diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 34e7611..5cfbe76 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 config.json
 node_modules
-recordings
\ No newline at end of file
+recordings
+.idea
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 5509a94..f47b794 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ const client = new Discord.Client();
 const config = require('./config.json');
 const commands = require(`./bin/commands`);
 
+//in case the bot was not configured properly
+if(!config.PREFIX || !config.BOT_TOKEN) {
+    console.error("Error: the configuration file was configured properly.");
+    console.error("Make sure there are no spelling mistakes.");
+    process.exit(1);
+}
+
 client.on('message', msg => {
     if (msg.content.startsWith(config.PREFIX)) {
         const commandBody = msg.content.substring(config.PREFIX.length).split(' ');