diff --git a/Controllers/AppController.cs b/Controllers/AppController.cs
index a06567a..3a44c92 100644
--- a/Controllers/AppController.cs
+++ b/Controllers/AppController.cs
@@ -83,7 +83,11 @@ public ActionResult<string> sayhello()
             var connectionString = app.GetConnectionString("StorageAccount");
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(connectionString))
             {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException("Storage account connection string is not configured.");
+                return BadRequest(new { 
+                    error = "Storage account connection string is not configured.", 
+                    details = "Please configure the 'StorageAccount' connection string in app settings or appsettings.json",
+                    configurationKey = "ConnectionStrings:StorageAccount"
+                });
             }
 
             try
@@ -94,7 +98,11 @@ public ActionResult<string> sayhello()
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to connect to storage account: {ex.Message}", ex);
+                return StatusCode(500, new { 
+                    error = "Failed to connect to storage account", 
+                    details = ex.Message,
+                    connectionString = connectionString.Length > 20 ? connectionString.Substring(0, 20) + "..." : connectionString
+                });
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/appsettings.Development.json b/appsettings.Development.json
index 0c208ae..0b5f1ba 100644
--- a/appsettings.Development.json
+++ b/appsettings.Development.json
@@ -4,5 +4,8 @@
       "Default": "Information",
       "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
     }
+  },
+  "ConnectionStrings": {
+    "StorageAccount": "UseDevelopmentStorage=true"
   }
 }