diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 492ce47..4a3425f 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -30,21 +30,42 @@ if [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; then
   exit
 fi
 
+# Set default values (if needed)
+DEFAULT_DOCKER_HOST="tcp://docker:2376"
+DEFAULT_DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY="1"
+DEFAULT_DOCKER_CERT_PATH="/certs/client"
+
+# Ensure the variables are not empty by using explicit checks
+DOCKER_HOST="${RUNNER__DOCKER_HOST:-${DOCKER_HOST:-${DEFAULT_DOCKER_HOST}}}"
+DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY="${RUNNER__DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY:-${DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY:-${DEFAULT_DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY}}}"
+DOCKER_CERT_PATH="${DOCKER_CERT_PATH:-${DEFAULT_DOCKER_CERT_PATH}}"
+
+RUNNER__container__DOCKER_HOST="${RUNNER__DOCKER_HOST:-${DOCKER_HOST:-${DEFAULT_DOCKER_HOST}}}"
+RUNNER__runner__INSECURE="${RUNNER__DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY:-${DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY:-${DEFAULT_DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY}}}"
+
+RUNNER__container__NETWORK="${RUNNER__container__NETWORK:-host}"
+RUNNER__container__OPTIONS="${RUNNER__container__OPTIONS:-} -v ${DOCKER_CERT_PATH}:${DOCKER_CERT_PATH}:ro"
+RUNNER__container__VALID_VOLUMES="${RUNNER__container__VALID_VOLUMES:-} ${DOCKER_CERT_PATH}"
+RUNNER__container__PRIVILEGED="${RUNNER__container__PRIVILEGED:-true}"
+
+RUNNER__runner__FILE="${RUNNER__runner__FILE:-/data/runner.json}"
+
+decho "DOCKER_HOST: ${DOCKER_HOST}"
+decho "DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY: ${DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY}"
+decho "DOCKER_CERT_PATH: ${DOCKER_CERT_PATH}"
+decho "RUNNER__container__DOCKER_HOST: ${RUNNER__container__DOCKER_HOST}"
+decho "RUNNER__runner__INSECURE: ${RUNNER__runner__INSECURE}"
+decho "RUNNER__container__NETWORK: ${RUNNER__container__NETWORK}"
+decho "RUNNER__container__OPTIONS: ${RUNNER__container__OPTIONS}"
+decho "RUNNER__container__VALID_VOLUMES: ${RUNNER__container__VALID_VOLUMES}"
+decho "RUNNER__container__PRIVILEGED: ${RUNNER__container__PRIVILEGED}"
+decho "RUNNER__runner__FILE: ${RUNNER__runner__FILE}"
+
 # Use environment variables directly, with fallback defaults if not set
 RUNNER__CONFIG_FILE="${RUNNER__CONFIG_FILE:-/data/config.yml}"
 ENV_FILE="${ENV_FILE:-/data/.env}"
-RUNNER__RUNNER__FILE="${RUNNER__RUNNER__FILE:-/data/runner.json}"
-
 # Set config arguments
 CONFIG_ARG="--config ${RUNNER__CONFIG_FILE}"
-
-# Container-specific environment variables
-RUNNER__CONTAINER__NETWORK="${RUNNER__CONTAINER__NETWORK:-host}"
-RUNNER__CONTAINER__ENABLE_IPV6="${RUNNER__CONTAINER__ENABLE_IPV6:-false}"
-RUNNER__CONTAINER__PRIVILEGED="${RUNNER__CONTAINER__PRIVILEGED:-false}"
-RUNNER__CONTAINER__LABELS="${RUNNER__CONTAINER__LABELS:-}"
-RUNNER__CONTAINER__VALID_VOLUMES="${RUNNER__CONTAINER__VALID_VOLUMES:-}"
-
 # Show config variables
 decho "CONFIG: ${CONFIG_ARG}"
 
@@ -60,8 +81,8 @@ decho "Using environment file: ${ENV_FILE}"
 
 # Set extra arguments from environment variables
 EXTRA_ARGS=""
-if [[ -n "${RUNNER__CONTAINER__LABELS}" ]]; then
-  EXTRA_ARGS="${EXTRA_ARGS} --labels ${RUNNER__CONTAINER__LABELS}"
+if [[ -n "${RUNNER__container__LABELS}" ]]; then
+  EXTRA_ARGS="${EXTRA_ARGS} --labels ${RUNNER__container__LABELS}"
 fi
 decho "EXTRA_ARGS: ${EXTRA_ARGS}"
 
@@ -71,8 +92,8 @@ if [[ "${SKIP_WAIT}" != "true" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # Try to register the runner
-if [[ ! -s "${RUNNER__RUNNER__FILE}" ]]; then
-  touch ${RUNNER__RUNNER__FILE}
+if [[ ! -s "${RUNNER__runner__FILE}" ]]; then
+  touch ${RUNNER__runner__FILE}
   try=$((try + 1))
   success=0
   decho "try: ${try}, success: ${success}"
diff --git a/examples/docker-compose/compose-forgejo-and-runner.yml b/examples/docker-compose/compose-forgejo-and-runner.yml
index 7ae268d..00a2c2f 100644
--- a/examples/docker-compose/compose-forgejo-and-runner.yml
+++ b/examples/docker-compose/compose-forgejo-and-runner.yml
@@ -78,20 +78,15 @@ services:
       FORGEJO_SECRET: "02f8e8ed1bd08d55338026d04b5513684ff23c1f" # shared secret, must match Forgejo's, overrides RUNNER_TOKEN
       RUNNER_TOKEN: ${RUNNER_TOKEN} # token obtained from Forgejo web interface
 
