diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index ce86722df..cdf5af481 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 *.sh eol=lf
-/.sqlx/* binary linguist-generated=true
+/.sqlx/*.json binary linguist-generated=true
diff --git a/.sqlx/README.md b/.sqlx/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..acb362aa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.sqlx/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# stored queries for sqlx offline mode
+
+We want to have both nice local development with sqlx and a local database, and
+also possible builds without having a db, like in CI or on the server.
+
+So we need to store the queries here.
+
+See also:
+
+- [how to compile without a database](https://github.com/launchbadge/sqlx/blob/main/FAQ.md#how-do-i-compile-with-the-macros-without-needing-a-database-eg-in-ci)
+- [`sqlx::query!` offline mode](https://docs.rs/sqlx/latest/sqlx/macro.query.html#offline-mode)
+- [`cargo sqlx prepare`](https://github.com/launchbadge/sqlx/blob/main/sqlx-cli/README.md#enable-building-in-offline-mode-with-query)