diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 979d8da..77f5d40 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     "push:all": "scripts/push-all.sh",
     "combine:css": "node scripts/combine-css.js",
     "test": "mocha  --reporter spec \"test/**/*.unit.test.js\" \"test/**/*.property.test.js\"",
-    "start": "nodemon ./src/app.js --trace-exit -- --config config.toml",
+    "start": "nodemon ./src/app.js --trace-exit",
     "prod": "node ./src/app.js --trace-exit",
     "debug": "nodemon --inspect-brk  ./src/app.js --trace-exit",
     "maildev": "maildev",
diff --git a/src/app.js b/src/app.js
index b64cdd7..7a3002f 100644
--- a/src/app.js
+++ b/src/app.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // src/app.js
 require("dotenv").config();
 
-const { network: c } = require("./config/loader");
+const { network: c, meta } = require("./config/loader");
 
 const net = require("net");
 const setupMiddleware = require("./middleware");
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     winstonLogger.info(
       `Server listening on ${c.schema}://${c.domain}:${c.port}`,
     );
-    winstonLogger.info(`NODE_ENV: ${c.node_env}`);
+    winstonLogger.info(`NODE_ENV: ${meta.node_env}`);
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/src/config/loader.js b/src/config/loader.js
index eccdeaa..b4ebe5a 100644
--- a/src/config/loader.js
+++ b/src/config/loader.js
@@ -57,20 +57,27 @@
 function loadConfig() {
   // Use a simple flag parser (e.g., --config)
   const configIdx = process.argv.indexOf("--config");
-  const configPath = configIdx !== -1 ? process.argv[configIdx + 1] : null;
+  let configPath = configIdx !== -1 ? process.argv[configIdx + 1] : null;
 
   if (!configPath) {
     console.info("Notice: No config file provided. Use --config <path>");
     console.info("  Using defaults");
-    return hydrate();
+    configPath = "../../config.toml";
+    let toml_config = {};
+    try {
+      const raw = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(configPath), "utf8");
+      const toml_config = parse(raw);
+    } finally {
+      return hydrate(toml_config);
+    }
   }
 
   try {
     const raw = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(configPath), "utf8");
-    const toml_config = toml.parse(raw);
+    const toml_config = parse(raw);
     return hydrate(toml_config);
   } catch (err) {
-    console.error(`Failed to load config at ${configPath}:`, err.message);
+    console.error(`Failed to load config at ${configPath}:`, err.stack);
     process.exit(1);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/controllers/adminTokenController.js b/src/controllers/adminTokenController.js
index c47a72d..7492372 100644
--- a/src/controllers/adminTokenController.js
+++ b/src/controllers/adminTokenController.js
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
 
   if (!validateToken(token)) {
     const error = new SecurityEvent("INVALID_TOKEN", { token });
-    return next(error);
+    // DO NOT send error or it will result in improper redirects
+    return next();
   }
 
   const scheme = req.protocol;
diff --git a/src/middleware/authCheck.js b/src/middleware/authCheck.js
index 07b3987..61f3735 100644
--- a/src/middleware/authCheck.js
+++ b/src/middleware/authCheck.js
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@
       isAuthenticated: req.isAuthenticated,
       timestamp: Date.now(),
     });
-  } catch {
+  } catch (e) {
     req.isAuthenticated = false;
     if (req.log) {
-      req.log.warn(LOG_MESSAGES.AUTH_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE);
+      req.log.warn(LOG_MESSAGES.AUTH_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE, e.stack);
     } else {
-      console.warn(LOG_MESSAGES.AUTH_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE);
+      console.warn(LOG_MESSAGES.AUTH_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE, e.stack);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/services/tagsService.js b/src/services/tagsService.js
index 0e52051..6599da6 100644
--- a/src/services/tagsService.js
+++ b/src/services/tagsService.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 const matter = require("gray-matter");
 const { glob } = require("glob");
 const createExcerpt = require("../utils/createExcerpt");
+const { winstonLogger } = require("../utils/createExcerpt");
 
 const CONTENT_ROOT = path.resolve(__dirname, "../../content");
 const pattern = `${CONTENT_ROOT}/**/*.md`;
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@
   const matchedPosts = [];
 
   for (const filePath of files) {
-    const raw = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");
     try {
+      const raw = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");
       const { data: frontmatter, content } = matter(raw);
       const fileHash = hash(frontmatter);
 
@@ -38,7 +39,8 @@
         excerpt: createExcerpt(content, 200),
       });
     } catch (e) {
-      console.log("File path", filePath, e.stack);
+      // Prevent the entire route from going down due to one bad file
+      winstonLogger.error("File path", filePath, e.stack);
     }
   }