diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c3f3c9a960c9bbc1672280d40e6504ed2eb96d09..e592d82f7d3731a8407470d47eb691ad45da6e59 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ yarn-error.log*
 .pnpm-debug.log*
 
 # local env files
+.env
 .env.local
 .env.development.local
 .env.test.local
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aa3c8ebb675287b043cc1fb263f9c9ff3e9afe76..f787237c7bf256d2a1702caa39e9ecdc3644ea4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ First run `pnpm i` on the root of the workspace to install all dependencies. It
 
 If you need to install a new dependency or upgrade an existing one, do so in the respective package.json and rerun `pnpm i` in the root of the workspace. If you find any issues, feel free to delete the node_modules folder from the workspace root and from the app/lib which you are changing the dependency and rerun the `pnpm i` command from the root of the workspace. Most issues are solved by then.
 
+Secondly, make sure you create a local `.env` file. For local development, you can simply copy the contents of the `.env.development` template in the `/apps/web` directory to a new `.env` file and you should be good to go.
+
 ### Running Storybook.js
 
 To run the dev storybook (implementing visualizations) simply run `pnpm sb` and once it is running, ctrl-click the link what appears in the terminal. The url should be [http://localhost:6006].
diff --git a/apps/web/.env b/apps/web/.env
deleted file mode 100644
index 24c5fc8011a15e2667ee824127862d572488625a..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/apps/web/.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-GRAPHPOLARIS_VERSION=dev
-BACKEND_URL=http://localhost
-BACKEND_WSS_URL=ws://localhost:3001/
-STAGING=dev
-SKIP_LOGIN=true
-BACKEND_USER=:3000
-GRAPHPOLARIS_VERSION=dev
-
-SENTRY_ENABLED=false
-SENTRY_URL=
-
-GP_AUTH_URL=
-
-WIP_TABLEVIS=false
-WIP_NODELINKVIS=false
-WIP_RAWJSONVIS=false
-WIP_PAOHVIS=true
-WIP_MATRIXVIS=true
-WIP_SEMANTICSUBSTRATESVIS=true
-WIP_MAPVIS=true
-
-WIP_INSIGHT_SHARING=true
-WIP_VIEWER_PERMISSIONS=true
-WIP_SHARABLE_EXPLORATION=true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/web/.env.development b/apps/web/.env.development
index 8375aafc0b890666fab135b373ac0bf934ff6ae4..f56103b54b6c9bec08f651c02abcdfc95061a904 100644
--- a/apps/web/.env.development
+++ b/apps/web/.env.development
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-VITE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost
-VITE_BACKEND_WSS_URL=ws://localhost:3001/
-VITE_STAGING=dev
-VITE_SKIP_LOGIN=true
-VITE_BACKEND_USER=:3000
-VITE_BACKEND_QUERY=:3003
-VITE_BACKEND_SCHEMA=:3002
+GRAPHPOLARIS_VERSION=dev
+BACKEND_URL=http://localhost
+BACKEND_WSS_URL=ws://localhost:3001/
+STAGING=dev
+SKIP_LOGIN=true
+BACKEND_USER=:3000
+GRAPHPOLARIS_VERSION=dev
 
 SENTRY_ENABLED=false
 SENTRY_URL=