diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b35f3aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# in case you got rate limited
+USE_PROXY=False
+PROXY=http://localhost:8080
+
+# channel ids where the bot listens for messages
+ALLOWED_IDS=1234567890123456789,...
+
+# reactions list in unicode, emoji and escape formats
+REACTIONS=🇧,🇮,🇹,🇨,🇭
+
+# random delay range in seconds
+MIN_DELAY=1
+MAX_DELAY=5
+
+# your discord user token, see https://www.androidauthority.com/get-discord-token-3149920/
+USER_TOKEN=
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 2fdce8b..b276e52 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -1,46 +1,58 @@
 import discord
 import random
 import asyncio
+import logging
+import os
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from asyncio import Semaphore, Queue
 
-# in case you got rate limited
-use_proxy = False
-proxy = "http://localhost:8080"
-
-# channel ids where the bot listens for messages
-allowed_ids = [1234567890123456789, ...]
-
-# reactions list in unicode, emoji and escape formats
-reactions = ["🇧", "🇮", "🇹", "🇨", "🇭"]
+if os.path.exists('.env'):
+    load_dotenv()
+else:
+    logging.error('No .env file found.')
 
-# random delay range in seconds
-min_delay = 1
-max_delay = 5
+# since v1.0.3 configuration was moved to .env
 
-# change your user token
-user_token = "..."
+use_proxy = os.getenv('USE_PROXY') == 'True'
+proxy = os.getenv('PROXY')
+allowed_ids = list(map(int, os.getenv('ALLOWED_IDS').split(',')))
+reactions = os.getenv('REACTIONS').split(',')
+min_delay = int(os.getenv('MIN_DELAY'))
+max_delay = int(os.getenv('MAX_DELAY'))
+user_token = os.getenv('USER_TOKEN')
 
 semaphore = Semaphore(5)
 
 if use_proxy:
-    client = discord.Client(proxy=proxy)
+    client = discord.Client(chunk_guild_at_startup=False, proxy=proxy)
     print(f"Using proxy: {proxy}")
 else:
-    client = discord.Client()
+    client = discord.Client(chunk_guild_at_startup=False)
 
 message_queue = Queue()
 
 async def add_reactions(message):
     async with semaphore:
+        message_deleted = False
         for reaction in reactions:
+            if message_deleted:
+                break
             try:
                 await message.add_reaction(reaction)
                 delay = random.randint(min_delay, max_delay)
                 await asyncio.sleep(delay)
             except discord.errors.NotFound:
-                print("Message not found. Skipping reaction.")
+                logging.error("Message not found. Skipping reactions.")
+                message_deleted = True
+            except discord.errors.Forbidden:
+                logging.error("Permisssions error. Skipping reactions.")
+                message_deleted = True
+            except discord.errors.HTTPException:
+                logging.warning("Rate limit or network error. Retrying after delay.")
+                await asyncio.sleep(10)
+                await message.add_reaction(reaction)
             except Exception as e:
-                print(f"An error occurred while adding reaction: {e}")
+                logging.exception(f"An unexpected error occurred while adding reaction: {e}")
 
 async def process_messages():
     while True:
@@ -55,13 +67,24 @@ async def on_message(message):
 
 @client.event
 async def on_ready():
-    print(f"Logged in as {client.user}")
-    asyncio.create_task(process_messages())
+    try:
+        print(f"Logged in as {client.user}")
+        asyncio.create_task(process_messages())
+    except discord.LoginFailure:
+        logging.warning("Login failed. Make sure you're using a valid user token.")
+    except Exception as e:
+        logging.exception(f"An error occurred while running the bot: {e}")
 
 try:
+    if not user_token:
+        raise ValueError('No user token provided')
     loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
     loop.run_until_complete(client.start(user_token))
+except ValueError as ve:
+    logging.error(ve)
+except discord.LoginFailure:
+    logging.error("Login failed. Make sure you're using a valid user token.")
 except KeyboardInterrupt:
     print("\nCtrl+C received, exiting...")
 except Exception as e:
-    print(f"An error occurred while running the bot: {e}")
+    logging.exception(f"An error occurred while running the bot: {e}")
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 287799c..7636967 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -23,26 +23,26 @@ git clone https://github.com/Z1xus/self-reaction-bot
 ```
 2. Install dependencies
 ```bash
-pip install -r .\requirements.txt
+pip install -r .\requirements.txt -U
 ```
-3. Configure the bot
-```python
+3. Configure your .env
+```Shell
 # in case you got rate limited
-use_proxy = False
-proxy = "http://localhost:8080"
+USE_PROXY=False
+PROXY=http://localhost:8080
 
 # channel ids where the bot listens for messages
-allowed_ids = [1234567890123456789, ...]
+ALLOWED_IDS=1234567890123456789,...
 
 # reactions list in unicode, emoji and escape formats
-reactions = ["🇧", "🇮", "🇹", "🇨", "🇭"]
+REACTIONS=🇧,🇮,🇹,🇨,🇭
 
 # random delay range in seconds
-min_delay = 1
-max_delay = 5
+MIN_DELAY=1
+MAX_DELAY=5
 
-# change yo user token
-user_token = "..."
+# your discord user token, see https://www.androidauthority.com/get-discord-token-3149920/
+USER_TOKEN=
 ```
 4. Run it 
 ```bash
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 711c431..e1cf059 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-discord.py-self>=2.0.0
+discord.py-self==2.0.0
+python-dotenv>=1.0.0