diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2251e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+COMPOSE_FILE=docker-compose.yml:docker-compose.dev.yml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b73c9d7..9f7cac3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ docker-compose.override.yml
 /data/elasticsearch/**
 /tmp
 .DS_STORE
+.env
 
 /config/migrations/private-data/*