diff --git a/.env.production.local b/.env.production.local
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8331f7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.production.local
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Optional: fill for GitHub auth / AWS when running `npm run start` (NODE_ENV=production).
+GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=
+GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=
+AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
+AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ed81866..7e6879e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,9 +8,5 @@
 # macOS
 .DS_Store
 
-# local .env* files
-.env.local
-.env.*.local
-
 # downloaded files
 /public