diff --git a/server/index.js b/server/index.js
index da82f05ad..40c5b5712 100644
--- a/server/index.js
+++ b/server/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 require('dotenv').config(); // Load environment variables from .env file
 
+// Import the state manager FIRST
+const stateManager = require('./state');
+
 // --- BEGIN Configuration Loading using configLoader --- 
 const { loadConfiguration, ConfigurationError } = require('./configLoader');
 
@@ -62,9 +65,6 @@ let pbsApiClients = {};
 const { fetchDiscoveryData, fetchMetricsData } = require('./dataFetcher');
 // --- END Data Fetching ---
 
-// Import the state manager
-const stateManager = require('./state');
-
 // Server configuration
 const DEBUG_METRICS = false; // Set to true to show detailed metrics logs
 const PORT = 7655; // Using a different port from the main server