diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca02089
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Copy this file to .env and fill in real values before running the app.
+
+# Postgres connection string used by Prisma. Host/port/db name must match
+# the POSTGRES_* values below when running via docker-compose.
+DATABASE_URL="postgresql://organize:organize@localhost:5432/organize?schema=public"
+
+# Auth.js session encryption secret. Generate with:
+#   openssl rand -base64 32
+AUTH_SECRET="replace-with-a-generated-secret"
+
+# Consumed by the "db" service in docker-compose.yml.
+POSTGRES_USER=organize
+POSTGRES_PASSWORD=organize
+POSTGRES_DB=organize
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 65c9732..90e5b82 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ yarn-error.log*
 
 # env files (can opt-in for committing if needed)
 .env*
+!.env.example
 
 # vercel
 .vercel