diff --git a/api/config/config.js b/api/config/config.js
index 549212b..b1d5ca0 100644
--- a/api/config/config.js
+++ b/api/config/config.js
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ module.exports = {
     db: 'cc',
   },
 
+  dev: {
+    env: 'dev'
+  },
+
   test: {
     port: 3001,
     db: 'cc-test',
diff --git a/api/package.json b/api/package.json
index f86c04f..5249ecb 100644
--- a/api/package.json
+++ b/api/package.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
     "start": "NODE_ENV=production node server.js",
-    "dev": "nodemon server.js",
+    "dev": "NODE_ENV=dev nodemon server.js",
     "test": "mocha --require ./test/config/spec_helper.js",
     "e2e": "NODE_ENV=test node server.js"
   },
diff --git a/api/server.js b/api/server.js
index d0216d5..9cab504 100644
--- a/api/server.js
+++ b/api/server.js
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ app.use(restAPIchecks);
 app.use(urls.signatures, signatureRouter);
 
 // initialize logging here to exclude /signature requests
-if (!process.env.NODE_ENV) {
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === config.dev.env) {
   // development logging
   app.use(requestLogger('dev'));
 } else if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== config.test.env) {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e178efb..3eada58 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
   "license": "MIT",
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
-    "start": "npm run deploy-static-prod && NODE_ENV=production node ./api/server.js",
-    "dev": "npm run deploy-static && nodemon ./api/server.js",
+    "start": "npm run deploy-static-prod && npm start --prefix ./api",
+    "dev": "npm run deploy-static && npm run dev --prefix ./api",
     "deploy-static": "cd ./static && ng build && ln -s ../api/resource/ ../public/resource",
     "deploy-static-prod": "cd ./static && ng build --env=prod && ln -s ../api/resource/ ../public/resource",
     "postinstall": "npm install --prefix ./static && npm install --prefix  ./api",