diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 77617c4..1aef3b1 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ MONARCH_MFA_SECRET=
 
 # Server Configuration
 PORT=8000
-MONARCH_PORT=8070
+MONARCH_PORT=8070  # Docker Compose host port mapping only
 LOG_LEVEL=INFO
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 835949c..0000000
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-fastmcp>=0.4.1
-monarchmoney>=0.1.15
-gql>=3.4,<4.0
-python-dotenv>=1.0.0
-pydantic>=2.0.0
-starlette>=0.35.0
-uvicorn>=0.27.0
-pyotp==2.9.0
diff --git a/src/monarch_mcp_custom/auth.py b/src/monarch_mcp_custom/auth.py
index b54a4be..87814ec 100644
--- a/src/monarch_mcp_custom/auth.py
+++ b/src/monarch_mcp_custom/auth.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def load_token() -> Optional[str]:
     # 1. Check environment variable (Best for Docker)
     token = os.getenv("MONARCH_TOKEN")
     if token:
-        logger.info("✅ Token loaded from MONARCH_TOKEN environment variable")
+        logger.info("Token loaded from MONARCH_TOKEN environment variable")
         return token
 
     return None
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ def save_token(token: str) -> None:
         KEYRING_SERVICE = "com.mcp.monarch-mcp-server"
         KEYRING_USERNAME = "monarch-token"
         keyring.set_password(KEYRING_SERVICE, KEYRING_USERNAME, token)
-        logger.info("✅ Token saved securely to keyring")
+        logger.info("Token saved securely to keyring")
     except Exception as e:
-        logger.warning(f"⚠️  Failed to save token to keyring (non-fatal): {e}")
+        logger.warning(f"Failed to save token to keyring (non-fatal): {e}")
 
 
 async def get_authenticated_client() -> MonarchMoney:
@@ -58,11 +58,11 @@ async def get_authenticated_client() -> MonarchMoney:
             _client_instance = MonarchMoney(token=token)
             return _client_instance
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.error(f"❌ Failed to initialize MonarchMoney with token: {e}")
+            logger.error(f"Failed to initialize MonarchMoney with token: {e}")
             raise
 
     raise RuntimeError(
-        "🔐 Authentication required. Please provide MONARCH_TOKEN or run login_setup.py"
+        "Authentication required. Please provide MONARCH_TOKEN or run login_setup.py"
     )
 
 
@@ -86,11 +86,11 @@ async def refresh_authentication() -> MonarchMoney:
 
     try:
         await mm.login(email, password, mfa_secret_key=mfa_secret, save_session=False)
-        logger.info("✅ Re-authentication successful")
+        logger.info("Re-authentication successful")
         _client_instance = mm
         return mm
     except Exception as e:
-        logger.error(f"❌ Re-authentication failed: {e}")
+        logger.error(f"Re-authentication failed: {e}")
         raise
 
 
@@ -127,12 +127,16 @@ def retry_on_auth_error(max_retries: int = 1):
 
                     if is_auth_error and attempt < max_retries:
                         logger.warning(
-                            f"⚠️  Authentication failure detected (attempt {attempt + 1}/{max_retries + 1}), re-authenticating..."
+                            f"Authentication failed in {func.__name__}, refreshing token... "
+                            f"(attempt {attempt + 1}/{max_retries + 1})"
                         )
                         await refresh_authentication()
                         continue
-                    else:
-                        raise
+
+                    # Only log error for non-auth errors (auth errors were already logged as warnings)
+                    if not is_auth_error:
+                        logger.error(f"Request failed in {func.__name__}: {e}")
+                    raise
 
         return wrapper
 
diff --git a/src/monarch_mcp_custom/server.py b/src/monarch_mcp_custom/server.py
index abb34d8..5948461 100644
--- a/src/monarch_mcp_custom/server.py
+++ b/src/monarch_mcp_custom/server.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Monarch Money MCP Server - Custom SSE Implementation.
 
 import logging
 import json
+import os
 from typing import Optional, Any
 
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
@@ -17,9 +18,11 @@ from monarch_mcp_custom.auth import get_authenticated_client, retry_on_auth_erro
 # Load environment variables
 load_dotenv()
 
-# Configure logging
+# Configure logging with LOG_LEVEL from environment
+log_level = os.getenv("LOG_LEVEL", "INFO").upper()
 logging.basicConfig(
-    level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s"
+    level=getattr(logging, log_level, logging.INFO),
+    format="%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s",
 )
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -124,13 +127,23 @@ async def get_budgets(reason: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
     return serialize_json(budget_list)
 
 
+def validate_account_id(account_id: str) -> int:
+    """Validate and convert account_id to integer."""
+    if not account_id or not account_id.strip():
+        raise ValueError("account_id must be provided and cannot be empty")
+    try:
+        return int(account_id.strip())
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        raise ValueError("account_id must be a valid integer")
+
+
 @mcp.tool()
 @retry_on_auth_error()
 async def get_account_holdings(account_id: str, reason: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
     """Get investment holdings for a specific account."""
+    validated_id = validate_account_id(account_id)
     client = await get_authenticated_client()
-    # The library expects an int for account_id
-    holdings = await client.get_account_holdings(int(account_id))
+    holdings = await client.get_account_holdings(validated_id)
     return serialize_json(holdings)
 
 
@@ -176,4 +189,5 @@ app = create_app()
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     import uvicorn
 
-    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=8000)
+    port = int(os.getenv("PORT", "8000"))
+    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=port)