diff --git a/src/actions/utils/loadWatchers.ts b/src/actions/utils/loadWatchers.ts
index e2b5660c..77a15f6a 100644
--- a/src/actions/utils/loadWatchers.ts
+++ b/src/actions/utils/loadWatchers.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import * as chokidar from 'chokidar'
 import * as vscode from 'vscode'
 import { COMMANDS } from '../../editor/commands'
-import environment from '../../environment'
+import { WORKSPACE_ROOT } from '../../environment'
 
 // NOTE: vscode createFileWatcher doesn't seem to detect changes outside of vscode
 // such as `npm install` of a package. Went with chokidar instead
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ const loadWatchers = (watchers: string[]) => {
       // see how glob patterns are used in VSCode (not like a regex)
       // https://code.visualstudio.com/api/references/vscode-api#GlobPattern
       const fsWatcher: chokidar.FSWatcher = chokidar.watch(watcher, {
-        cwd: environment.WORKSPACE_ROOT,
+        cwd: WORKSPACE_ROOT,
         interval: 1000,
       })
 
diff --git a/src/actions/utils/openFiles.ts b/src/actions/utils/openFiles.ts
index ffc59e38..c6cd15f7 100644
--- a/src/actions/utils/openFiles.ts
+++ b/src/actions/utils/openFiles.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ const openFiles = async (files: string[]) => {
       // ensure the panel is redrawn on the right side first
       vscode.commands.executeCommand(COMMANDS.OPEN_WEBVIEW)
     } catch (error) {
-      console.log(`Failed to open file ${filePath}`, error)
+      console.log(`Failed to open file ${filePath}: ${error.message}`)
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/actions/utils/runCommands.ts b/src/actions/utils/runCommands.ts
index 2ddda75b..ca4c770d 100644
--- a/src/actions/utils/runCommands.ts
+++ b/src/actions/utils/runCommands.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ const runCommands = async (commands: string[], send: (action: T.Action) => void)
     try {
       result = await exec(command)
     } catch (error) {
-      console.log(error)
+      console.log(`Test failed: ${error.message}`)
       send({ type: 'COMMAND_FAIL', payload: { process: { ...process, status: 'FAIL' } } })
       return
     }
diff --git a/src/channel/index.ts b/src/channel/index.ts
index c30ceb3f..a0637fdb 100644
--- a/src/channel/index.ts
+++ b/src/channel/index.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { openWorkspace, checkWorkspaceEmpty } from '../services/workspace'
 import { readFile } from 'fs'
 import { join } from 'path'
 import { promisify } from 'util'
-import environment from '../environment'
+import { WORKSPACE_ROOT } from '../environment'
 
 const readFileAsync = promisify(readFile)
 
@@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ class Channel implements Channel {
     const actionType: string = typeof action === 'string' ? action : action.type
     // const onError = (error: T.ErrorMessage) => this.send({ type: 'ERROR', payload: { error } })
 
-    // console.log(`ACTION: ${actionType}`)
+    logger(`EXT RECEIVED: "${actionType}"`)
 
     switch (actionType) {
       case 'EDITOR_STARTUP':
         // check if a workspace is open, otherwise nothing works
-        const noActiveWorksapce = !environment.WORKSPACE_ROOT.length
+        const noActiveWorksapce = !WORKSPACE_ROOT.length
         if (noActiveWorksapce) {
           const error: E.ErrorMessage = {
             type: 'NoWorkspaceFound',
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ class Channel implements Channel {
       })
 
       // log error to console for safe keeping
-      console.log(`ERROR:\n ${errorMarkdown}`)
+      logger(`ERROR:\n ${errorMarkdown}`)
 
       if (errorMarkdown) {
         // add a clearer error message for the user
@@ -270,6 +270,9 @@ class Channel implements Channel {
 
     // action may be an object.type or plain string
     const actionType: string = typeof action === 'string' ? action : action.type
+
+    logger(`EXT TO CLIENT: "${actionType}"`)
+
     switch (actionType) {
       case 'TEST_PASS':
         const tutorial = this.context.tutorial.get()
diff --git a/src/environment.ts b/src/environment.ts
index e21495ec..8c283340 100644
--- a/src/environment.ts
+++ b/src/environment.ts
@@ -2,25 +2,22 @@ require('dotenv').config({
   path: './web-app/.env',
 })
 
-import * as vscode from 'vscode'
 import { getWorkspaceRoot } from './services/workspace'
 
