (enables file logging in logger.server.ts)
+// - Use NODE_ENV='staging' (enables file logging in logger.server.ts)
 // - Use Redis database 1 (isolated from production which uses database 0)
 // - Have distinct PM2 process names to avoid conflicts with production
 
+// --- Load Environment Variables from .env file ---
+// This allows PM2 to start without requiring the CI/CD pipeline to inject variables.
+// The .env file should be created on the server with the required secrets.
+// NOTE: We implement a simple .env parser since dotenv may not be installed.
+const path = require('path');
+const fs = require('fs');
+
+const envPath = path.join('/var/www/flyer-crawler-test.projectium.com', '.env');
+if (fs.existsSync(envPath)) {
+  console.log('[ecosystem-test.config.cjs] Loading environment from:', envPath);
+  const envContent = fs.readFileSync(envPath, 'utf8');
+  const lines = envContent.split('\n');
+  for (const line of lines) {
+    // Skip comments and empty lines
+    const trimmed = line.trim();
+    if (!trimmed || trimmed.startsWith('#')) continue;
+
+    // Parse KEY=value
+    const eqIndex = trimmed.indexOf('=');
+    if (eqIndex > 0) {
+      const key = trimmed.substring(0, eqIndex);
+      let value = trimmed.substring(eqIndex + 1);
+      // Remove quotes if present
+      if (
+        (value.startsWith('"') && value.endsWith('"')) ||
+        (value.startsWith("'") && value.endsWith("'"))
+      ) {
+        value = value.slice(1, -1);
+      }
+      // Only set if not already in environment (don't override CI/CD vars)
+      if (!process.env[key]) {
+        process.env[key] = value;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  console.log('[ecosystem-test.config.cjs] Environment loaded successfully');
+} else {
+  console.warn('[ecosystem-test.config.cjs] No .env file found at:', envPath);
+  console.warn(
+    '[ecosystem-test.config.cjs] Environment variables must be provided by the shell or CI/CD.'
+  );
+}
+
 // --- Environment Variable Validation ---
 // NOTE: We only WARN about missing secrets, not exit.
 // Calling process.exit(1) prevents PM2 from reading the apps array.