diff --git a/postgres-websockets.cabal b/postgres-websockets.cabal
--- a/postgres-websockets.cabal
+++ b/postgres-websockets.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                postgres-websockets
-version:             0.8.0.1
+version:             0.9.0.0
 synopsis:            Middleware to map LISTEN/NOTIFY messages to Websockets
 description:         Please see README.md
 homepage:            https://github.com/diogob/postgres-websockets#readme
diff --git a/src/PostgresWebsockets.hs b/src/PostgresWebsockets.hs
--- a/src/PostgresWebsockets.hs
+++ b/src/PostgresWebsockets.hs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 Module      : PostgresWebsockets
 Description : PostgresWebsockets main library interface.
 
-These are all function necessary to start a fully functionaing service.
+These are all function necessary to configure and start the server.
 -}
 module PostgresWebsockets
   ( prettyVersion
diff --git a/src/PostgresWebsockets/Config.hs b/src/PostgresWebsockets/Config.hs
--- a/src/PostgresWebsockets/Config.hs
+++ b/src/PostgresWebsockets/Config.hs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
   , configJwtSecret         :: ByteString
   , configJwtSecretIsBase64 :: Bool
   , configPool              :: Int
+  , configRetries           :: Int
   }
 
 -- | User friendly version number
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@
 
 -- | Load all postgres-websockets config from Environment variables. This can be used to use just the middleware or to feed into warpSettings
 loadConfig :: IO AppConfig
-loadConfig = readOptions >>= loadSecretFile
+loadConfig = readOptions >>= loadSecretFile >>= loadDatabaseURIFile
 
 -- | Given a shutdown handler and an AppConfig builds a Warp Settings to start a stand-alone server
 warpSettings :: (IO () -> IO ()) -> AppConfig -> Settings
@@ -70,6 +71,15 @@
                 <*> var str "PGWS_JWT_SECRET" (help "Secret used to sign JWT tokens used to open communications channels")
                 <*> var auto "PGWS_JWT_SECRET_BASE64" (def False <> helpDef show <> help "Indicate whether the JWT secret should be decoded from a base64 encoded string")
                 <*> var auto "PGWS_POOL_SIZE" (def 10 <> helpDef show <> help "How many connection to the database should be used by the connection pool")
+                <*> var auto "PGWS_RETRIES" (def 5 <> helpDef show <> help "How many times it should try to connect to the database on startup before exiting with an error")
+
+loadDatabaseURIFile :: AppConfig -> IO AppConfig
+loadDatabaseURIFile conf@AppConfig{..} =
+  case stripPrefix "@" configDatabase of
+    Nothing       -> pure conf
+    Just filename -> setDatabase . strip <$> readFile (toS filename)
+  where
+    setDatabase uri = conf {configDatabase = uri}
 
 loadSecretFile :: AppConfig -> IO AppConfig
 loadSecretFile conf = extractAndTransform secret
diff --git a/src/PostgresWebsockets/HasqlBroadcast.hs b/src/PostgresWebsockets/HasqlBroadcast.hs
--- a/src/PostgresWebsockets/HasqlBroadcast.hs
+++ b/src/PostgresWebsockets/HasqlBroadcast.hs
@@ -23,15 +23,15 @@
 import Data.HashMap.Lazy       (lookupDefault)
 import Data.Either.Combinators (mapBoth)
 import Data.Function           (id)
-import Control.Retry           (RetryStatus, retrying, capDelay, exponentialBackoff)
+import Control.Retry           (RetryStatus(..), retrying, capDelay, exponentialBackoff)
 
 import PostgresWebsockets.Broadcast
 
 {- | Returns a multiplexer from a connection URI, keeps trying to connect in case there is any error.
    This function also spawns a thread that keeps relaying the messages from the database to the multiplexer's listeners
 -}
-newHasqlBroadcaster :: IO () -> Text -> ByteString -> IO Multiplexer
-newHasqlBroadcaster onConnectionFailure ch = newHasqlBroadcasterForConnection . tryUntilConnected
+newHasqlBroadcaster :: IO () -> Text -> Int -> ByteString -> IO Multiplexer
+newHasqlBroadcaster onConnectionFailure ch maxRetries = newHasqlBroadcasterForConnection . tryUntilConnected maxRetries
   where
     newHasqlBroadcasterForConnection = newHasqlBroadcasterForChannel onConnectionFailure ch
 
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@
   where
     newHasqlBroadcasterForConnection = newHasqlBroadcasterForChannel onConnectionFailure ch
 
-tryUntilConnected :: ByteString -> IO Connection
-tryUntilConnected =
+tryUntilConnected :: Int -> ByteString -> IO Connection
+tryUntilConnected maxRetries =
   fmap (either (panic "Failure on connection retry") id) . retryConnection
   where
     retryConnection conStr = retrying retryPolicy shouldRetry (const $ acquire conStr)
@@ -53,11 +53,11 @@
     firstDelayInMicroseconds = 1000000
     retryPolicy = capDelay maxDelayInMicroseconds $ exponentialBackoff firstDelayInMicroseconds
     shouldRetry :: RetryStatus -> Either ConnectionError Connection -> IO Bool
-    shouldRetry _ con =
+    shouldRetry RetryStatus{..} con =
       case con of
         Left err -> do
           putErrLn $ "Error connecting notification listener to database: " <> show err
-          return True
+          pure $ rsIterNumber < maxRetries - 1
         _ -> return False
 
 {- | Returns a multiplexer from a channel and an IO Connection, listen for different database notifications on the provided channel using the connection produced.
diff --git a/src/PostgresWebsockets/Server.hs b/src/PostgresWebsockets/Server.hs
--- a/src/PostgresWebsockets/Server.hs
+++ b/src/PostgresWebsockets/Server.hs
@@ -25,23 +25,24 @@
 
 -- | Start a stand-alone warp server using the parameters from AppConfig and a opening a database connection pool.
 serve :: AppConfig -> IO ()
-serve conf = do
+serve conf@AppConfig{..} = do
   shutdownSignal <- newEmptyMVar
-  let listenChannel = toS $ configListenChannel conf
-      pgSettings = toS (configDatabase conf)
-      waitForShutdown cl = void $ forkIO (takeMVar shutdownSignal >> cl >> die "Shutting server down...")
+  let listenChannel = toS configListenChannel
+      pgSettings = toS configDatabase
+      waitForShutdown cl = void $ forkIO (takeMVar shutdownSignal >> cl)
       appSettings = warpSettings waitForShutdown conf
 
-  putStrLn $ ("Listening on port " :: Text) <> show (configPort conf)
+  putStrLn $ ("Listening on port " :: Text) <> show configPort
 
   let shutdown = putErrLn ("Broadcaster connection is dead" :: Text) >> putMVar shutdownSignal ()
-  pool <- P.acquire (configPool conf, 10, pgSettings)
-  multi <- newHasqlBroadcaster shutdown listenChannel pgSettings
+  pool <- P.acquire (configPool, 10, pgSettings)
+  multi <- newHasqlBroadcaster shutdown listenChannel configRetries pgSettings
   getTime <- mkGetTime
 
   runSettings appSettings $
-    postgresWsMiddleware getTime listenChannel (configJwtSecret conf) pool multi $
-    logStdout $ maybe dummyApp staticApp' (configPath conf)
+    postgresWsMiddleware getTime listenChannel configJwtSecret pool multi $
+    logStdout $ maybe dummyApp staticApp' configPath
+  die "Shutting down server..."
 
   where
     mkGetTime :: IO (IO UTCTime)