-interface Environment {
-  VERSION: string
-  NODE_ENV: string
-  LOG: boolean
-  API_URL: string
-  SENTRY_DSN: string | null
-  WORKSPACE_ROOT: string
-}
+// CodeRoad version
+export const VERSION: string = process.env.npm_package_version || 'unknown'
 
-const environment: Environment = {
-  VERSION: process.env.VERSION || 'unknown',
-  NODE_ENV: process.env.NODE_ENV || 'production',
-  LOG: (process.env.LOG || '').toLowerCase() === 'true',
-  API_URL: process.env.REACT_APP_GQL_URI || '',
-  SENTRY_DSN: process.env.SENTRY_DSN || null,
-  WORKSPACE_ROOT: getWorkspaceRoot(),
-}
+// Node env
+export type Env = 'test' | 'local' | 'development' | 'production'
+// @ts-ignore
+export const NODE_ENV: Env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'production'
 
-export default environment
+// toggle logging in development
+export const LOG: boolean =
+  (process.env.REACT_APP_LOG || '').toLowerCase() === 'true' && process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production'
+
+// error logging tool
+export const SENTRY_DSN: string | null = process.env.SENTRY_DSN || null
+
+// uri path to the users project workspace
+export const WORKSPACE_ROOT: string = getWorkspaceRoot()
diff --git a/src/services/logger/index.ts b/src/services/logger/index.ts
index 42310b89..9f7ecdfc 100644
--- a/src/services/logger/index.ts
+++ b/src/services/logger/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import enviroment from '../../environment'
+import { LOG } from '../../environment'
 
 const logger = (message: string | string[]) => {
-  if (!enviroment.LOG) {
+  if (!LOG) {
     return
   }
   if (Array.isArray(message)) {
diff --git a/src/services/node/index.ts b/src/services/node/index.ts
index 18a914dc..1dbae70b 100644
--- a/src/services/node/index.ts
+++ b/src/services/node/index.ts
@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@ import { exec as cpExec } from 'child_process'
 import * as fs from 'fs'
 import { join } from 'path'
 import { promisify } from 'util'
-import environment from '../../environment'
+import { WORKSPACE_ROOT } from '../../environment'
 
 const asyncExec = promisify(cpExec)
 
 export const exec = (cmd: string): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> | never => {
   return asyncExec(cmd, {
-    cwd: environment.WORKSPACE_ROOT,
+    cwd: WORKSPACE_ROOT,
   })
 }
 
 export const exists = (...paths: string[]): boolean | never => {
-  return fs.existsSync(join(environment.WORKSPACE_ROOT, ...paths))
+  return fs.existsSync(join(WORKSPACE_ROOT, ...paths))
 }
diff --git a/src/services/sentry/init.ts b/src/services/sentry/init.ts
index 7fced541..ae09f339 100644
--- a/src/services/sentry/init.ts
+++ b/src/services/sentry/init.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import { init } from '@sentry/node'
-import environment from '../../environment'
+import { SENTRY_DSN, NODE_ENV } from '../../environment'
 
-if (environment.SENTRY_DSN) {
+if (SENTRY_DSN) {
   init({
-    dsn: environment.SENTRY_DSN,
-    environment: environment.NODE_ENV,
+    dsn: SENTRY_DSN,
+    environment: NODE_ENV,
   })
 }
diff --git a/src/services/sentry/onError.ts b/src/services/sentry/onError.ts
index 4434807a..111c7ddd 100644
--- a/src/services/sentry/onError.ts
+++ b/src/services/sentry/onError.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import * as sentry from '@sentry/node'
 // import { Scope } from '@sentry/hub'
-import environment from '../../environment'
+import { VERSION } from '../../environment'
 
 const onError = (error: Error) => {
   // set user scope https://docs.sentry.io/enriching-error-data/scopes/?platform=node
   sentry.withScope((scope: any) => {
-    scope.setTag('VERSION', environment.VERSION)
+    scope.setTag('VERSION', VERSION)
     // if (user) {
     //   scope.setUser({
     //     id: user.id,
diff --git a/src/services/workspace/index.ts b/src/services/workspace/index.ts
index a262322a..9d2cdfe4 100644
--- a/src/services/workspace/index.ts
+++ b/src/services/workspace/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import * as vscode from 'vscode'
 import * as fs from 'fs'
 import { promisify } from 'util'
-import environment from '../../environment'
+import { WORKSPACE_ROOT } from '../../environment'
 
