diff --git a/api/pom.xml b/api/pom.xml
index 619ad87..e3e0a43 100644
--- a/api/pom.xml
+++ b/api/pom.xml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
         <flyway_version>6.3.3</flyway_version>
         <javajwt_version>3.10.2</javajwt_version>
         <jbcrypt_version>0.4</jbcrypt_version>
+        <hoplite_version>1.2.2</hoplite_version>
 
         <kotlin.code.style>official</kotlin.code.style>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
@@ -149,6 +150,16 @@
             <artifactId>HikariCP</artifactId>
             <version>3.4.2</version>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.sksamuel.hoplite</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hoplite-core</artifactId>
+            <version>${hoplite_version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.sksamuel.hoplite</groupId>
+            <artifactId>hoplite-yaml</artifactId>
+            <version>${hoplite_version}</version>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.github.javafaker</groupId>
             <artifactId>javafaker</artifactId>
diff --git a/api/resources/application.conf b/api/resources/application.conf
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b934ce..0000000
--- a/api/resources/application.conf
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-ktor {
-    deployment {
-        port = 8081
-        port = ${?PORT}
-    }
-    application {
-        modules = [ be.vandewalleh.NotesApplicationKt.module ]
-    }
-}
-
-database {
-    host = "127.0.0.1"
-    port = "3306"
-    name = "Notes"
-    user = "test"
-    password = "test"
-}
-
-jwt {
-    secret = "thisisasecret"
-    secret = ${?SECRET}
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/resources/application.yaml b/api/resources/application.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..388f21a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/resources/application.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+env: staging
+
+database:
+    host: 127.0.0.1
+    port: 3306
+    name: Notes
+    username: test
+    password: test
+
+server:
+    host: 0.0.0.0
+    port: 8081
+
+jwt:
+    secret: ${random.string(25)}
+    auth:
+        validity: 1
+        unit: HOURS
+    refresh:
+        validity: 15
+        unit: DAYS
+
diff --git a/api/src/NotesApplication.kt b/api/src/NotesApplication.kt
index 52ce1f8..04805fe 100644
--- a/api/src/NotesApplication.kt
+++ b/api/src/NotesApplication.kt
@@ -1,42 +1,64 @@
 package be.vandewalleh
 
-import be.vandewalleh.features.configurationFeature
+import be.vandewalleh.features.Config
 import be.vandewalleh.features.configurationModule
-import be.vandewalleh.features.features
+import be.vandewalleh.features.loadFeatures
 import be.vandewalleh.migrations.Migration
 import be.vandewalleh.routing.registerRoutes
 import be.vandewalleh.services.serviceModule
 import io.ktor.application.*
 import io.ktor.routing.*
+import io.ktor.server.engine.*
+import io.ktor.server.netty.*
 import me.liuwj.ktorm.database.*
 import org.kodein.di.Kodein
 import org.kodein.di.description
 import org.kodein.di.generic.bind
 import org.kodein.di.generic.instance
 import org.kodein.di.generic.singleton
+import org.slf4j.Logger
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
 import javax.sql.DataSource
+import kotlin.system.exitProcess
 
-lateinit var kodein: Kodein
-
-@Suppress("unused") // Referenced in application.conf
-fun Application.module() {
-    // must be first to be loaded
-    configurationFeature()
-
-    kodein = Kodein {
-        import(configurationModule)
-        import(serviceModule)
-
-        bind<Migration>() with singleton { Migration(this.kodein) }
-        bind<Database>() with singleton { Database.Companion.connect(this.instance<DataSource>()) }
-    }
-
-    features()
-
-    log.debug(kodein.container.tree.bindings.description())
+val kodein = Kodein {
+    import(serviceModule)
+    import(configurationModule)
+    bind<Logger>() with singleton { LoggerFactory.getLogger("Application") }
+    bind<Migration>() with singleton { Migration(this.kodein) }
+    bind<Database>() with singleton { Database.connect(this.instance<DataSource>()) }
+}
 
+fun main() {
+    val config by kodein.instance<Config>()
+    val logger by kodein.instance<Logger>()
+    logger.info("Running application with configuration $config")
     val migration by kodein.instance<Migration>()
     migration.migrate()
+    serve(kodein)
+}
+
+fun serve(kodein: Kodein) {
+    val config by kodein.instance<Config>()
+    val logger by kodein.instance<Logger>()
+    val env = applicationEngineEnvironment {
+        module {
+            module()
+        }
+        log = logger
+        connector {
+            host = config.server.host
+            port = config.server.port
+        }
+    }
+    embeddedServer(Netty, env).start(wait = true)
+}
+
+
+fun Application.module() {
+    loadFeatures()
+
+    log.debug(kodein.container.tree.bindings.description())
 
     routing {
         registerRoutes(kodein)
diff --git a/api/src/features/ConfigurationFeature.kt b/api/src/features/ConfigurationFeature.kt
index 67aae98..6dbad66 100644
--- a/api/src/features/ConfigurationFeature.kt
+++ b/api/src/features/ConfigurationFeature.kt
@@ -1,42 +1,61 @@
 package be.vandewalleh.features
 
 import be.vandewalleh.auth.SimpleJWT
+import com.sksamuel.hoplite.ConfigLoader
+import com.sksamuel.hoplite.Masked
 import com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariConfig
 import com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource
-import io.ktor.application.*
 import org.kodein.di.Kodein
 import org.kodein.di.generic.bind
 import org.kodein.di.generic.instance
+import org.kodein.di.generic.singleton
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import javax.sql.DataSource
 
