diff --git a/auth.go b/auth.go
index 05a7888..3c3d6c2 100644
--- a/auth.go
+++ b/auth.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func LoginHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(LoginResponse{Token: tokenString})
 }
 
-// AuthMiddleware is a middleware function that checks for a valid JWT token in the request header and enables CORS.
+// authMiddleware is a middleware function that checks for a valid JWT token in the request header and enables CORS.
 func AuthMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		log := GetLogger()
@@ -124,11 +124,21 @@ func AuthMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 			return
 		}
 
-		// Get the token from the request header
+		// Check if this is a browser requesting HTML
+		acceptHeader := r.Header.Get("Accept")
+		isBrowserRequest := strings.Contains(acceptHeader, "text/html")
+
+		// If it's a browser request for HTML, always serve the React app
+		if isBrowserRequest {
+			http.Redirect(w, r, "/index.html", http.StatusSeeOther)
+			return
+		}
+
+		// From here on, we're dealing with actual API requests
 		tokenString := r.Header.Get("Authorization")
 		if tokenString == "" {
 			if log != nil {
-				log.Warn("Request rejected: missing Authorization header")
+				log.Warn("Request rejected: missing Authorization header for path: %s", r.URL.Path)
 			}
 			http.Error(w, "Authorization header missing", http.StatusUnauthorized)
 			return
@@ -178,4 +188,4 @@ func AuthMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		// Call the next handler in the chain
 		next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 	})
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index b0406e7..32c23b5 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -22,19 +22,21 @@ var (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	log := GetLogger()
+
 	// Load configuration
 	var err error
 	config, err = loadAndValidateConfig()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Failed to load config: %v", err)
 	}
-	log.Printf("Config loaded successfully in main(), DB path %s\n", config.DatabasePath)
 
 	// Set up logging BEFORE logging config details
 	if err := setupLogging(config.LogFile); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Failed to set up logging: %v", err)
 	}
+	
+	log := GetLogger()
+	log.Printf("Config loaded successfully in main(), DB path %s\n", config.DatabasePath)
 
 	// Now that logging is set up, log the config details
 	logConfigDetails(config)
@@ -65,6 +67,10 @@ func main() {
 
 func loadAndValidateConfig() (*Config, error) {
 	configFile := os.Getenv("BOXES_API_CONFIG")
+	if configFile == ""	{
+		fmt.Println("BOXES_API_CONFIG not set") // print because logger isn't alive yet.
+		configFile = "./config/config.yaml"
+	}
 	config, err := LoadConfig(configFile)
 	if err != nil || config == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %v", err)