diff --git a/pilot/configs/__init__.py b/pilot/configs/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..909f8bf4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pilot/configs/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import os
+import random
+import sys
+
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+if "pytest" in sys.argv or "pytest" in sys.modules or os.getenv("CI"):
+    print("Setting random seed to 42")
+    random.seed(42)
+
+# Load the users .env file into environment variables
+load_dotenv(verbose=True, override=True)
+
+del load_dotenv