diff --git a/.env.dev b/.env.dev
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ccfaf6256
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.dev
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+LLAMA_STACK_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5001
+LLAMA_STACK_CLIENT_LOG=debug
+LLAMA_STACK_PORT=5001
+LLAMA_STACK_CONFIG=
+LLAMA_STACK_DIR=
+LLAMA_MODELS_DIR=
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f54d1563d..cc9f374a8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .env
+.env.dev
 __pycache__
 dist
 *.egg-info
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 1e4a88f13..5f1fa706d 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ $ uv pip install -e .
 $ source .venv/bin/activate
 ```
 
+Note that you can modify the existing `.env.dev` dotenv file for running tests via the following:
+```bash
+$ uv run --env-file .env.dev -- python <your-test-script>
+```
+
 ## Pre-commit Hooks
 
 We use [pre-commit](https://pre-commit.com/) to run linting and formatting checks on your code. You can install the pre-commit hooks by running: