[SECURITY] API keys or secrets in environment files committed to repo

[Siddh2024]

Description

The .env file or environment example file (.env.example) contains placeholder API keys/secrets that were committed to the repository. If real secrets were ever in this file, they are exposed in git history.

Suggested Fix

1. Ensure .env is in .gitignore
2. Rotate any secrets that may have been committed
3. Use .env.example with placeholder values only