diff --git a/.env.sample b/.env.sample
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cbffdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# App
+PORT=5000
+FLASK_ENV=development
+X_API_KEY=choose-a-strong-secret
+
+# OpenAI
+OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
+EMBEDDING_MODEL=text-embedding-3-small
+# OPTIONAL (if you belong to multiple orgs)
+# OPENAI_ORG=org_XXXXXX
+
+# Database (pgvector must be enabled in this DB)
+N8N_DB_NAME=ragdb
+N8N_DB_USER=rag
+N8N_DB_PASSWORD=ragpass
+N8N_DB_HOST=localhost
+N8N_DB_PORT=5432
+
+# Google Drive ingestion
+GOOGLE_FOLDER_ID=your-drive-folder-id
+GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS_FILE=./google-credentials.json
+POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS=60
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 71b22a1..addf1c7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ __pycache__/
 
 # secrets
 .env
-.env.*
 google-credentials.json
 **/google-credentials.json
 
@@ -17,6 +16,5 @@ Thumbs.db
 .vscode/
 .idea/
 .env
-.env.*
 google-credentials.json
 **/google-credentials.json
diff --git a/Readme.md b/README.md
similarity index 99%
rename from Readme.md
rename to README.md
index 6a34fff..e562ccf 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ pip install -r requirements.txt
 
 Use the [template](#env-template) below.
 
+or copy the sample to `.env`
+
+```bash
+cp .env.sample .env
+``` 
+
 ### 3) Initialize DB schema (tables + `match_documents`)
 
 ```bash