diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..07762f40fbeade8a7d2c8c2313d31ef205098aeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+root = true
+
+[*]
+charset = utf-8
+end_of_line = lf
+insert_final_newline = true
+trim_trailing_whitespace = true
+
+[*.{js,ts,json}]
+indent_size = 2
+indent_style = space
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 36a0806e12f169d09da13d05614187a8c9997c0a..fe488dd6a97188f585ba79e0b623948b99a3b100 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -117,6 +117,8 @@ test-be-node-job:
 build-fe-node-job:
   extends: .fe-node-job
   stage: build
+  variables:
+    NODE_ENV: staging
   script:
     - npm run build
   artifacts:
@@ -176,6 +178,7 @@ build-be-job:
       eurac/$GAME_NAME:html5
       --userversion ${CI_COMMIT_TAG:-$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}
 
+# TODO: we need separate build job for prd
 prd-fe-deploy-job:
   extends: .fe-deploy-job
   environment:
diff --git a/frontend/.env b/frontend/.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e3a814adb88d14cf2900086b4469952ac4228bc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/.env
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+BACKEND_URL=
diff --git a/frontend/.env.development b/frontend/.env.development
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..92a72bcd785087d03468dda122985bdcc7697394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/.env.development
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:8080/
diff --git a/frontend/.env.production b/frontend/.env.production
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c7bfebb7ce52e87677f076231479f700fa29ca4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/.env.production
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+BACKEND_URL=https://kommul.eurac.edu/oetzi/
diff --git a/frontend/.env.staging b/frontend/.env.staging
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..23476c867555fddb72df3e68a18704b8a81e5430
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/.env.staging
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+BACKEND_URL=https://kommul-dev.eurac.edu/oetzi/
diff --git a/frontend/src/js/main.js b/frontend/src/js/main.js
index 95229b53bbad954ea9e79ac95598f7957f4ce81c..c760f3277500ff991c855cdbe370e5dd41bb2989 100644
--- a/frontend/src/js/main.js
+++ b/frontend/src/js/main.js
@@ -86,8 +86,7 @@ function preload() {
   });
 }
 
-// window.OetziWordsSiteUrlPrefix = "http://localhost:8080/oetzi_words/" //use this to develop
-window.OetziWordsSiteUrlPrefix = "http://localhost:8080/"; // use this to deploy
+window.OetziWordsSiteUrlPrefix = process.env.BACKEND_URL;
 
 let gameRunning = false;
 let player;