diff --git a/app/.env.example b/app/.env.example
index ca30050..826765a 100644
--- a/app/.env.example
+++ b/app/.env.example
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 SSO_URL=https://dev.loginproxy.gov.bc.ca/auth/realms/standard
-SSO_CLIENT_ID=sso-requests
-SSO_CLIENT_SECRET=sso-requests-secret
+SSO_CLIENT_ID=<<sso-requests>>
+SSO_CLIENT_SECRET=<<sso-requests-secret>>
 SSO_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000
 SSO_LOGOUT_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000
 SSO_AUTHORIZATION_RESPONSE_TYPE=code
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ JWT_SECRET=verysecuresecret
 JWT_TOKEN_EXPIRY=1h
 PGHOST=localhost
 PGPORT=5432
-PGUSER=
-PGPASSWORD=
+PGUSER=<postgres_username>
+PGPASSWORD=<postgres_password>
 PGDATABASE=realm_registry
 PGSSL=false
 APP_ENV=development
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ TF_GH_REPO=
 TF_MODULE_GH_REF=
 GH_ACCESS_TOKEN=
 GH_API_TOKEN=
-DATABASE_URL=
+DATABASE_URL=postgresql://<postgres_username>:<postgres_password>@localhost:5432/realm_registry
 IDIR_REQUESTOR_USER_GUID=
 MS_GRAPH_API_AUTHORITY=
 MS_GRAPH_API_CLIENT_ID=
diff --git a/app/README.md b/app/README.md
index bdf0fc5..b2b611f 100644
--- a/app/README.md
+++ b/app/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,24 @@ This is a [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/) project bootstrapped with [`create-next
 
 ## Getting Started
 
-First, run the development server:
+In the app folder run:
+
+Run `make local-setup`
+
+Create the `.env` file from the `.env.example` file in the app folder.
+
+The values can be found in the project's non-prod vault file. The local database creds are username "postgres", password is the local password for your database.
+
+The CHES config can be changed. If you need to connect to the production CHES the config can be copied from the AWS dev environment variables for the sso-request lambda function.
+
+Update the '<postgres_username>' value with a local postgres username in the `app/db/setup.sh` file. In the folder `app/db/` run:
+
+```
+pg_ctl start
+./setup.sh
+```
+
+Then run the development server:
 
 ```bash
 npm run dev
diff --git a/app/db/setup.sh b/app/db/setup.sh
index dc1ca97..4659ba8 100755
--- a/app/db/setup.sh
+++ b/app/db/setup.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ else
     db="realm_registry"
 fi
 
-echo "SELECT 'CREATE DATABASE $db' WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '$db')\gexec" | psql -d postgres
+postgres_username=<<postgres_username>>
 
-psql -d $db -f "../../helm/webapp/migration.sql" -qtA --set ON_ERROR_STOP=1
+echo "SELECT 'CREATE DATABASE $db' WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '$db')\gexec" | psql -U $postgres_username -d postgres
+
+psql -U $postgres_username -d $db -f "../../helm/webapp/migration.sql" -qtA --set ON_ERROR_STOP=1
diff --git a/docs/local-development-guid.md b/docs/local-development-guid.md
index 2c7352f..d970510 100644
--- a/docs/local-development-guid.md
+++ b/docs/local-development-guid.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Run through the steps in [developer guide](./developer-guide.md)
 
 ## How to run the project locally
 
-**TO DO**
+The local development commands can be found in the [app README](../app/README.md)
 
 ## Building and deploying test images.