diff --git a/..env.swp b/..env.swp
deleted file mode 100644
index 3b2116a..0000000
Binary files a/..env.swp and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/src/lib/server/authRequest.ts b/src/lib/server/authRequest.ts
index 1a6cd11..4a1bf48 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/authRequest.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/authRequest.ts
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@ import { requireAuth } from '$lib/server/auth';
 import type { Request } from '@sveltejs/kit';
 
 export function authRequest(request: Request): boolean {
-  return requireAuth(request, env.SESSION_SECRET ?? '');
+  return requireAuth(request, (env.SESSION_SECRET ?? '').trim());
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/admin/api/auth/login/+server.ts b/src/routes/admin/api/auth/login/+server.ts
index 6d1c73d..509366c 100644
--- a/src/routes/admin/api/auth/login/+server.ts
+++ b/src/routes/admin/api/auth/login/+server.ts
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ export const POST: RequestHandler = async ({ request, url }) => {
     return json({ error: 'Password required' }, { status: 400 });
   }
 
-  const passwordHash = env.PASSWORD_HASH ?? '';
-  const sessionSecret = env.SESSION_SECRET ?? '';
+  const passwordHash = (env.PASSWORD_HASH ?? '').trim();
+  const sessionSecret = (env.SESSION_SECRET ?? '').trim();
 
   if (!passwordHash || !sessionSecret) {
     console.warn('[humor-units] WARNING: PASSWORD_HASH or SESSION_SECRET env var not set.');