diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6c725ed..119d9f1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@
 .mypy_cache/
 __pycache__/
 process_list.txt
+secrets
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 683107a..74c729f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ or
 $ sudo apt install python3-pip
 ```
 
-Then run `./install.py` with needed flags (`./install.py -h` is your friend).
+The authentication details are stored in `secrets`. Therefore, you have a template `secrets.template` that you need to copy:
+```sh
+$ cp secrets.template secrets
+```
+Modify the resulting file, and then run `./install.py` with needed flags (`./install.py -h` is your friend).
 
 
 # About the files in the repo
diff --git a/secrets.template b/secrets.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fecc00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/secrets.template
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# secrets - is sourced by some commands - this is a template
+
+SETUP_COCKPIT_EMAIL='john@doe.com'