-      RUNNER__CONFIG_FILE: config.yml # defaults to /data/config.yml
-      RUNNER__NAME: forgejo-runner # defaults to forgejo-runner
-      RUNNER__RUNNER__FILE: .runner # defaults to /data/runner.json
-      
-      RUNNER__CONTAINER__PRIVILEGED: "true" # defaults to false for security reasons
-      RUNNER__CONTAINER_OPTIONS: -v /certs/client:/certs/client:ro # needed for TLS
-      RUNNER__CONTAINER__DOCKER_HOST: "tcp://docker:2376" # defaults to "-", an available docker host will automatically be found
-      RUNNER__RUNNER__INSECURE: false
-      RUNNER__RUNNER__ENVS: |
-        DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker:2376
-        DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
-        DOCKER_CERT_PATH=/certs/client # defaults to empty
-      RUNNER__RUNNER__LABELS: |
-        "docker:docker://code.forgejo.org/oci/node:20-bookworm"
-      
-      DEBUG: "true" # defaults to false, set to true to enable debug logging in the entrypoint
-      SKIP_WAIT: "false" # defaults to false, set to true to skip the 10 second wait to allow for forgejo and docker-in-docker to start
+      DOCKER_HOST: tcp://docker:2376
+      DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY: 1
+      DOCKER_CERT_PATH: /certs/client
+
+      RUNNER__log__LEVEL: "debug"
+      RUNNER__container__PRIVILEGED: "true"
+      RUNNER__runner__LABELS: |
+        docker:docker://code.forgejo.org/oci/node:20-bookworm
+
+      DEBUG: "true"
+      SKIP_WAIT: "false"
+      SLEEP_DEBUG: "false" # toggles wether to sleep indefinitely after starting the runner
diff --git a/internal/pkg/config/config-env.go b/internal/pkg/config/config-env.go
index 0664df2..3937a62 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/config/config-env.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/config/config-env.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 // loadEnvVars loads configuration settings from environment variables
@@ -14,53 +16,59 @@ func loadEnvVars(config *Config) {
 	// This implementation causes env-vars to override config file settings,
 	// without writing to the config file.
 
-	// SkipEnv if variable is set
-	if _, ok := os.LookupEnv("RUNNER__SKIP_ENV"); ok {
-		return
+	if debug, ok := os.LookupEnv("DEBUG"); ok && debug == "true" {
+		log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
+		log.Debug("Debug logging enabled")
 	}
 
 	// Log
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__LOG__LEVEL", &config.Log.Level)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__LOG__JOB_LEVEL", &config.Log.JobLevel)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__log__LEVEL", &config.Log.Level)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__log__JOB_LEVEL", &config.Log.JobLevel)
 
 	// Runner
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__FILE", &config.Runner.File)
-	loadEnvInt(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__CAPACITY", &config.Runner.Capacity)
-	loadEnvTable(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__ENVS", &config.Runner.Envs)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__ENV_FILE", &config.Runner.EnvFile)
-	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT", &config.Runner.ShutdownTimeout)
-	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__INSECURE", &config.Runner.Insecure)
-	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__FETCH_TIMEOUT", &config.Runner.FetchTimeout)
-	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__FETCH_INTERVAL", &config.Runner.FetchInterval)
-	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__REPORT_INTERVAL", &config.Runner.ReportInterval)
-	loadEnvList(config, "RUNNER__RUNNER__LABELS", &config.Runner.Labels)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__runner__FILE", &config.Runner.File)
+	loadEnvInt(config, "RUNNER__runner__CAPACITY", &config.Runner.Capacity)
+	loadEnvTable(config, "RUNNER__runner__ENVS", &config.Runner.Envs)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__runner__ENV_FILE", &config.Runner.EnvFile)
+	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__runner__SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT", &config.Runner.ShutdownTimeout)
+	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__runner__INSECURE", &config.Runner.Insecure)
+	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__runner__FETCH_TIMEOUT", &config.Runner.FetchTimeout)
+	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__runner__FETCH_INTERVAL", &config.Runner.FetchInterval)
+	loadEnvDuration(config, "RUNNER__runner__REPORT_INTERVAL", &config.Runner.ReportInterval)
+	loadEnvList(config, "RUNNER__runner__LABELS", &config.Runner.Labels)
 
