diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..032c134
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Database configuration
+DB_DSN=odbc:Driver=FreeTDS; Server=localhost; Port=1218; Database=mydb
+DB_USER=myuser
+DB_PASSWORD=changeme
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4de37ac..52256f8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 vendor
 *.lock
+.env
diff --git a/config/configuration.local.php b/config/configuration.local.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6dbf1a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/configuration.local.php
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Database configuration - credentials loaded from environment variables
+ */
+
+$getEnvOrThrow = function(string $name): string {
+    $value = getenv($name);
+    if ($value === false || $value === '') {
+        throw new \RuntimeException("Environment variable {$name} is not set");
+    }
+    return $value;
+};
+
+return array('db_req' =>
+    array(
+        'driver_class' => '\PDO',
+        'dsn' => $getEnvOrThrow('DB_DSN'),
+        'driver_params' => array(
+            'username' => $getEnvOrThrow('DB_USER'),
+            'password' => $getEnvOrThrow('DB_PASSWORD'),
+        ),
+    )
+);