diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c8ded1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "name": "polymech-astro",
+  "lockfileVersion": 3,
+  "requires": true,
+  "packages": {}
+}
diff --git a/packages/polymech/src/app/_navigation.bak b/packages/polymech/src/app/_navigation.bak
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc8fe1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/polymech/src/app/_navigation.bak
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { translate } from '@/base/i18n.js'
+import { I18N_SOURCE_LANGUAGE } from './config.js'
+import config from "./config.json" with { "type": "json" }
+import pMap from 'p-map'
+
+export const items = async (opts: { locale: string }) => {
+    const _T = async (text: string) => await translate(text, I18N_SOURCE_LANGUAGE, opts.locale)
+    return [
+        {
+            "href": `/${opts.locale}`,
+            "title": _T("Home"),
+            "ariaLabel": "Home",
+            "class": "hover:text-orange-600"
+        },
+        {
+            "href": `/${opts.locale}/resources/home`,
+            "title": _T("Resources"),
+            "ariaLabel": "Resources",
+            "class": "hover:text-orange-600"
+        }
+    ]
+}
+export const footer_left = async (locale: string) => {
+    const _T = async (text: string) => await translate(text, I18N_SOURCE_LANGUAGE, locale)
+    return await pMap(config.footer_left, async (item: any) => {
+        return {
+            "href": `${item.href}`,
+            "title": await _T(item.text),
+            "ariaLabel": item.text,
+            "class": "hover:text-orange-600"
+        }
+    });
+}
+export const footer_right = async (locale: string) => {
+    const _T = async (text: string) => await translate(text, I18N_SOURCE_LANGUAGE, locale)
+    return await pMap(config.footer_right, async (item: any) => {
+        return {
+            "href": `/${item.href}`,
+            "title": await _T(item.text),
+            "ariaLabel": item.text,
+            "class": "hover:text-orange-600"
+        }
+    });
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/polymech/src/app/config-loader.ts b/packages/polymech/src/app/config-loader.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60c74f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/polymech/src/app/config-loader.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+
+import * as fs from "fs";
+import * as path from "path";
+
+import { substitute } from "@polymech/commons/variables";
+import { appConfigSchema } from "@/app/config.schema.js";
+import type { AppConfig } from "@/app/config.schema.js";
+
+import { I18N_SOURCE_LANGUAGE } from "@/app/config.js"
+
+const DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH = path.resolve("./app-config.json");
+
+export function loadConfig(
+    locale: string = I18N_SOURCE_LANGUAGE,
+    configPath: string = DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH
+): AppConfig {
+    let rawContent: string;
+    try {
+        rawContent = fs.readFileSync(configPath, 'utf-8');
+    } catch (error) {
+        throw new Error(`Failed to read config file at ${configPath}: ${error}`);
+    }
+
+    const variables = {
+        LANG: locale,
+        ...process.env
+    };
+
+    const substitutedContent = substitute(false, rawContent, variables);
+
+    let parsedConfig: unknown;
+    try {
+        parsedConfig = JSON.parse(substitutedContent);
+    } catch (error) {
+        throw new Error(`Failed to parse config JSON after substitution: ${error}`);
+    }
+
+    const result = appConfigSchema.safeParse(parsedConfig);
+
+    if (!result.success) {
+        throw new Error(`Config validation failed: ${result.error.message}`);
+    }
+
+    return result.data;
+}