 	// Cache
-	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__CACHE__ENABLED", config.Cache.Enabled)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CACHE__DIR", &config.Cache.Dir)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CACHE__HOST", &config.Cache.Host)
-	loadEnvUInt16(config, "RUNNER__CACHE__PORT", &config.Cache.Port)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CACHE__EXTERNAL_SERVER", &config.Cache.ExternalServer)
+	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__cache__ENABLED", config.Cache.Enabled)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__cache__DIR", &config.Cache.Dir)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__cache__HOST", &config.Cache.Host)
+	loadEnvUInt16(config, "RUNNER__cache__PORT", &config.Cache.Port)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__cache__EXTERNAL_SERVER", &config.Cache.ExternalServer)
 
 	// Container
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__NETWORK", &config.Container.Network)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__NETWORK_MODE", &config.Container.NetworkMode)
-	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__ENABLE_IPV6", &config.Container.EnableIPv6)
-	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__PRIVILEGED", &config.Container.Privileged)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__OPTIONS", &config.Container.Options)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__WORKDIR_PARENT", &config.Container.WorkdirParent)
-	loadEnvList(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__VALID_VOLUMES", &config.Container.ValidVolumes)
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__DOCKER_HOST", &config.Container.DockerHost)
-	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__CONTAINER__FORCE_PULL", &config.Container.ForcePull)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__container__NETWORK", &config.Container.Network)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__container__NETWORK_MODE", &config.Container.NetworkMode)
+	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__container__ENABLE_IPV6", &config.Container.EnableIPv6)
+	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__container__PRIVILEGED", &config.Container.Privileged)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__container__OPTIONS", &config.Container.Options)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__container__WORKDIR_PARENT", &config.Container.WorkdirParent)
+	loadEnvList(config, "RUNNER__container__VALID_VOLUMES", &config.Container.ValidVolumes)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__container__DOCKER_HOST", &config.Container.DockerHost)
+	loadEnvBool(config, "RUNNER__container__FORCE_PULL", &config.Container.ForcePull)
 
 	// Host
-	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__HOST__WORKDIR_PARENT", &config.Host.WorkdirParent)
+	loadEnvStr(config, "RUNNER__host__WORKDIR_PARENT", &config.Host.WorkdirParent)
 }
 
-// loadEnvStr loads an environment variable into the provided string pointer if it exists.
+// General Coverage Docs for below:
+// loadEnvType, where Type is the type of the variable being loaded, loads an environment variable into the provided pointer if the environment variable exists and is not empty.
+// The key parameter is the environment variable key to look for.
+// The dest parameter is a pointer to the variable to load the environment variable into.
+// Config is present but unused, it remains for future use to prevent the need to redo the above functions.
+
 func loadEnvStr(config *Config, key string, dest *string) {
 	// Example: RUNNER__LOG__LEVEL = "info"
 	if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" {
+		log.Debug("Loading env var: ", key, "=", v)
 		*dest = v
 	}
 }
@@ -70,6 +78,7 @@ func loadEnvInt(config *Config, key string, dest *int) {
 	// Example: RUNNER__RUNNER__CAPACITY = "1"
 	if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" {
 		if intValue, err := strconv.Atoi(v); err == nil {
+			log.Debug("Loading env var: ", key, "=", v)
 			*dest = intValue
 		}
 	}
@@ -80,6 +89,7 @@ func loadEnvUInt16(config *Config, key string, dest *uint16) {
 	// Example: RUNNER__CACHE__PORT = "8080"
 	if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" {
 		if uint16Value, err := strconv.ParseUint(v, 10, 16); err == nil {
+			log.Debug("Loading env var: ", key, "=", v)
 			*dest = uint16(uint16Value)
 		}
 	}
@@ -90,6 +100,7 @@ func loadEnvDuration(config *Config, key string, dest *time.Duration) {
 	// Example: RUNNER__RUNNER__SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT = "3h"
 	if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" {
 		if durationValue, err := time.ParseDuration(v); err == nil {
+			log.Debug("Loading env var: ", key, "=", v)
 			*dest = durationValue
 		}
 	}
@@ -100,6 +111,7 @@ func loadEnvBool(config *Config, key string, dest *bool) {
 	// Example: RUNNER__RUNNER__INSECURE = "false"
 	if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" {
 		if boolValue, err := strconv.ParseBool(v); err == nil {
+			log.Debug("Loading env var: ", key, "=", v)
 			*dest = boolValue
 		}
 	}
@@ -123,6 +135,7 @@ func loadEnvTable(config *Config, key string, dest *map[string]string) {
 func loadEnvList(config *Config, key string, dest *[]string) {
 	// Example: RUNNER__RUNNER__LABELS = "label1, label2, label3"
 	if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" {
+		log.Debug("Loading env var: ", key, "=", v)
 		*dest = splitAndTrim(v)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/pkg/config/config.go b/internal/pkg/config/config.go
index 0a4b548..80508de 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -173,5 +173,15 @@ func LoadDefault(file string) (*Config, error) {
 	// Load environment variables at the end to allow for overriding the default values.
 	loadEnvVars(cfg)
 
+	// Write the state of the config, including default values, to a debug file.
+	debugFile := file + ".debug.yml"
+	content, err := yaml.Marshal(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("marshal config to debug file %q: %w", debugFile, err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(debugFile, content, 0644); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("write debug config file %q: %w", debugFile, err)
+	}
+
 	return cfg, nil
 }