diff --git a/src/server/app.py b/src/server/app.py
index d8f2e67..d796223 100644
--- a/src/server/app.py
+++ b/src/server/app.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from flask import Flask, jsonify, request, send_from_directory
 from flask_cors import CORS
 import os
+import sys
 
 app = Flask(__name__)
 CORS(app)  # Enable CORS for all routes
@@ -11,6 +12,33 @@ from parse_archive import ArchiveParser
 # Initialize the archive parser
 archive_parser = ArchiveParser()
 
+# Validate archive directory at startup
+def validate_archive_directory():
+    """Validate that the archive directory exists and has content"""
+    archive_dir = os.environ.get('ARCHIVE_DIR', '/app/archive')
+    print(f"Checking archive directory: {archive_dir}")
+    
+    if not os.path.exists(archive_dir):
+        print(f"ERROR: Archive directory does not exist: {archive_dir}")
+        return False
+    
+    try:
+        # Try to list directories in archive
+        dirs = os.listdir(archive_dir)
+        if not dirs:
+            print(f"WARNING: Archive directory is empty: {archive_dir}")
+        else:
+            print(f"INFO: Archive directory contains {len(dirs)} items")
+        return True
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"ERROR: Cannot access archive directory {archive_dir}: {e}")
+        return False
+
+# Validate at startup
+if not validate_archive_directory():
+    print("FATAL: Archive directory validation failed. Application cannot start.")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
 
 # Serve static files from the website directory
 # The website directory is at the same level as the src directory