diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
deleted file mode 100644
index 46bec5b..0000000
--- a/.envrc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-# Wild Central dev environment
-export WILD_CENTRAL_ENV=development
-export WILD_CENTRAL_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/wild-central
-export WILD_CENTRAL_VITE_URL=http://localhost:5174
diff --git a/.envrc.example b/.envrc.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d1b803
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc.example
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Wild Central dev environment
+# Copy to .envrc and adjust as needed: cp .envrc.example .envrc
+
+export WILD_CENTRAL_ENV=development
+export WILD_CENTRAL_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/wild-central
+
+# Frontend dev server (for Vite proxy in dev mode)
+export WILD_CENTRAL_VITE_URL=http://localhost:5174
+
+# Uncomment to override default ports (5055 API, 4222 NATS)
+# export WILD_CENTRAL_PORT=5055
+# export WILD_CENTRAL_NATS_PORT=4222
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 78e2a2d..cdfe29b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ coverage.out
 coverage.html
 .claude/
 CLAUDE.md
+.envrc