diff --git a/src/server.ts b/src/server.ts
index 802bf44..a413cf6 100644
--- a/src/server.ts
+++ b/src/server.ts
@@ -41,27 +41,59 @@ type RouteMap = Record<string, RouteEntry>;
 // ----- Helpers --------------------------------------------------------------
 
 /**
- * Normalize a raw env-var value. Some hosting platforms (Coolify included)
- * wrap pasted JSON values in extra quotes when the user doesn't quote-escape
- * properly, producing strings like:
- *   "{\"square\":{...}}"
- * which JSON.parse cannot read at position 1.
+ * Normalize a raw env-var value. Different hosting platforms apply different
+ * (and surprising) transformations when you paste a JSON value into an
+ * env-var field. We've observed at least:
  *
- * This helper:
- *   1. Trims whitespace
- *   2. Strips a single surrounding layer of `"` or `'`
- *   3. Unescapes `\"` -> `"`, `\'` -> `'`, and `\\` -> `\`
+ *   1. Raw JSON pasted in:                          {"square":{"project":"x"}}
+ *   2. Wrapped in a single layer of quotes:         "{"square":{"project":"x"}}"
+ *   3. Wrapped AND every inner quote escaped:       "{\"square\":{\"project\":\"x\"}}"
+ *   4. Inner quotes escaped, no outer wrapping:    {\"square\":{\"project\":\"x\"}}
+ *
+ * This helper walks through each plausible unescaping and returns the first
+ * one that produces a syntactically valid JSON string. If none succeed, the
+ * raw value is returned and JSON.parse will throw a clear error.
  */
 function normalizeEnvValue(raw: string): string {
+  if (!raw) return raw;
+
   let value = raw.trim();
-  if (
-    (value.startsWith('"') && value.endsWith('"')) ||
-    (value.startsWith("'") && value.endsWith("'"))
-  ) {
-    value = value.slice(1, -1);
-    value = value.replace(/\\"/g, '"').replace(/\\'/g, "'").replace(/\\\\/g, '\\');
+
+  const candidates: string[] = [
+    value,
+    // Strip a single surrounding layer of `"` or `'`
+    stripWrappingQuotes(value),
+    // Unescape every \" -> "  (handles Coolify double-escape)
+    value.replace(/\\"/g, '"').replace(/\\'/g, "'").replace(/\\\\/g, '\\'),
+    // Combined: strip wrapping quotes AND unescape inner escapes
+    stripWrappingQuotes(value).replace(/\\"/g, '"').replace(/\\'/g, "'").replace(/\\\\/g, '\\'),
+  ];
+
+  // Dedupe and try each
+  const seen = new Set<string>();
+  for (const candidate of candidates) {
+    const trimmed = candidate.trim();
+    if (seen.has(trimmed)) continue;
+    seen.add(trimmed);
+    try {
+      JSON.parse(trimmed);
+      return trimmed;
+    } catch {
+      // try next
+    }
   }
-  return value.trim();
+
+  return value;
+}
+
+function stripWrappingQuotes(s: string): string {
+  if (
+    (s.startsWith('"') && s.endsWith('"')) ||
+    (s.startsWith("'") && s.endsWith("'"))
+  ) {
+    return s.slice(1, -1);
+  }
+  return s;
 }
 
 // ----- Config ---------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -81,7 +113,7 @@ try {
   const raw = (process.env.PROJECT_CREDENTIALS ?? '').slice(0, 300);
   console.error('[startup] PROJECT_CREDENTIALS is not valid JSON:', message);
   console.error('[startup] Received value (first 300 chars):', raw);
-  console.error('[startup] Hint: in Coolify, paste the JSON without surrounding quotes. If the platform wraps it, set the env var to a single-line value with no leading/trailing whitespace.');
+  console.error('[startup] Tried stripping wrapping quotes and unescaping \\"->". If you still see this, paste the JSON without any escaping.');
   process.exit(1);
 }