diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f74a61b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
+SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
+SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-1-...
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 14752c0..b7d07ca 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -125,6 +125,20 @@ pip install -r requirements.txt
 python main.py
 ```
 
+### Using .env for credential loading
+
+If you prefer using .env file to load env variables for local development, you can rename .env.example file to .env:
+    
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
+```
+Then, replace the values in .env file with your own API keys and tokens:
+```text
+OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-openai-key
+SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-slack-bot-token
+SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-1-your-slack-app-token
+```
+
 ## Running the App for Company Workspaces
 
 Confidentiality of information is top priority for businesses.
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 5d9fdcd..ade0af8 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 import logging
 import os
 
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@
 )
 from app.slack_ui import build_home_tab
 
+load_dotenv()
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     from slack_bolt.adapter.socket_mode import SocketModeHandler
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9ace3fa..fa629b3 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ tiktoken>=0.7,<0.8
 # https://github.com/Yelp/elastalert/issues/2306
 urllib3<2
 pillow>=10.4.0,<11
-requests>=2.32,<3
\ No newline at end of file
+requests>=2.32,<3
+python-dotenv>=1.0.1,<2
\ No newline at end of file