diff --git a/.env b/.env
deleted file mode 100644
index 85a810e..0000000
--- a/.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# .env
-DATABASE_URL=mysql://lms_user:lms_password@db:3306/lms_db
-SERVER_ADDR=0.0.0.0:8080
-# SECRET_KEY=your_very_secret_jwt_key_here # Needed if using JWT later
-RUST_LOG=actix_web=info,lms_backend=info # Logging level
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec74c0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# .env (in the root directory)
+
+# MariaDB Credentials (used by docker-compose to init the DB)
+MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD=supersecretroot
+MARIADB_DATABASE=lms_db
+MARIADB_USER=lms_user
+MARIADB_PASSWORD=lms_password
+
+# Backend Configuration (can override defaults)
+# SERVER_ADDR=0.0.0.0:8080 # Already set in compose file
+RUST_LOG=info,lms_backend=debug # Example: Set backend log level to debug
+# SECRET_KEY=your_secret_for_jwt_if_used # Needed if switching to JWT sessions
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 620f8f6..aec51bc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.env
+
 # ---> Rust
 # Generated by Cargo
 # will have compiled files and executables