diff --git a/.env.sample b/.env.sample
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6f492eaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# See https://docs.hoarder.app/configuration for more information
+DATA_DIR=<path>
+NEXTAUTH_SECRET=<secret>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/docs/07-Development/01-setup.md b/docs/docs/07-Development/01-setup.md
index 775a5806..21682902 100644
--- a/docs/docs/07-Development/01-setup.md
+++ b/docs/docs/07-Development/01-setup.md
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@
 ### First Setup
 
 - You'll need to prepare the environment variables for the dev env.
-- Easiest would be to set it up once in the root of the repo and then symlink it in each app directory.
+- Easiest would be to set it up once in the root of the repo and then symlink it in each app directory (e.g. `/apps/web`, `/apps/workers`) and also `/packages/db`.
 - Start by copying the template by `cp .env.sample .env`.
 - The most important env variables to set are:
   - `DATA_DIR`: Where the database and assets will be stored. This is the only required env variable. You can use an absolute path so that all apps point to the same dir.
+  - `NEXTAUTH_SECRET`: Random string used to sign the JWT tokens. Generate one with `openssl rand -base64 36`. Logging in will not work if this is missing!
   - `REDIS_HOST` and `REDIS_PORT` default to `localhost` and `6379` change them if redis is running on a different address.
   - `MEILI_ADDR`: If not set, search will be disabled. You can set it to `http://127.0.0.1:7700` if you run meilisearch using the command below.
   - `OPENAI_API_KEY`: If you want to enable auto tag inference in the dev env.
+- run `pnpm run db:migrate` in the root or the repo to set up the database.
 
 ### Dependencies