diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d4fc8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+export GH_USER="myuser"
+export GH_PASSWORD="mygithubpassword"
+export BASIC_USER="admin"
+export BASIC_PASSWORD="password"
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 34c8a44..18ae901 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -50,3 +50,5 @@ pkg
 #
 
 .rvmrc
+
+.env
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index f9e6818..49fe070 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ group :development do
   gem "simplecov", "~> 0.8.2"
   gem "rack-test"
   gem "pry"
+  gem 'dotenv'
 end
 
 group :default do
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 4b384d1..82e5f86 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ GEM
     descendants_tracker (0.0.3)
     diff-lcs (1.2.5)
     docile (1.1.2)
+    dotenv (1.0.2)
     faraday (0.9.0)
       multipart-post (>= 1.2, < 3)
     git (1.2.6)
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ PLATFORMS
   ruby
 
 DEPENDENCIES
+  dotenv
   gh-pivotal!
   jeweler (~> 2.0.0)
   nokogiri (~> 1.6.0)
diff --git a/lib/gh-pivotal.rb b/lib/gh-pivotal.rb
index 2e10d2b..09d2ba3 100644
--- a/lib/gh-pivotal.rb
+++ b/lib/gh-pivotal.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 require 'sinatra'
 require 'nokogiri'
 
+begin
+  require 'dotenv'
+  Dotenv.load
+rescue
+end
+
 configure do
   set :gh_user, ENV["GH_USER"] || "admin"
   set :gh_password, ENV["GH_PASSWORD"] || "admin"
@@ -25,29 +31,29 @@ def fetch_issues(reponame, labels)
     end until issues[-1].length == 0
     issues.flatten
   end
-  
+
   def close_issue(issue_xml)
     issue_uri = issue_xml.xpath('//other_id').text.split("/issues/")
-    
+
     return if issue_uri.nil?
-    
+
     issue_base_path = issue_uri[0]
     issue_number = issue_uri[1]
     $ghcli.close_issue(issue_base_path, issue_number)
   end
-  
+
   def protected!
     unless authorized?
       response['WWW-Authenticate'] = %(Basic realm="Restricted Area")
       throw(:halt, [401, "Not authorized\n"])
     end
   end
-  
+
   def authorized?
     @auth ||=  Rack::Auth::Basic::Request.new(request.env)
     @auth.provided? && @auth.basic? && @auth.credentials == [settings.basic_user, settings.basic_password]
   end
-  
+
 end
 
 # Sinatra Routes