diff --git a/.env.development b/.env.development
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c164589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.development
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# memberapi.ose.tw backend env (local development)
+APP_ENV=development
+PORT=8000
+
+DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
+DB_PORT=54321
+DB_NAME=member_center
+DB_USER=member_ose
+DB_PASSWORD=CHANGE_ME
+
+AUTHENTIK_BASE_URL=
+AUTHENTIK_ADMIN_TOKEN=
+AUTHENTIK_VERIFY_TLS=false
+AUTHENTIK_ISSUER=
+AUTHENTIK_JWKS_URL=
+AUTHENTIK_AUDIENCE=
+
+PUBLIC_FRONTEND_ORIGINS=http://127.0.0.1:5173,http://localhost:5173
+INTERNAL_SHARED_SECRET=CHANGE_ME
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b587e39..c26e16b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ python -m venv .venv
 source .venv/bin/activate
 pip install -e .
 cp .env.example .env
-uvicorn app.main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --reload
+./scripts/start_dev.sh
 ```
 
 ## Required DB setup
diff --git a/scripts/start_dev.sh b/scripts/start_dev.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7fa39aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start_dev.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
+source .venv/bin/activate
+exec uvicorn app.main:app --env-file .env.development --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --reload