diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 788a04ad74ca..0b4945d42bb3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ node_modules_bak/
 
 # dotenv environment variables file
 .env
+.env*
 
 #vs code
 .vscode/*
diff --git a/frontend/src/html/popups.html b/frontend/src/html/popups.html
index bbe596c993b9..686dd1306e99 100644
--- a/frontend/src/html/popups.html
+++ b/frontend/src/html/popups.html
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
     <button class="xpBarTest">xp bar test</button>
     <button class="toggleFakeChartData">toggle fake chart data</button>
     <button class="toggleCaretDebug">toggle caret debug</button>
+    <button class="disableSlowTimerFail">disable slow timer fail</button>
   </div>
 </dialog>
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/insert-text.ts b/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/insert-text.ts
index b3c1f67ca22c..598336af93b1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/insert-text.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/insert-text.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ export async function onInsertText(options: OnInsertTextParams): Promise<void> {
     // make sure to not call TestInput.input.syncWithInputElement in here
     // it will be updated later in the body of onInsertText
     setInputElementValue(inputValue.slice(0, -options.data.length));
+    TestInput.input.syncWithInputElement();
     for (let i = 0; i < options.data.length; i++) {
       const char = options.data[i] as string;
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/keydown.ts b/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/keydown.ts
index dc87f89f3459..4bbe80224e84 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/keydown.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/ts/input/handlers/keydown.ts
@@ -152,12 +152,6 @@ async function handleFunboxes(
 }
 
 export async function onKeydown(event: KeyboardEvent): Promise<void> {
-  console.debug("wordsInput event keydown", {
-    event,
-    key: event.key,
-    code: event.code,
-  });
-
   const now = performance.now();
   TestInput.recordKeydownTime(now, event);
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/ts/input/input-element.ts b/frontend/src/ts/input/input-element.ts
index 44b1de1edab0..6d8c0a946232 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ts/input/input-element.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/ts/input/input-element.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-const el = document.querySelector("#wordsInput") as HTMLInputElement;
+const el = document.querySelector("#wordsInput") as HTMLTextAreaElement;
 
 if (el === null) {
   throw new Error("Words input element not found");
 }
 
-export function getInputElement(): HTMLInputElement {
+export function getInputElement(): HTMLTextAreaElement {
   return el;
 }
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/ts/input/listeners/misc.ts b/frontend/src/ts/input/listeners/misc.ts
index 10e985070c4e..8c49762e0c44 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ts/input/listeners/misc.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/ts/input/listeners/misc.ts
@@ -20,20 +20,17 @@ inputEl.addEventListener("select selectstart", (event) => {
 
 inputEl.addEventListener("selectionchange", (event) => {
   const selection = window.getSelection();
+
   console.debug("wordsInput event selectionchange", {
     event,
     selection: selection?.toString(),
     isCollapsed: selection?.isCollapsed,
-    selectionStart: (event.target as HTMLInputElement).selectionStart,
-    selectionEnd: (event.target as HTMLInputElement).selectionEnd,
+    selectionStart: inputEl.selectionStart,
+    selectionEnd: inputEl.selectionEnd,
   });
-  const el = event.target;
-  if (el === null || !(el instanceof HTMLInputElement)) {
-    return;
-  }
 
-  const hasSelectedText = el.selectionStart !== el.selectionEnd;
-  const isCursorAtEnd = el.selectionStart === el.value.length;
+  const hasSelectedText = inputEl.selectionStart !== inputEl.selectionEnd;
+  const isCursorAtEnd = inputEl.selectionStart === inputEl.value.length;
   if (hasSelectedText || !isCursorAtEnd) {
     moveInputElementCaretToTheEnd();
   }
diff --git a/frontend/src/ts/modals/dev-options.ts b/frontend/src/ts/modals/dev-options.ts
index 36c632e53dc4..9742c6e8832c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ts/modals/dev-options.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/ts/modals/dev-options.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { update } from "../elements/xp-bar";
 import { toggleUserFakeChartData } from "../test/result";
 import { toggleCaretDebug } from "../utils/caret";
 import { getInputElement } from "../input/input-element";
+import { disableSlowTimerFail } from "../test/test-timer";
 
 let mediaQueryDebugLevel = 0;
 
@@ -94,6 +95,11 @@ async function setup(modalEl: HTMLElement): Promise<void> {
   modalEl.querySelector(".toggleCaretDebug")?.addEventListener("click", () => {
     toggleCaretDebug();
   });
+  modalEl
+    .querySelector(".disableSlowTimerFail")
+    ?.addEventListener("click", () => {
+      disableSlowTimerFail();
+    });
 }
 
 const modal = new AnimatedModal({
diff --git a/frontend/src/ts/test/test-timer.ts b/frontend/src/ts/test/test-timer.ts
index 3418ebc3dcb1..e0acebbd408b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ts/test/test-timer.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/ts/test/test-timer.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ let timer: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
 const interval = 1000;
 let expected = 0;
 