 const readDir = promisify(fs.readdir)
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export const openWorkspace = () => {
 export const checkWorkspaceEmpty = async () => {
   let files
   try {
-    files = await readDir(environment.WORKSPACE_ROOT)
+    files = await readDir(WORKSPACE_ROOT)
   } catch (error) {
     throw new Error('Failed to check workspace')
   }
diff --git a/src/webview/render.ts b/src/webview/render.ts
index 9e25e9bc..d609ac07 100644
--- a/src/webview/render.ts
+++ b/src/webview/render.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { JSDOM } from 'jsdom'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import * as vscode from 'vscode'
 import onError from '../services/sentry/onError'
-import environment from '../environment'
 
 const getNonce = (): string => {
   let text = ''
@@ -73,7 +72,7 @@ async function render(panel: vscode.WebviewPanel, rootPath: string) {
     cspMeta.content =
       [
         `default-src 'self'`,
-        `connect-src https: http: ${environment.API_URL}`,
+        `connect-src https: http:`,
         // @ts-ignore
         `font-src ${panel.webview.cspSource} http: https: data:`,
         // @ts-ignore
diff --git a/web-app/.env.example b/web-app/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..712a41cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web-app/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+SKIP_PREFLIGHT_CHECK=true
+VERSION=0.1.0
+NODE_ENV=local
+REACT_APP_DEBUG=false
+REACT_APP_LOG=false
+REACT_APP_TUTORIAL_LIST_URL=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coderoad/tutorials/master/tutorials.json
diff --git a/web-app/.storybook/config.ts b/web-app/.storybook/config.ts
index 608ab73b..88f910a1 100644
--- a/web-app/.storybook/config.ts
+++ b/web-app/.storybook/config.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import '../src/styles/index.css'
 // @ts-ignore
 global.acquireVsCodeApi = () => ({
   postMessage(event: string) {
-    console.log('postMessage', event)
+    console.log('ERROR: VSCode did not load properly in CodeRoad extension', event)
   },
 })
 
diff --git a/web-app/src/components/Error/index.tsx b/web-app/src/components/Error/index.tsx
index ad5ab3a4..1c6fabea 100644
--- a/web-app/src/components/Error/index.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/components/Error/index.tsx
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ const ErrorMarkdown = ({ error, send }: Props) => {
   React.useEffect(() => {
     if (error) {
       // log error
-      console.log(error)
+      console.log(`ERROR in markdown: ${error.message}`)
     }
   }, [error])
 
diff --git a/web-app/src/components/ErrorBoundary/index.tsx b/web-app/src/components/ErrorBoundary/index.tsx
index 3da5513a..9815f176 100644
--- a/web-app/src/components/ErrorBoundary/index.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/components/ErrorBoundary/index.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as React from 'react'
 import onError from '../../services/sentry/onError'
+import logger from '../../services/logger'
 
 class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
   public state = { errorMessage: null }
@@ -9,8 +10,8 @@ class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
     // Display fallback UI
     this.setState({ errorMessage: error.message })
     // You can also log the error to an error reporting service
-    console.error(JSON.stringify(error))
-    console.log(JSON.stringify(info))
+    logger('ERROR in component:', JSON.stringify(error))
+    logger('ERROR info:', JSON.stringify(info))
   }
 
   public render() {
diff --git a/web-app/src/components/Markdown/index.tsx b/web-app/src/components/Markdown/index.tsx
index fc4ed155..3b9e2ffe 100644
--- a/web-app/src/components/Markdown/index.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/components/Markdown/index.tsx
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ const Markdown = (props: Props) => {
   try {
     html = md.render(props.children)
   } catch (error) {
-    const message = `failed to parse markdown for ${props.children}`
+    const message = `Failed to parse markdown for ${props.children}`
     onError(new Error(message))
     console.log(message)
     html = `<div style='background-color: #FFB81A; padding: 0.5rem;'>
diff --git a/web-app/src/components/Router/index.tsx b/web-app/src/components/Router/index.tsx
index 41cad845..56be6dad 100644
--- a/web-app/src/components/Router/index.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/components/Router/index.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { createMachine } from '../../services/state/machine'
 import { useMachine } from '../../services/xstate-react'
 import Route from './Route'
 import onError from '../../services/sentry/onError'
-import { LOG_STATE } from '../../environment'
+import logger from '../../services/logger'
 
 interface Output {
   context: T.MachineContext
@@ -16,27 +16,30 @@ interface Output {
 declare let acquireVsCodeApi: any
 
 const editor = acquireVsCodeApi()
+const editorSend = (action: T.Action) => {
+  logger(`CLIENT TO EXT: "${action.type}"`)
+  return editor.postMessage(action)
+}
 
