diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dbad1308
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+venv/
+build/
+__pycache__/
+pyvenv.cfg
+.env/
+bin/
+lib/
diff --git a/settings/__init__.py b/settings/__init__.py
index fcfb5b93..ba62efd9 100644
--- a/settings/__init__.py
+++ b/settings/__init__.py
@@ -14,16 +14,17 @@ WHATSMINER_PWD = "admin"
 
 DEBUG = False
 
+settings_keys = {}
+
 try:
     with open(
         os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "settings.toml"), "r"
     ) as settings_file:
         settings = toml.loads(settings_file.read())
+    settings_keys = settings.keys()
 except:
     pass
 
-settings_keys = settings.keys()
-
 if "ping_retries" in settings_keys:
     NETWORK_PING_RETRIES: int = settings["ping_retries"]
 if "ping_timeout" in settings_keys: