diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 327bcb6..7c4cdc7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 node_modules
 package-lock.json
+credentials.js
 .env*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b31bc3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Our MongoDB Api
+
+This project showcases what we've learned to make an api that will access a "movie" collection in our mongoDB database
+
+## To get started
+
+1) Clone it locally and run  ```npm i``` (in the terminal) to install all dependencies 
+2) rename the ```credentials-example.js``` to ```credentials.js``` and edit the ```uri``` string to either be the one you get from your own cloud.mongodb.com cluster (under the "connect" button)  OR you can us ```mongodb://localhost:27017``` if you want to connect to a local instance.
+3) you can add new movies by sending a valid JSON body to```http://localhost:4001/add-movie``` and get movies by going to ```http://localhost:4001/get-movies```
diff --git a/credentials-example.js b/credentials-example.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36f3134
--- /dev/null
+++ b/credentials-example.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export const uri = ' replace this string (from quote to quote) with the full string from cloud.mongodb.com or mongodb://localhost:27017 like we had before '
diff --git a/mongoConnect.js b/mongoConnect.js
index c2092e7..c4b37fc 100644
--- a/mongoConnect.js
+++ b/mongoConnect.js
@@ -2,8 +2,15 @@ import { MongoClient } from 'mongodb'
 import dotenv from 'dotenv'
 dotenv.config()
 
+// If you'll be using the credentials then rename the credentials-example.js to credendials.js and add your info
+// import { uri } from "./credentials.js"
+
+// If you're connecgting to your local server on your laptop
+// const uri = 'mongodb://localhost:27017'
+
+// If you're using the .env file with a MONGO_URI entry
 const uri = process.env.MONGO_URI
-// uri = 'mongodb://localhost:27017'
+
 
 const client = new MongoClient(uri) // creating client mongo instance
 const db = client.db('bocacode-test') // connecting to db = bocacod-test
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 2b30080..97c3050 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Node API with MongoDb
+This project showcases what we've learned to make an api that will access a "movie" collection in our mongoDB database
+
+## To get started
 
 1. After cloning project install dependencies with `npm i`
 2. Connect to MongoDB (if local start with `brew services start mongo-community)
-3. Run API with nodemon
\ No newline at end of file
+3. Run API with nodemon
+
+## How to use it: 
+you can add new movies by sending a valid JSON body to```http://localhost:4001/add-movie``` and get movies by going to ```http://localhost:4001/get-movies```
+