diff --git a/api/src/buildconfig.ts b/api/src/buildconfig.ts
index 68a44e13c..6397f024d 100644
--- a/api/src/buildconfig.ts
+++ b/api/src/buildconfig.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ const FALSEY_STRINGS = ['false', '0', 'off', 'no'];
 export const CLUSTER_ADMIN_GROUP_NAME = 'cluster-admin';
 export const NOTEBOOK_CREATOR_GROUP_NAME = 'notebook-creator';
 
+// Constants
+
+// If a URL for the conductor instance is not provided this will be used as a fall-through
+const DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL = 'http://localhost:8080';
+
 /*
  * This is designed to get useful commit information data from
  * environment variables for the testing server. While more sophisticated
@@ -56,9 +61,13 @@ function commit_version(): string {
 function conductor_url(): string {
   const url = process.env.CONDUCTOR_PUBLIC_URL;
   if (url === '' || url === undefined) {
-    return 'http://localhost:8080';
+    console.warn(
+      `No value for CONDUCTOR_PUBLIC_URL was provided in the environment. Defaulting to ${DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL}.`
+    );
+    return DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL;
+  } else {
+    return url;
   }
-  return url;
 }
 
 function app_url(): string {
diff --git a/app/src/buildconfig.test.ts b/app/src/buildconfig.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..206e2c326
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/buildconfig.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021, 2022 Macquarie University
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0 (the, "License");
+ * you may not use, this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND either express or implied.
+ * See, the License, for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ *
+ * Filename: buildconfig.test.ts
+ * Description:
+ *   This test file checks that the parsing of conductor URLs meets specifications
+ */
+
+// eslint-disable-next-line n/no-unpublished-import
+import {expect, it, describe} from 'vitest';
+import {DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL, parseConductorUrls} from './buildconfig';
+
+describe('parse conductor URLs', () => {
+  it('defaults to the DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL if empty string provided', () => {
+    const res = parseConductorUrls('');
+    expect(res).toEqual([DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL]);
+  });
+  it('trims excess whitespace', () => {
+    const res = parseConductorUrls('value1,value2 , value 3 , value4');
+    expect(res).toEqual(['value1', 'value2', 'value 3', 'value4']);
+  });
+  it('removes trailing values properly', () => {
+    const res1 = parseConductorUrls('value1,');
+    expect(res1).toEqual(['value1']);
+    const res2 = parseConductorUrls('value1,   ');
+    expect(res2).toEqual(['value1']);
+  });
+  it('handles malformed inputs such as just commas with spaces by falling through to default', () => {
+    const res1 = parseConductorUrls(', ,,  , , ,,   ,   ');
+    expect(res1).toEqual([DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/app/src/buildconfig.ts b/app/src/buildconfig.ts
index 570108120..f8d15e521 100644
--- a/app/src/buildconfig.ts
+++ b/app/src/buildconfig.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
  * See, the License, for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  *
- * Filename: reportWebVitals.ts
+ * Filename: buildconfig.ts
  * Description:
  *   This module exports the configuration of the build, including things like
  *   which server to use and whether to include test data
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ import {BUILD_VERSION, BUILD_VERSION_DEFAULT} from './version';
 // need to define a local logError here since logging.tsx imports this file
 const logError = (err: any) => console.error(err);
 
+// Constants
+
+// Default conductor URL
+export const DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL = 'http://localhost:8154';
+
 const TRUTHY_STRINGS = ['true', '1', 'on', 'yes'];
 const FALSEY_STRINGS = ['false', '0', 'off', 'no'];
 
@@ -246,16 +251,50 @@ function get_bugsnag_key(): string | false {
   return bugsnag_key;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Splits the input, trimming for whitespace and filtering empty strings.
+ * Handles cases including an empty resulting list, and warns on empty strings
+ * being contained. Falls through to the DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL where needed.
+ * @returns A list of conductor URLs which can act as servers.
+ */
+export function parseConductorUrls(conductorUrls: string): string[] {
+  const urls = conductorUrls.split(',');
+  // Provide a warning if the split results in any empty strings
+  if (urls.some((url: string) => url.length === 0)) {
+    console.warn(
+      `CONDUCTOR_URL value was provided, but when split, contained entries which were empty. Value: ${conductorUrls}. After split: ${urls}.`
+    );
+  }
+  // return URLs without trailing whitespace and excluding any values which are empty e.g. due to a trailing comma
+
+  const filteredUrls = urls
+    .map((url: string) => url.trim())
+    .filter((url: string) => url.length > 0);
+
+  // Provide a warning if the split results in an empty list
+  if (!(filteredUrls.length > 0)) {
+    console.error(
+      `CONDUCTOR_URL value was provided, but when split, trimmed, and empty strings removed, had a length of zero. Value: ${conductorUrls}. After split: ${urls}. After filter: ${filteredUrls}. Returning default [${DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL}]`
+    );
+    return [DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL];
+  }
+
+  return filteredUrls;
+}
+/**
+ * Hands the VITE_CONDUCTOR_URL input to the parse conductor urls method,
+ * returning a safely handled list of conductor URLs.
+ * @returns A list of conductor URLs which can act as servers.
+ */
 function get_conductor_urls(): string[] {
-  const config = import.meta.env.VITE_CONDUCTOR_URL;
-  if (config) {
-    const urls = config.split(',');
-    return urls.map((url: string) => url.trim());
+  const conductorUrls: string = import.meta.env.VITE_CONDUCTOR_URL;
+  if (conductorUrls) {
+    return parseConductorUrls(conductorUrls);
   } else {
-    console.error(
-      'No CONDUCTOR URL configured, using default development server'
+    console.warn(
+      `No CONDUCTOR URL configured, using default development server at ${DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL}.`
     );
-    return ['http://localhost:8154'];
+    return [DEFAULT_CONDUCTOR_URL];
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/app/src/gui/layout/appBar.tsx b/app/src/gui/layout/appBar.tsx
index 3adcafa8b..a784461e5 100644
--- a/app/src/gui/layout/appBar.tsx
+++ b/app/src/gui/layout/appBar.tsx
@@ -56,8 +56,12 @@ import {TokenContents} from '@faims3/data-model';
 import {checkToken} from '../../utils/helpers';
 import SyncStatus from '../components/sync';
 import {NOTEBOOK_NAME, NOTEBOOK_NAME_CAPITALIZED} from '../../buildconfig';
+
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
 import HelpIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Help';
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
 import SwapHorizIcon from '@mui/icons-material/SwapHoriz';
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
 import {now} from 'lodash';
 
 /**
diff --git a/infrastructure/aws-cdk/lib/components/conductor.ts b/infrastructure/aws-cdk/lib/components/conductor.ts
index e29df76d0..6b019c37d 100644
--- a/infrastructure/aws-cdk/lib/components/conductor.ts
+++ b/infrastructure/aws-cdk/lib/components/conductor.ts
@@ -140,7 +140,9 @@ export class FaimsConductor extends Construct {
           COUCHDB_EXTERNAL_PORT: `${props.couchDBPort}`,
           COUCHDB_PUBLIC_URL: props.couchDBEndpoint,
           COUCHDB_INTERNAL_URL: props.couchDBEndpoint,
+          // Conductor API URLs
           CONDUCTOR_PUBLIC_URL: this.conductorEndpoint,
+          CONDUCTOR_URL: this.conductorEndpoint,
           // TODO Setup Google auth
           CONDUCTOR_AUTH_PROVIDERS: 'google',
           GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID: 'replace-me',