diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f057b9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# See README for instructions on generating Github token
+GITHUB_READ_API_TOKEN=1234
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 875b818..49a6ba3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,3 +12,5 @@
 .rspec_status
 *.iml
 Gemfile.lock
+
+.env.local
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 2486a11..95ae593 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ source "https://rubygems.org"
 # Specify your gem's dependencies in library_version_analysis.gemspec
 gemspec
 
+gem 'dotenv-rails', "~> 2.8.1", groups: [:development, :test]
 gem "rake", "~> 12.0"
 gem "rspec", "~> 3.0"
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d3bd47d..3c8a0d5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@ After checking out the repo, run `bin/setup` to install dependencies. Then, run
 
 To install this gem onto your local machine, run `bundle exec rake install`. To release a new version, update the version number in `version.rb`, and then run `bundle exec rake release`, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the `.gem` file to [rubygems.org](https://rubygems.org).
 
+To run the shell script locally, you must first set up the environment variables in the `.env.local` file.
+To generate the Github token, follow these steps:
+1. From any page on Github, click your icon at the top right, and click Settings
+2. Click Developer Settings in the left panel
+3. Click Personal Access Tokens and then `Tokens Classic`
+4. Click Generate New Token -> Generate new token (classic)
+5. Create a token with the `Repo` scope enabled
+6. Add the token to the `.env.local` file under the `GITHUB_READ_API_TOKEN` entry
+
 ## Jobber Dev
 Update the gemfile to read:
 jgem :enablers, "library_version_analysis", path: "/Users/johnz/source/library_version_analysis"
diff --git a/lib/library_version_analysis/github.rb b/lib/library_version_analysis/github.rb
index 06db8a8..b72b0c0 100644
--- a/lib/library_version_analysis/github.rb
+++ b/lib/library_version_analysis/github.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require "graphql/client"
 require "graphql/client/http"
+require 'dotenv/load'
 
 module LibraryVersionAnalysis
   class Github