 // router finds first state match of <Route path='' />
 const useRouter = (): Output => {
-  const [state, send] = useMachine<T.MachineContext, any>(createMachine({ editorSend: editor.postMessage }))
+  const [state, send] = useMachine<T.MachineContext, any>(createMachine({ editorSend }))
 
-  if (LOG_STATE) {
-    console.log(JSON.stringify(state.value))
-  }
+  logger(`STATE: ${JSON.stringify(state.value)}`)
 
   // event bus listener
   React.useEffect(() => {
     const listener = 'message'
     // propograte channel event to state machine
-    const handler = (action: any) => {
+    const handler = (event: any) => {
       // NOTE: must call event.data, cannot destructure. VSCode acts odd
-      const event = action.data
+      const action = event.data
       // ignore browser events from plugins
-      if (event.source) {
+      if (action.source) {
         return
       }
-      send(event)
+      logger(`CLIENT RECEIVED: "${action.type}"`)
+      send(action)
     }
     window.addEventListener(listener, handler)
     return () => {
diff --git a/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/LoadTutorialSummary.tsx b/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/LoadTutorialSummary.tsx
index b2fc8b42..05a35bea 100644
--- a/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/LoadTutorialSummary.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/LoadTutorialSummary.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ const LoadTutorialSummary = (props: Props) => {
     return <Loading text="Loading tutorial summary..." />
   }
   if (error) {
-    console.log(error)
+    console.log(`Failed to load tutorial summary: ${error}`)
     return <div>Error loading summary</div>
   }
   if (!data) {
diff --git a/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/forms/TutorialUrl.tsx b/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/forms/TutorialUrl.tsx
index 9693f3bc..0dc2d0bf 100644
--- a/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/forms/TutorialUrl.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/containers/SelectTutorial/forms/TutorialUrl.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as React from 'react'
 import { Button, Form, Input } from '@alifd/next'
+import logger from '../../../services/logger'
 
 const FormItem = Form.Item
 
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ const TutorialUrl = (props: Props) => {
   const [url, setUrl] = React.useState(props.defaultUrl)
   const onSubmit = (e: any) => {
     e.preventDefault()
-    console.log('tutorial url', url)
+    logger(`Tutorial url: ${url}`)
     props.onTutorialLoad(url)
   }
 
diff --git a/web-app/src/environment.ts b/web-app/src/environment.ts
index c7f6d7e0..e5e18633 100644
--- a/web-app/src/environment.ts
+++ b/web-app/src/environment.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ for (const required of requiredKeys) {
 export const DEBUG: boolean = (process.env.REACT_APP_DEBUG || '').toLowerCase() === 'true'
 export const VERSION: string = process.env.VERSION || 'unknown'
 export const NODE_ENV: string = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development'
-export const LOG_STATE: boolean = (process.env.REACT_APP_LOG_STATE || '').toLowerCase() === 'true'
+export const LOG: boolean =
+  (process.env.REACT_APP_LOG || '').toLowerCase() === 'true' && process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production'
 export const TUTORIAL_LIST_URL: string = process.env.REACT_APP_TUTORIAL_LIST_URL || ''
 export const SENTRY_DSN: string | null = process.env.REACT_APP_SENTRY_DSN || null
diff --git a/web-app/src/mock/index.ts b/web-app/src/mock/index.ts
index 04fc0a67..120372c6 100644
--- a/web-app/src/mock/index.ts
+++ b/web-app/src/mock/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ if (!global.acquireVsCodeApi) {
   // @ts-ignore
   global.acquireVsCodeApi = () => ({
     postMessage(event: string) {
-      console.log('postMessage', event)
+      console.log('VSCode did not load properly for CodeRoad extension', event)
     },
   })
 }
diff --git a/web-app/src/services/logger/index.ts b/web-app/src/services/logger/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a85e6e5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web-app/src/services/logger/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { LOG } from '../../environment'
+
+const logger = (...messages: string[]) => {
+  if (!LOG) {
+    return
+  }
+  // Inside vscode, you console.log does not allow more than 1 param
+  // to get around it, we can log with multiple log statements
+  for (const message of messages) {
+    console.log(message)
+  }
+}
+
+export default logger
diff --git a/web-app/src/services/sentry/init.tsx b/web-app/src/services/sentry/init.tsx
index ed8d146c..8ec119cd 100644
--- a/web-app/src/services/sentry/init.tsx
+++ b/web-app/src/services/sentry/init.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,5 @@ try {
     })
   }
 } catch (error) {
-  console.log('Error in Sentry init')
-  console.log(error)
+  console.log(`Error in Sentry init: ${error.message}`)
 }