diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index c1f19e7f0..6d36314d2 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -18,12 +18,20 @@
       "autoAttachChildProcesses": true,
       "console": "integratedTerminal",
       "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/apps/api",
-      "envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env",
+      "env": {
+        "GHOSTFOLIO_ENV_FILE": "${workspaceFolder}/.env"
+      },
       "name": "Debug API",
       "outFiles": ["${workspaceFolder}/dist/apps/api/**/*.js"],
       "program": "${workspaceFolder}/apps/api/src/main.ts",
       "request": "launch",
-      "runtimeArgs": ["--nolazy", "-r", "ts-node/register"],
+      "runtimeArgs": [
+        "--nolazy",
+        "-r",
+        "ts-node/register",
+        "-r",
+        "${workspaceFolder}/tools/load-env.ts"
+      ],
       "skipFiles": [
         "${workspaceFolder}/node_modules/**/*.js",
         "<node_internals>/**/*.js"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d094f394b..558cd64e6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Extended the countries mapping in the data enhancer for asset profile data via _Trackinsight_
 - Removed the deprecated attributes (`assetClass`, `assetClassLabel`, `assetSubClass`, `assetSubClassLabel`, `countries`, `currency`, `dataSource`, `holdings`, `name`, `sectors`, `symbol` and `url`) from the holdings of the portfolio details endpoint response
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Fixed the environment variable expansion in the `.env` file when debugging via _Visual Studio Code_
+
 ## 3.6.0 - 2026-05-28
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/tools/load-env.ts b/tools/load-env.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3dd0d03c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/load-env.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { config } from 'dotenv';
+import { expand } from 'dotenv-expand';
+
+expand(config({ path: process.env.GHOSTFOLIO_ENV_FILE, quiet: true }));