diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8bb11d7..32083eb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,2 +1,8 @@
 # tptimer
-a social network to speedcubers
+a social network for speedcubers
+
+
+## Instuctions to run the server in dev mode
+1. run `poetry install`
+1. create a .env file that contains "secret_key" and "sql_uri" env vars
+1. execute `poetry run python app.py`