diff --git a/docs/developer/README.md b/docs/developer/README.md
index 91ac62b70..91c6ca5ec 100644
--- a/docs/developer/README.md
+++ b/docs/developer/README.md
@@ -32,7 +32,14 @@ Secrets (for example, if you'd like to have a working Login.gov authentication)
 DJANGO_SECRET_LOGIN_KEY="<...>"
 ```
 
-You'll need to create the `.env` file yourself. Get the secrets from Cloud.gov by running `cf env getgov-YOURSANDBOX`. More information is available in [rotate_application_secrets.md](../operations/runbooks/rotate_application_secrets.md).
+You'll need to create the `.env` file yourself. Get started by running:
+
+```shell
+cd src
+cp ./.env-example .env
+```
+
+Get the secrets from Cloud.gov by running `cf env getgov-YOURSANDBOX`. More information is available in [rotate_application_secrets.md](../operations/runbooks/rotate_application_secrets.md).
 
 ## Viewing Logs
 
diff --git a/src/.env-example b/src/.env-example
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7100fc628
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/.env-example
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=""
+DJANGO_SECRET_LOGIN_KEY=""