diff --git a/apps/api/src/auth/guard/auth/auth.guard.ts b/apps/api/src/auth/guard/auth/auth.guard.ts
index 700f7d11f..a7cb6afe3 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/auth/guard/auth/auth.guard.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/auth/guard/auth/auth.guard.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { PrismaService } from '../../../prisma/prisma.service'
 import { ONBOARDING_BYPASSED } from '../../../decorators/bypass-onboarding.decorator'
 import { AuthenticatedUserContext } from '../../auth.types'
 import { toSHA256 } from '../../../common/to-sha256'
+import { EnvSchema } from 'src/common/env/env.schema'
 
 const X_E2E_USER_EMAIL = 'x-e2e-user-email'
 const X_KEYSHADE_TOKEN = 'x-keyshade-token'
@@ -41,17 +42,23 @@ export class AuthGuard implements CanActivate {
     let user: AuthenticatedUserContext | null = null
     const request = context.switchToHttp().getRequest()
     const authType = this.getAuthType(request)
+    const parsedEnv = EnvSchema.safeParse(process.env.NODE_ENV);
+    let nodeEnv;
 
-    //@ts-expect-error process.env.NODE_ENV parses to 'dev'
-    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'e2e' && authType === 'NONE') {
+    if (!parsedEnv.success) {
+      nodeEnv = 'dev'; // Default to a valid value or handle appropriately
+    } else {
+      nodeEnv = parsedEnv.data;
+    }
+
+    if (nodeEnv !== 'e2e' && authType === 'NONE') {
       throw new ForbiddenException('No authentication provided')
     }
 
     // In case the environment is e2e, we want to authenticate the user using the email
     // else we want to authenticate the user using the JWT token.
 
-    // @ts-expect-error process.env.NODE_ENV parses to 'dev'
-    if (authType !== 'API_KEY' && process.env.NODE_ENV === 'e2e') {
+    if (authType !== 'API_KEY' && nodeEnv === 'e2e') {
       const email = request.headers[X_E2E_USER_EMAIL]
       if (!email) {
         throw new ForbiddenException()
diff --git a/apps/api/src/common/env/env.schema.ts b/apps/api/src/common/env/env.schema.ts
index 81100b9b7..44ee48f4f 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/common/env/env.schema.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/common/env/env.schema.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ const e2eEnvSchema = z.object({
 const generalSchema = z.object({
   NODE_ENV: z.literal('dev'),
   DATABASE_URL: z.string(),
-  ADMIN_EMAIL: z.string(),
+  ADMIN_EMAIL: z.string().email(),
 
   REDIS_URL: z.string(),
   REDIS_PASSWORD: z.string().optional(),
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ const generalSchema = z.object({
 
   SMTP_HOST: z.string(),
   SMTP_PORT: z.string(),
-  SMTP_EMAIL_ADDRESS: z.string(),
+  SMTP_EMAIL_ADDRESS: z.string().email(),
   SMTP_PASSWORD: z.string(),
   FROM_EMAIL: z.string().regex(/^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+ [<][a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}[>]$/),
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ const generalSchema = z.object({
   MINIO_BUCKET_NAME: z.string().optional(),
   MINIO_USE_SSL: z.string().optional(),
 
-  FEEDBACK_FORWARD_EMAIL: z.string()
+  FEEDBACK_FORWARD_EMAIL: z.string().email()
 })
 
 export type EnvSchemaType = z.infer<typeof generalSchema>
diff --git a/apps/api/src/user/service/user.service.ts b/apps/api/src/user/service/user.service.ts
index c026a437e..61c489a1c 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/user/service/user.service.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/user/service/user.service.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
 } from '../../mail/services/interface.service'
 import createUser from '../../common/create-user'
 import generateOtp from '../../common/generate-otp'
+import { EnvSchema } from 'src/common/env/env.schema'
 
 @Injectable()
 export class UserService {
@@ -294,9 +295,17 @@ export class UserService {
   }
 
   private async checkIfAdminExistsOrCreate() {
-    // @ts-expect-error process.env.NODE_ENV parses to 'dev'
-    // FIXME
-    if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test' || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'e2e') {
+
+    const parsedEnv = EnvSchema.safeParse(process.env.NODE_ENV);
+    let nodeEnv;
+
+    if (!parsedEnv.success) {
+      nodeEnv = 'dev'; // Default to a valid value or handle appropriately
+    } else {
+      nodeEnv = parsedEnv.data;
+    }
+
+    if (nodeEnv === 'test' || nodeEnv === 'e2e') {
       return
     }