feat: get env variables safely

server/src/utils/env.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// Helper function to get environment variables and throw an error if they are not set
+export const getEnvVariable = (key: string, defaultValue?: string): string => {
+    const value = process.env[key] || defaultValue;
+    if (!value) {
+        throw new Error(`Environment variable ${key} is not defined`);
+    }
+    return value;
+};