diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3a71d8f..ac8762f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 /textsender-auth
+
 .env
+.env.local
+
 /vendor
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a865b53..8a8eb04 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,2 +1,20 @@
 # textsender-auth
-A service that handles the authorization aspect of the textsender project.
\ No newline at end of file
+A service that handles the authorization aspect of the textsender project.
+
+
+## Getting started
+Assumes that the postgresql database has already been created with privileges to
+create and drop databases. Copy the `.env.sample` file to `.env`. Within the `.env`
+file, update the database keys. The `SECRET_KEY` is used for token generation.
+
+
+### Building api
+```
+go build -o textsender-auth cmd/api/main.go
+```
+
+
+### Resetting the database
+```
+./textsender-auth -reset-db
+```
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..874433c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package version
+
+var (
+	Version = "dev"
+	Commit = "none"
+	Date = "unknown"
+)