 /**
- * [Kodein] configuration module
+ * [Kodein] controller module containing the app configuration
  */
-lateinit var configurationModule: Kodein.Module
+val configurationModule = Kodein.Module(name = "Configuration") {
+    bind() from singleton { ConfigLoader().loadConfigOrThrow<Config>("/application.yaml") }
+    bind<SimpleJWT>(tag = "auth") with singleton { configureAuthJwt(this.kodein) }
+    bind<SimpleJWT>(tag = "refresh") with singleton { configureRefreshJwt(this.kodein) }
+    bind<DataSource>() with singleton { configureDatasource(this.kodein) }
+}
 
-fun Application.configurationFeature() {
-    val dataSource: DataSource = with(environment.config) {
-        val host = property("database.host").getString()
-        val port = property("database.port").getString()
-        val name = property("database.name").getString()
+data class DatabaseConfig(val host: String, val port: Int, val name: String, val username: String, val password: Masked)
+data class ServerConfig(val host: String, val port: Int)
+data class JwtConfig(val secret: Masked, val auth: JwtValidity, val refresh: JwtValidity)
+data class JwtValidity(val validity: Long, val unit: TimeUnit)
+data class Config(val database: DatabaseConfig, val server: ServerConfig, val jwt: JwtConfig)
 
-        val hikariConfig = HikariConfig().apply {
-            jdbcUrl = "jdbc:mariadb://$host:$port/$name"
-            username = this@with.property("database.user").getString()
-            password = this@with.property("database.password").getString()
-        }
 
-        HikariDataSource(hikariConfig)
+private fun configureAuthJwt(kodein: Kodein): SimpleJWT {
+    val config by kodein.instance<Config>()
+    val jwtSecret = config.jwt.secret
+    val authConfig = config.jwt.auth
+    return SimpleJWT(jwtSecret.value, authConfig.validity, authConfig.unit)
+}
+
+private fun configureRefreshJwt(kodein: Kodein): SimpleJWT {
+    val config by kodein.instance<Config>()
+    val jwtSecret = config.jwt.secret
+    val refreshConfig = config.jwt.auth
+    return SimpleJWT(jwtSecret.value, refreshConfig.validity, refreshConfig.unit)
+}
+
+private fun configureDatasource(kodein: Kodein): DataSource {
+    val config by kodein.instance<Config>()
+    val dbConfig = config.database
+
+    val host = dbConfig.host
+    val port = dbConfig.port
+    val name = dbConfig.name
+
+    val hikariConfig = HikariConfig().apply {
+        jdbcUrl = "jdbc:mariadb://$host:$port/$name"
+        username = dbConfig.username
+        password = dbConfig.password.value
     }
 
-    val jwtSecret = environment.config.property("jwt.secret").getString()
-    val authSimpleJwt = SimpleJWT(jwtSecret, 1, TimeUnit.HOURS)
-    val refreshSimpleJwt = SimpleJWT(jwtSecret, 7, TimeUnit.DAYS)
-
-    configurationModule = Kodein.Module("Configuration") {
-        bind<DataSource>() with instance(dataSource)
-        bind<SimpleJWT>(tag = "auth") with instance(authSimpleJwt)
-        bind<SimpleJWT>(tag = "refresh") with instance(refreshSimpleJwt)
-    }
+    return HikariDataSource(hikariConfig)
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/src/features/ContentNegotiationFeature.kt b/api/src/features/ContentNegotiationFeature.kt
index 8906914..df99c0a 100644
--- a/api/src/features/ContentNegotiationFeature.kt
+++ b/api/src/features/ContentNegotiationFeature.kt
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package be.vandewalleh.features
 
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializationFeature
 import io.ktor.application.*
 import io.ktor.features.*
 import io.ktor.jackson.*
diff --git a/api/src/features/ErrorFeature.kt b/api/src/features/ErrorFeature.kt
index 6ca34cc..c901e7e 100644
--- a/api/src/features/ErrorFeature.kt
+++ b/api/src/features/ErrorFeature.kt
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import io.ktor.utils.io.errors.*
 
 fun Application.handleErrors() {
     install(StatusPages) {
-        exception<IOException> { _ ->
+        exception<IOException> {
             call.respond(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest)
         }
     }
diff --git a/api/src/features/Features.kt b/api/src/features/Features.kt
index c57e449..e2a4eb3 100644
--- a/api/src/features/Features.kt
+++ b/api/src/features/Features.kt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package be.vandewalleh.features
 import be.vandewalleh.auth.authenticationModule
 import io.ktor.application.*
 
-fun Application.features() {
+fun Application.loadFeatures() {
     corsFeature()
     contentNegotiationFeature()
     authenticationModule()