diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 13db131..fec6f16 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,3 +4,11 @@ It is still very much a work in progress, but you can see it in action at https:
 
 Includes a tag that pulls projects from Github and puts them in a carousel-like
 UI, as well as a post editor that handles markdown.
+
+To build:
+  docker-compose build
+  edit `.envrc` to include COUCHDB_USER and COUCHDB_PASSWORD
+  create `app/riotblog_local.cfg` and add these variables:
+    - SECRET_KEY (whatever you want)
+    - ADMIN_PASSWORD (whatever you want)
+    - COUCHDB_NAME (the name of the couchdb database)