diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df693f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Environment variables for family_safety_tracker
+# JWT secret used for signing tokens
+JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-key-change-me
+# Secret pepper added to passwords before hashing (should be random and kept secret)
+PASSWORD_PEPPER=your-random-pepper-string-change-me
+# Database connection settings
+POSTGRES_HOST="localhost"
+POSTGRES_PORT="5432"
+POSTGRES_DB="family_safety"
+POSTGRES_USER="user"
+POSTGRES_PASSWORD="pwd"
+# TOKEN_LIFETIME in minutes
+TOKEN_LIFETIME=600
+# Secret key for registration (MD5 hash of this key must be sent by the user)
+REGISTRATION_SECRET_KEY=reg
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 00b2d64..3251052 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@
 /ios
 /api.md
 /android
-/.idea
\ No newline at end of file
+/.idea
+.env