diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ceaa7546
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Default article to display on app load
+# This should be a valid naddr1... string (NIP-19 encoded address pointer to a kind:30023 long-form article)
+VITE_DEFAULT_ARTICLE_NADDR=naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqmjxss3dld622uu8q25gywum9qtg4w4cv4064jmg20xsac2aam5nqqxnzd3cxqmrzv3exgmr2wfesgsmew
diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index 552c8c89..a584f12c 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ import { createAddressLoader } from 'applesauce-loaders/loaders'
 import Login from './components/Login'
 import Bookmarks from './components/Bookmarks'
 
-const DEFAULT_ARTICLE = 'naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqmjxss3dld622uu8q25gywum9qtg4w4cv4064jmg20xsac2aam5nqqxnzd3cxqmrzv3exgmr2wfesgsmew'
+// Load default article from environment variable with fallback
+const DEFAULT_ARTICLE = import.meta.env.VITE_DEFAULT_ARTICLE_NADDR || 
+  'naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqmjxss3dld622uu8q25gywum9qtg4w4cv4064jmg20xsac2aam5nqqxnzd3cxqmrzv3exgmr2wfesgsmew'
 
 function App() {
   const [eventStore, setEventStore] = useState<EventStore | null>(null)
diff --git a/src/vite-env.d.ts b/src/vite-env.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a05d581c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/vite-env.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+/// <reference types="vite/client" />
+
+interface ImportMetaEnv {
+  readonly VITE_DEFAULT_ARTICLE_NADDR: string
+}
+
+interface ImportMeta {
+  readonly env: ImportMetaEnv
+}