diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1576078
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Copy to `.env` (gitignored) for host-specific overrides. run.sh / run.ps1 load it.
+# Only set what you need — every value has a sane default in router.py.
+
+# ComfyUI image generation — point at wherever ComfyUI runs (another box is fine):
+ROUTER_COMFYUI=http://comfyui-host.example:8188
+ROUTER_COMFY_CHECKPOINT=your_model.safetensors
+
+# Bind / networking (defaults shown):
+# ROUTER_HOST=0.0.0.0
+# ROUTER_OLLAMA=http://127.0.0.1:11434
+
+# Audio model for /v1/audio/* (must have 'audio' capability):
+# ROUTER_AUDIO_MODEL=gemma4:e4b
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d22d32f..8a343dc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 .apikey
 .uncensored_key
 
+# local host-specific config
+.env
+
 # python / venv
 .venv/
 __pycache__/
diff --git a/docs/IMAGES.md b/docs/IMAGES.md
index e6b21b9..5e10d5f 100644
--- a/docs/IMAGES.md
+++ b/docs/IMAGES.md
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ in OpenAI's image-response shape — so any OpenAI image client works.
 | `ROUTER_COMFY_CHECKPOINT` | *(unset)* | your checkpoint filename, e.g. `sd_xl_base_1.0.safetensors` |
 | `ROUTER_COMFY_WORKFLOW` | `comfyui-workflow.json` | the workflow template (see below) |
 
+Set these in a **`.env`** file (gitignored; copy `.env.example`) — `run.sh` /
+`run.ps1` load it on start. **ComfyUI can run on another machine** — just point at
+it, e.g. `ROUTER_COMFYUI=http://valhalla:8188`.
+
 At minimum, **set `ROUTER_COMFY_CHECKPOINT`** to a model that exists in your
 ComfyUI (`ComfyUI/models/checkpoints/`), or hardcode it into the template's
 `ckpt_name`. Then restart the router.
diff --git a/run.ps1 b/run.ps1
index 657404b..0f58e4d 100644
--- a/run.ps1
+++ b/run.ps1
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 Set-Location $PSScriptRoot
 
+# optional local config (host-specific env vars, kept out of git — see .env.example)
+if (Test-Path ".env") {
+    Get-Content ".env" | Where-Object { $_ -match '^\s*[^#=]+=' } | ForEach-Object {
+        $k, $v = $_ -split '=', 2
+        [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable($k.Trim(), $v.Trim(), 'Process')
+    }
+}
+
 # load keys from files into env (kept out of git)
 if (Test-Path ".apikey")         { $env:ROUTER_API_KEY        = (Get-Content ".apikey" -Raw).Trim() }
 if (Test-Path ".uncensored_key") { $env:ROUTER_UNCENSORED_KEY = (Get-Content ".uncensored_key" -Raw).Trim() }
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 4cfa6aa..cc98006 100755
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ set -uo pipefail
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:${PATH:-}"
 
+# optional local config (host-specific env vars, kept out of git — see .env.example)
+[ -f .env ] && { set -a; . ./.env; set +a; }
+
 # clear any stale instances via recorded PIDs (never pattern-match — that can
 # match unrelated processes, including a shell that merely mentions "router.py")
 for pf in .litellm.pid .router.pid; do