diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc3fbc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# =============================================
+# Environment Configuration — Poverty WebGIS
+# =============================================
+# Template ini bisa dijadikan acuan.
+# Salin sebagai .env dan isi sesuai server.
+# =============================================
+
+DB_HOST=localhost
+DB_PORT=3306
+DB_USER=root
+DB_PASS=
+DB_NAME=webgis_poverty
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b48d23b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# === Kredensial & Konfigurasi Sensitif ===
+.env
+
+# === Log & Cache ===
+*.log
+*.cache
+
+# === IDE & OS ===
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
diff --git a/api/db_connect.php b/api/db_connect.php
index a3541d8..58c199f 100644
--- a/api/db_connect.php
+++ b/api/db_connect.php
@@ -1,17 +1,26 @@
 <?php
-$host = "localhost";
-$user = "root";
-$pass = "";
-$db   = "webgis_poverty";
+// Load konfigurasi dari file .env
+require_once __DIR__ . '/env_loader.php';
 
-// Coba koneksi ke server dan pilih database
-$conn = new mysqli($host, $user, $pass, $db);
+$host = env('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
+$port = (int) env('DB_PORT', 3306);
+$user = env('DB_USER', 'root');
+$pass = env('DB_PASS', '');
+$db   = env('DB_NAME', 'webgis_poverty');
+
+// Koneksi ke MySQL/MariaDB
+$conn = new mysqli($host, $user, $pass, $db, $port);
 
 if ($conn->connect_error) {
-    die("Koneksi gagal: " . $conn->connect_error);
+    http_response_code(500);
+    die(json_encode([
+        'status'  => 'error',
+        'message' => 'Koneksi database gagal: ' . $conn->connect_error,
+    ]));
 }
+
 // Set charset
-$conn->set_charset("utf8mb4");
+$conn->set_charset('utf8mb4');
 
 // Jika di-include oleh file API, biarkan $conn tersedia
 ?>
diff --git a/api/env_loader.php b/api/env_loader.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3030da3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/env_loader.php
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Loader .env sederhana (tanpa dependency external)
+ * Membaca file .env dari root project dan mengisi $_ENV / getenv()
+ *
+ * Cara pakai:
+ *   require_once __DIR__ . '/env_loader.php';
+ *   $val = env('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
+ */
+
+function loadEnv(string $path): void {
+    if (!file_exists($path)) {
+        return; // File .env tidak ada, gunakan nilai default
+    }
+
+    $lines = file($path, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
+    foreach ($lines as $line) {
+        // Skip komentar
+        $line = trim($line);
+        if ($line === '' || str_starts_with($line, '#')) {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // Pisahkan KEY=VALUE (hanya split di tanda = pertama)
+        $eqPos = strpos($line, '=');
+        if ($eqPos === false) continue;
+
+        $key   = trim(substr($line, 0, $eqPos));
+        $value = trim(substr($line, $eqPos + 1));
+
+        // Hapus kutip jika ada ("value" atau 'value')
+        if (
+            (str_starts_with($value, '"') && str_ends_with($value, '"')) ||
+            (str_starts_with($value, "'") && str_ends_with($value, "'"))
+        ) {
+            $value = substr($value, 1, -1);
+        }
+
+        // Set ke $_ENV dan putenv agar bisa diakses lewat getenv()
+        if (!array_key_exists($key, $_ENV)) {
+            $_ENV[$key]  = $value;
+            putenv("$key=$value");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Helper: ambil nilai env dengan fallback default
+ */
+function env(string $key, mixed $default = null): mixed {
+    return $_ENV[$key] ?? getenv($key) ?: $default;
+}
+
+// Auto-load .env dari root poverty (satu level di atas /api)
+loadEnv(dirname(__DIR__) . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '.env');