diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b18441f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Copy to .env and adjust as needed
+
+CLICKTHROUGH_HOST=127.0.0.1
+CLICKTHROUGH_PORT=8123
+CLICKTHROUGH_TOKEN=change-me
+CLICKTHROUGH_DRY_RUN=false
+CLICKTHROUGH_GRID_ROWS=12
+CLICKTHROUGH_GRID_COLS=12
+# CLICKTHROUGH_ALLOWED_REGION=0,0,1920,1080
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 62dd3be..6184330 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ CLICKTHROUGH_TOKEN=change-me python -m server.app
 
 Server defaults to `127.0.0.1:8123`.
 
+`python-dotenv` is enabled, so values from a repo-root `.env` file are loaded automatically.
+
 ## Minimal API flow
 
 1. `GET /screen` with grid
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 2ba21ce..d84d849 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 fastapi>=0.115.0
 uvicorn>=0.30.0
+python-dotenv>=1.0.1
 mss>=9.0.1
 pillow>=10.4.0
 pyautogui>=0.9.54
diff --git a/server/app.py b/server/app.py
index 91867f2..25ec60e 100644
--- a/server/app.py
+++ b/server/app.py
@@ -5,10 +5,13 @@ import time
 import uuid
 from typing import Literal, Optional
 
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, Header, HTTPException, Response
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, model_validator
 
 
+load_dotenv(dotenv_path=".env", override=False)
+
 app = FastAPI(title="clickthrough", version="0.1.0")