diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index e2b5eb6..84723e8 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -9,29 +9,43 @@ import crypto from 'crypto';
 import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { join, dirname } from 'path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
+import { homedir } from 'os';
 
-// Load environment variables from .env file
+// Load environment variables from ~/.env file (standardized location)
+const envPath = join(homedir(), '.env');
+
+// Also try relative path as fallback for backwards compatibility
 const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
 const __dirname = dirname(__filename);
-const envPath = join(__dirname, '../.env');
+const envPathFallback = join(__dirname, '../.env');
 
-try {
-  const envFile = readFileSync(envPath, 'utf8');
-  const envVars = envFile.split('\n').filter(line => line.includes('=') && !line.trim().startsWith('#'));
-  for (const line of envVars) {
-    const [key, ...values] = line.split('=');
-    // Validate key is a valid environment variable name (alphanumeric and underscore only)
-    if (key && values.length > 0 && /^[A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*$/.test(key.trim())) {
-      // Remove surrounding quotes if present and trim
-      let value = values.join('=').trim();
-      if ((value.startsWith('"') && value.endsWith('"')) || (value.startsWith("'") && value.endsWith("'"))) {
-        value = value.slice(1, -1);
+function loadEnvFile(filePath) {
+  try {
+    const envFile = readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8');
+    const envVars = envFile.split('\n').filter(line => line.includes('=') && !line.trim().startsWith('#'));
+    for (const line of envVars) {
+      const [key, ...values] = line.split('=');
+      // Validate key is a valid environment variable name (alphanumeric and underscore only)
+      if (key && values.length > 0 && /^[A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*$/.test(key.trim())) {
+        // Remove surrounding quotes if present and trim
+        let value = values.join('=').trim();
+        if ((value.startsWith('"') && value.endsWith('"')) || (value.startsWith("'") && value.endsWith("'"))) {
+          value = value.slice(1, -1);
+        }
+        process.env[key.trim()] = value;
       }
-      process.env[key.trim()] = value;
     }
+    return true;
+  } catch (error) {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+// Try ~/.env first, then fallback to relative path
+if (!loadEnvFile(envPath)) {
+  if (!loadEnvFile(envPathFallback)) {
+    console.error('Warning: Could not load .env file from ~/.env or ../.env');
   }
-} catch (error) {
-  console.error('Warning: Could not load .env file:', error.message);
 }
 
 class ProxmoxServer {