+let slowTimerFailEnabled = true;
+export function disableSlowTimerFail(): void {
+  slowTimerFailEnabled = false;
+}
+
 let timerDebug = false;
 export function enableTimerDebug(): void {
   timerDebug = true;
@@ -234,30 +239,32 @@ export async function start(): Promise<void> {
       expected: expected,
       nextDelay: delay,
     });
-    if (
-      (Config.mode === "time" && Config.time < 130 && Config.time > 0) ||
-      (Config.mode === "words" && Config.words < 250 && Config.words > 0)
-    ) {
-      if (delay < interval / 2) {
-        //slow timer
-        SlowTimer.set();
-        setLowFpsMode();
-      }
-      if (delay < interval / 10) {
-        slowTimerCount++;
-        if (slowTimerCount > 5) {
+    if (slowTimerFailEnabled) {
+      if (
+        (Config.mode === "time" && Config.time < 130 && Config.time > 0) ||
+        (Config.mode === "words" && Config.words < 250 && Config.words > 0)
+      ) {
+        if (delay < interval / 2) {
           //slow timer
-
-          Notifications.add(
-            'This could be caused by "efficiency mode" on Microsoft Edge.',
-          );
-
-          Notifications.add(
-            "Stopping the test due to bad performance. This would cause test calculations to be incorrect. If this happens a lot, please report this.",
-            -1,
-          );
-
-          TimerEvent.dispatch("fail", "slow timer");
+          SlowTimer.set();
+          setLowFpsMode();
+        }
+        if (delay < interval / 10) {
+          slowTimerCount++;
+          if (slowTimerCount > 5) {
+            //slow timer
+
+            Notifications.add(
+              'This could be caused by "efficiency mode" on Microsoft Edge.',
+            );
+
+            Notifications.add(
+              "Stopping the test due to bad performance. This would cause test calculations to be incorrect. If this happens a lot, please report this.",
+              -1,
+            );
+
+            TimerEvent.dispatch("fail", "slow timer");
+          }
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.js b/frontend/vite.config.js
index bf2572157c8f..dc08c12fdfbe 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.js
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.js
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 import { defineConfig, mergeConfig } from "vite";
 import injectHTML from "vite-plugin-html-inject";
 import autoprefixer from "autoprefixer";
-import "dotenv/config";
+import { config as dotenvConfig } from "dotenv";
 import PROD_CONFIG from "./vite.config.prod";
 import DEV_CONFIG from "./vite.config.dev";
 import MagicString from "magic-string";
 import { Fonts } from "./src/ts/constants/fonts";
 
+// Load environment variables based on NODE_ENV
+const envFile =
+  process.env.NODE_ENV === "production" ? ".env.production" : ".env";
+dotenvConfig({ path: envFile });
+
 /** @type {import("vite").UserConfig} */
 const BASE_CONFIG = {
   plugins: [
@@ -63,8 +68,13 @@ const BASE_CONFIG = {
 
 export default defineConfig(({ command }) => {
   if (command === "build") {
+    const envFileName =
+      process.env.NODE_ENV === "production" ? ".env.production" : ".env";
     if (process.env.RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY === undefined) {
-      throw new Error(".env: RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY is not defined");
+      throw new Error(`${envFileName}: RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY is not defined`);
+    }
+    if (process.env.SENTRY && process.env.SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN === undefined) {
+      throw new Error(`${envFileName}: SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN is not defined`);
     }
     return mergeConfig(BASE_CONFIG, PROD_CONFIG);
   } else {
diff --git a/packages/release/src/index.js b/packages/release/src/index.js
index f48ed7071096..dfbca0a07e97 100755
--- a/packages/release/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/release/src/index.js
@@ -179,15 +179,15 @@ const buildProject = () => {
 
   if (isFrontend && !isBackend) {
     runProjectRootCommand(
-      "SENTRY=1 npx turbo lint test check-assets build --filter @monkeytype/frontend --force",
+      "NODE_ENV=production SENTRY=1 npx turbo lint test check-assets build --filter @monkeytype/frontend --force",
     );
   } else if (isBackend && !isFrontend) {
     runProjectRootCommand(
-      "SENTRY=1 npx turbo lint test build --filter @monkeytype/backend --force",
+      "NODE_ENV=production SENTRY=1 npx turbo lint test build --filter @monkeytype/backend --force",
     );
   } else {
     runProjectRootCommand(
-      "SENTRY=1 npx turbo lint test check-assets build --force",
+      "NODE_ENV=production SENTRY=1 npx turbo lint test check-assets build --force",
     );
   }
 };