diff --git a/.env b/.env.example
similarity index 100%
rename from .env
rename to .env.example
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a6dd346572..5997da43b0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ node_modules/
 /playwright-report/
 /blob-report/
 /playwright/.cache/
+.env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/.env.example b/backend/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/backend/app/core/config.py b/backend/app/core/config.py
index d58e03c87d..5b1a44ddd8 100644
--- a/backend/app/core/config.py
+++ b/backend/app/core/config.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def parse_cors(v: Any) -> list[str] | str:
 class Settings(BaseSettings):
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
         # Use top level .env file (one level above ./backend/)
-        env_file="../.env",
+        env_file="../../.env",
         env_ignore_empty=True,
         extra="ignore",
     )
diff --git a/docker-compose.override.yml b/docker-compose.override.yml
index 0751abe901..0054fae168 100644
--- a/docker-compose.override.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.override.yml
@@ -130,4 +130,4 @@ services:
 networks:
   traefik-public:
     # For local dev, don't expect an external Traefik network
-    external: false
+    external: false
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.traefik.yml b/docker-compose.traefik.yml
index 886d6dcc2f..9fdb5614fc 100644
--- a/docker-compose.traefik.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.traefik.yml
@@ -74,4 +74,4 @@ networks:
   # Use the previously created public network "traefik-public", shared with other
   # services that need to be publicly available via this Traefik
   traefik-public:
-    external: true
+    external: true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b1aa17ed43..895d6139d9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -168,4 +168,4 @@ volumes:
 networks:
   traefik-public:
     # Allow setting it to false for testing
-    external: true
+    external: true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/frontend/.env b/frontend/.env
deleted file mode 100644
index 27fcbfe8c8..0000000000
--- a/frontend/.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000
-MAILCATCHER_HOST=http://localhost:1080
diff --git a/frontend/.env.example b/frontend/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a22cc98b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000
+MAILCATCHER_HOST=http://localhost:1080
\ No newline at end of file