From f1e194ddd61fa22d55d7e8c3df9e223cf0e0a362 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: manshusainishab <manshupallav@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2026 02:16:48 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] docs: add .env.example and document environment
 configuration

---
 .env.example | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 README.md    | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++----------------
 2 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 .env.example

diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..071038741
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# Note: Remember to replace the placeholder values with your actual configuration settings before running the application.
+
+# Database
+
+DEV_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/opencre
+
+# Neo4j
+
+NEO4J_URL=neo4j://neo4j:password@localhost:7687
+
+# Redis
+
+REDIS_HOST=localhost
+REDIS_PORT=6379
+REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
+REDIS_NO_SSL=false
+
+# Flask
+
+FLASK_CONFIG=development
+INSECURE_REQUESTS=false
+
+# Embeddings
+
+NO_GEN_EMBEDDINGS=false
+
+# Google Auth
+
+GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
+GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
+GOOGLE_SECRET_JSON=path/to/secret.json
+LOGIN_ALLOWED_DOMAINS=example.com
+
+# GCP
+
+GCP_NATIVE=false
+
+# Spreadsheet Auth
+
+OpenCRE_gspread_Auth=path/to/credentials.json
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 57b73ae6a..13a4fcdfb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -216,23 +216,28 @@ make docker-dev
 
 The environment variables used by OpenCRE are:
 
+## Environment Configuration
+
+Copy the example configuration file:
+
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
 ```
-- NEO4J_URL
-- NO_GEN_EMBEDDINGS
-- FLASK_CONFIG
-- DEV_DATABASE_URL
-- INSECURE_REQUESTS
-- REDIS_HOST
-- REDIS_PORT
-- REDIS_NO_SSL
-- REDIS_URL
-- GCP_NATIVE
-- GOOGLE_SECRET_JSON
-- GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
-- GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET
-- LOGIN_ALLOWED_DOMAINS
-- OpenCRE_gspread_Auth
-```
+
+Then edit `.env` and provide values appropriate for your environment.
+
+### Variables
+
+* Database: `DEV_DATABASE_URL`
+* Neo4j: `NEO4J_URL`
+* Redis: `REDIS_HOST`, `REDIS_PORT`, `REDIS_URL`, `REDIS_NO_SSL`
+* Flask: `FLASK_CONFIG`, `INSECURE_REQUESTS`
+* Embeddings: `NO_GEN_EMBEDDINGS`
+* Google Auth: `GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID`, `GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET`, `GOOGLE_SECRET_JSON`, `LOGIN_ALLOWED_DOMAINS`
+* GCP: `GCP_NATIVE`
+* Spreadsheet Auth: `OpenCRE_gspread_Auth`
+
+See `.env.example` for full list and defaults.
 
 You can run the containers with:
 

From 5eb69c4f827f482c68ea9ec3e6ac2f255e54c23d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: manshusainishab <manshupallav@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 04:02:20 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] feat: automatically load environment variables from
 `.env` for local development and update `.env.example` comments.

---
 .env.example | 8 ++++++--
 cre.py       | 8 ++++++++
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 071038741..0ebe342ac 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
-# Note: Remember to replace the placeholder values with your actual configuration settings before running the application.
-
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# OpenCRE Environment Configuration
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Copy this file to `.env` and update the values for your environment.
+# Never commit your real `.env` file to version control.
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Database
 
 DEV_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/opencre
diff --git a/cre.py b/cre.py
index 97e919c14..e3dba246f 100644
--- a/cre.py
+++ b/cre.py
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@
 import unittest
 from typing import List
 
+# NEW: load .env automatically for local development
+try:
+    from dotenv import load_dotenv  # type: ignore
+
+    load_dotenv()  
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
 import click  # type: ignore
 import coverage  # type: ignore
 from flask_migrate import Migrate  # type: ignore

From 2a0927a27a3d2c719bb54a095c6d51cc659c8ba0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: manshusainishab <manshupallav@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 04:08:11 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] style: Remove trailing whitespace from `load_dotenv()`
 call.

---
 cre.py | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/cre.py b/cre.py
index e3dba246f..2e7a9d5cc 100644
--- a/cre.py
+++ b/cre.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 try:
     from dotenv import load_dotenv  # type: ignore
 
-    load_dotenv()  
+    load_dotenv()
 except ImportError:
     pass