diff --git a/client/.gitignore b/client/.gitignore
index 8bf2bcb39c..98c279d4c5 100644
--- a/client/.gitignore
+++ b/client/.gitignore
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 node_modules
 yarn-error.log
 
+config/env.json
+
 # Build directory
 /public
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/config/ensure-env.js b/config/ensure-env.js
index 4dcd58b955..c1553df6e7 100644
--- a/config/ensure-env.js
+++ b/config/ensure-env.js
@@ -1,25 +1,30 @@
-var fs = require('fs');
+require('dotenv').config();
 
-fs.access(
-  './server/rev-manifest.json',
-  function(err) {
-    if (err) {
-      console.log('\n\ncreating manifest\n\n');
-      return fs.writeFileSync('server/rev-manifest.json', '{}');
-    }
-    console.log('\n\nrev-manifest present\n\n');
-    return null;
-  }
-);
+const fs = require('fs-extra');
 
-fs.access(
-  './server/resources/pathMigration.json',
-  err => {
-    if (err) {
-      console.log('\n\ncreating pathMigration\n\n');
-      return fs.writeFileSync('server/resources/pathMigration.json', '{}');
-    }
-    console.log('\n\npathMigration present\n\n');
-    return null;
+const env = require('./env');
+
+fs.access('./api-server/server/rev-manifest.json', function(err) {
+  if (err) {
+    console.log('\n\ncreating manifest\n\n');
+    return fs.writeFileSync('./api-server/server/rev-manifest.json', '{}');
   }
+  console.log('\n\nrev-manifest present\n\n');
+  return null;
+});
+
+fs.access('./api-server/server/resources/pathMigration.json', err => {
+  if (err) {
+    console.log('\n\ncreating pathMigration\n\n');
+    return fs.writeFileSync(
+      './api-server/server/resources/pathMigration.json',
+      '{}'
+    );
+  }
+  console.log('\n\npathMigration present\n\n');
+  return null;
+});
+
+fs.ensureDir('./client/config/').then(() =>
+  fs.writeFileSync('./client/config/env.json', JSON.stringify(env))
 );
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index fd74f4b2f1..02275ea1ee 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -4,11 +4,44 @@
   "lockfileVersion": 1,
   "requires": true,
   "dependencies": {
+    "dotenv": {
+      "version": "6.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/dotenv/-/dotenv-6.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-FlWbnhgjtwD+uNLUGHbMykMOYQaTivdHEmYwAKFjn6GKe/CqY0fNae93ZHTd20snh9ZLr8mTzIL9m0APQ1pjQg=="
+    },
+    "fs-extra": {
+      "version": "7.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs-extra/-/fs-extra-7.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-EglNDLRpmaTWiD/qraZn6HREAEAHJcJOmxNEYwq6xeMKnVMAy3GUcFB+wXt2C6k4CNvB/mP1y/U3dzvKKj5OtQ==",
+      "requires": {
+        "graceful-fs": "4.1.11",
+        "jsonfile": "4.0.0",
+        "universalify": "0.1.2"
+      }
+    },
+    "graceful-fs": {
+      "version": "4.1.11",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/graceful-fs/-/graceful-fs-4.1.11.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-Dovf5NHduIVNZOBOp8AOKgJuVlg="
+    },
+    "jsonfile": {
+      "version": "4.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsonfile/-/jsonfile-4.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-h3Gq4HmbZAdrdmQPygWPnBDjPss=",
+      "requires": {
+        "graceful-fs": "4.1.11"
+      }
+    },
     "tree-kill": {
       "version": "1.2.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tree-kill/-/tree-kill-1.2.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-DlX6dR0lOIRDFxI0mjL9IYg6OTncLm/Zt+JiBhE5OlFcAR8yc9S7FFXU9so0oda47frdM/JFsk7UjNt9vscKcg==",
       "dev": true
+    },
+    "universalify": {
+      "version": "0.1.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/universalify/-/universalify-0.1.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-rBJeI5CXAlmy1pV+617WB9J63U6XcazHHF2f2dbJix4XzpUF0RS3Zbj0FGIOCAva5P/d/GBOYaACQ1w+0azUkg=="
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5908b822f2..4c4891c414 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,14 @@
 {
   "name": "@freecodecamp/freecodecamp",
   "version": "0.0.1",
+  "scripts": {
+    "develop": "node ./config/ensure-env.js && node develop-client-server.js"
+  },
   "devDependencies": {
     "tree-kill": "^1.2.0"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "dotenv": "^6.0.0",
+    "fs-extra": "^7.0.0"
   }
 }