[Feature Request]: Add centralized environment variable validation to prevent runtime configuration errors

[TEKURU-ZENO]

Contributor Guidelines

• I have read the guidelines and discussion

Feature Details

Feature Details

The project currently accesses environment variables directly through process.env without centralized validation.

While this approach works, it does not provide:

• Early detection of missing or misconfigured environment variables
• Clear, actionable error messages during startup or build time
• A single, well-defined source of truth for required configuration values

As a result, configuration-related issues may surface at runtime, increasing debugging effort for contributors and reducing overall developer experience, particularly in production and CI environments.

Suggested Solution

Proposed Solution

Introduce a centralized, schema-based environment variable validation layer.

The proposed solution would:

• Define all required environment variables in a single schema
• Validate environment variables at application startup
• Fail fast with clear, descriptive error messages when variables are missing or invalid
• Provide typed and consistent access to environment variables across the codebase
• Remain non-breaking and optional for contributors

This enhancement aligns the project with production-ready best practices and improves reliability, maintainability, and developer experience.

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[arjun-veer]

Hi! @TEKURU-ZENO I'd like to work on this issue.

Proposed Solutions:

• Option 1 (Recommended): TypeScript-native validation in src/config/env.ts - zero dependencies, lightweight, sufficient for current needs (only NEXT_PUBLIC_GA_ID used).

• Option 2: Zod-based validation – more robust runtime checking, better error messages, adds ~14KB dependency.

Both include: env.ts module, .env.example template, update layout.tsx, and README documentation.

Which approach would you prefer? I'm ready to implement either!