diff --git a/back/back/.env.example b/.ci_env
similarity index 100%
rename from back/back/.env.example
rename to .ci_env
diff --git a/.example_env b/.example_env
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a10fd64e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.example_env
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+DEBUG=True
+SECRET_KEY=somethingsupersecret
+DEBUG_LOGGING=True
+BASE_URL=http://0.0.0.0:8000
+DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@db:5432/postgres
+DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=hello@chiefonboarding.com
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 8c2308599..4b5362daf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ jobs:
         pipenv install --dev --system
     - name: Run migrations
       run: |
+        mv .ci_env back/back/.env
         cd back
-        mv back/.env.example back/.env
         python manage.py migrate
     - name: Test with pytest
       run: |
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 2f84b85af..f7a1fd989 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -22,12 +22,8 @@ services:
       context: ./back/
     ports:
       - "127.0.0.1:8000:8000"
-    environment:
-      - DEBUG=True
-      - SECRET_KEY=somethingsupersecret
-      - BASE_URL=http://0.0.0.0:3000
-      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@db:5432/postgres
-      - DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=hello@chiefonboarding.com
+    env_file:
+      - .env
     volumes:
       - ./back:/app
     depends_on:
diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index 7e7a45858..4a778afb3 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 # Development
 
-If you want to contribute or just play around with the source code, the first step would be to download the source code. Then run this to get it all up and running: 
+If you want to contribute or just play around with the source code, the first step would be to download the source code. 
+
+Then move the example environment file to the real one:
+
+```
+cp .example_env .env
+```
+
+Then run this to get it all up and running: 
 
 ```bash
 docker-compose up