diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a42d019..90fc5db 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   "author": "Melle Dijkstra",
   "description": "Google App Script utilities to automate the FIRE google sheet",
   "license": "MIT",
+  "type": "module",
   "private": true,
   "workspaces": [
     "client",
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@
     "analyze:server": "ANALYZE=true webpack --config-name SERVER --profile --json > dist/stats.json && webpack-bundle-analyzer dist/stats.json",
     "analyze:client": "ANALYZE=true webpack --config-name 'CLIENT:import' --profile --json > dist/stats.json && webpack-bundle-analyzer dist/stats.json",
     "build": "(export NODE_ENV=production; tsc && webpack --progress)",
+    "build:dev": "NODE_ENV=development webpack --progress",
     "typecheck": "tsc",
     "deploy": "rm -rf dist && npm run build && npm run publish",
     "test": "vitest",
diff --git a/src/server/category-detection/index.ts b/src/server/category-detection/index.ts
index c55e5c2..ab257ac 100644
--- a/src/server/category-detection/index.ts
+++ b/src/server/category-detection/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { PROP_AUTOMATIC_CATEGORIES_CONFIG } from '../../common/constants';
+import { Logger } from '../logger';
 import { categoriesTermsMap } from './category-term-map';
 import { CategoryDetectionConfig } from './types';
 
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ const getCategoryMatchesMap = (): CategoryDetectionConfig => {
 
     return JSON.parse(storeObject);
   } catch (ignore) {
-    console.log(ignore);
+    Logger.log('Error while fetching category detection config', ignore);
   }
 
   return {};
diff --git a/src/server/logger.test.ts b/src/server/logger.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59b311e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/logger.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import { Logger } from './logger';
+
+describe('Logger', () => {
+  let originalEnv: string | undefined;
+
+  const consoleSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'log');
+  consoleSpy.mockImplementation(() => {
+    // no-op, prevent logging when running tests
+  });
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    originalEnv = process.env.APP_ENV;
+    Logger.disable();
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.env.APP_ENV = originalEnv;
+    consoleSpy.mockReset();
+  });
+
+  test('should log message when enabled', () => {
+    Logger.enable();
+    Logger.log('Test message');
+    expect(consoleSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('[FIRE]:', 'Test message');
+  });
+
+  test('should not log message when disabled', () => {
+    Logger.log('Test message');
+    expect(consoleSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  test('should enable logging', () => {
+    Logger.enable();
+    expect(Logger['isEnabled']).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('should disable logging', () => {
+    Logger.enable();
+    Logger.disable();
+    expect(Logger['isEnabled']).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('should log message if APP_ENV is development', () => {
+    process.env.APP_ENV = 'development';
+    Logger.reset();
+    Logger.log('Test message');
+    expect(consoleSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('[FIRE]:', 'Test message');
+  });
+
+  test('should not log message if APP_ENV is not development', () => {
+    process.env.APP_ENV = 'production';
+    Logger.reset();
+    Logger.log('Test message');
+    expect(consoleSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/server/logger.ts b/src/server/logger.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a26091
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/logger.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+export class Logger {
+  private static isEnabled: boolean = process.env.APP_ENV === 'development';
+
+  static log(message?: any, ...optionalParams: any[]): void {
+    if (this.isEnabled) {
+      console.log(`[FIRE]:`, message, ...optionalParams);
+    }
+  }
+
+  static enable(): void {
+    this.isEnabled = true;
+  }
+
+  static disable(): void {
+    this.isEnabled = false;
+  }
+
+  static reset(): void {
+    this.isEnabled = process.env.APP_ENV === 'development';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/server/table-utils.ts b/src/server/table-utils.ts
index e097d92..90af893 100644
--- a/src/server/table-utils.ts
+++ b/src/server/table-utils.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import type { Table } from '../common/types';
 import { sourceSheet } from './globals';
 import { FIRE_COLUMNS } from '../common/constants';
 import { FireColumnRules, InputColumn } from './types';
+import { Logger } from './logger';
 
 const EMPTY = '';
 
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ export class TableUtils {
   static importData(data: Table) {
     const rowCount = data.length;
     const colCount = data[0].length;
-    console.log(`importing data (rows: ${rowCount}, cols: ${colCount})`);
+    Logger.log(`importing data (rows: ${rowCount}, cols: ${colCount})`);
     sourceSheet
       ?.insertRowsBefore(2, rowCount)
       .getRange(2, 1, rowCount, colCount)
diff --git a/webpack.config.ts b/webpack.config.ts
index 3f537f3..3167dbb 100644
--- a/webpack.config.ts
+++ b/webpack.config.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ const serverEntry = './src/server/index.ts';
 // define appsscript.json file path
 const copyAppscriptEntry = './appsscript.json';
 
-const envVars = {};
+const envVars = {
+  APP_ENV: process.env.APP_ENV ?? process.env.NODE_ENV ?? 'development',
+};
 
 /*********************************
  *    define entrypoints
@@ -154,7 +156,7 @@ type DynamicCDNEntry = {
 // DynamicCdnWebpackPlugin settings
 // these settings help us load 'react', 'react-dom' and the packages defined below from a CDN
 const DynamicCDNWebpackPluginConfig = {
-  disable: false,
+  disable: !isProd ? true : false,
   // set "verbose" to true to print console logs on CDN usage while webpack builds
   verbose: process.env.VERBOSE ? true : false,
   only: [
@@ -298,6 +300,9 @@ const serverConfig: Configuration = {
     ],
   },
   plugins: [
+    new DefinePlugin({
+      'process.env': JSON.stringify(envVars),
+    }),
     new GasPlugin({
       // removes need for assigning public server functions to "global"
       autoGlobalExportsFiles: [serverEntry],