diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 955d1f1..1aabf15 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ The simplest way to get started is to run snip from the regularily [published
 docker containers](https://hub.docker.com/repository/docker/arminfriedl/snip).
 
 ```shell
-docker run -p5000 arminfriedl/snip:latest
+docker run -p5000 -e"SNIP_FLASK_SECRET=secretkey" arminfriedl/snip:latest
 ```
 
 Then navigate your browser to http://localhost:5000. Alternatively, you can also
@@ -25,7 +25,22 @@ query the REST API. For an example see the [querysheet.http](querysheet.http) in
 this repository. If you want to run it manually you can also install snip and
 its dependencies yourself.
 
-### Install Dependencies
+Per default the container is configured with the following settings
+```
+SNIP_DATABASE="sqlite"
+SNIP_DATABASE_URI="sqlite:////data/snip.db"
+SNIP_FLASK_HOST="0.0.0.0"
+# SNIP_FLASK_PORT=5000 (default)
+```
+
+You can mount an external folder under `/data` to persist all operational data
+of snip across restarts of the container.
+
+### Install and Run manually
+While docker is convenient you may want to build and run snip yourself. E.g. for
+development or because you need special settings.
+
+#### Install Dependencies
 To install the dependencies for snip, you need
 [pipenv](https://pipenv.pypa.io/en/latest/) and [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/)
 installed on your system. Then run:
@@ -35,7 +50,17 @@ pipenv install --dev
 npm install --dev
 ```
 
-### Build Snip
+#### Configure
+Snip provides a couple of configuration options. For details see
+[config.py::SnipConfig](snip/config.py). An example configuration for local
+development is provided in [.snipenv.local](.snipenv.local). Adapt the
+configuration to your needs.
+
+You can also specify another stage in [.snipenv](.snipenv) by setting the
+variable `SNIP_STAGE=[stage]`. The configuration will then be read from
+`.snipenv.[stage]`.
+
+#### Build the Snip Frontend
 The snip backend itself needs no separate build step. However, the frontend
 needs to be assembled by webpack.
 
@@ -48,14 +73,12 @@ npm run watch
 npm run publish
 ```
 
-### Run Snip
+#### Run Snip
 From the repository root run:
 
 ```shell
-export FLASK_ENV=production # or development
-export FLASK_APP=snip
-
-pipenv run flask run
+export SNIP_STAGE=local # or any other stage
+pipenv run python -m snip
 ```
 
 Flask will tell you where you can reach snip, per default http://localhost:5000.