From 351e94cdb1eb41009d4f94c7b2fd14586118c953 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Aryan Singh K." <70511529+aryansk@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2026 23:07:05 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] docs: point setup instructions at ~/.gcode/.env

The README and CONTRIBUTING told users to copy .env.example to a
project-root .env, but GCode only loads keys from ~/.gcode/.env
(gcode/setup.py load_env). Align the Setup section, the Quick Setup
commands, and the .env.example header comment with the path the app
actually reads. The missing-key error already points at ~/.gcode/.env.
Fixes #52.
---
 .env.example    |  1 +
 CONTRIBUTING.md |  5 +++--
 README.md       | 10 +++++++++-
 3 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 225b588..76c4c1d 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 # OpenRouter API key (https://openrouter.ai/keys). OPENAI_API_KEY also accepted.
+# Copy this file to ~/.gcode/.env, then edit the key value.
 OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-your-openrouter-key-here
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 179aee8..773c79d 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@
 git clone https://github.com/shauryagangrade/GCode.git
 cd GCode
 pip install -e .
-cp .env.example .env
+mkdir -p ~/.gcode && cp .env.example ~/.gcode/.env
 gcode
 ```
 
-You will need an OpenRouter API key. Copy the `.env.example` file, name it `.env`, and fill in your `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`.
+You will need an OpenRouter API key. Copy the `.env.example` file to
+`~/.gcode/.env` and fill in your `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4a972dd..907536a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,7 +30,15 @@ pip install -e .
 
 ## Setup
 
-Copy `.env.example` to `.env` and add your OpenRouter API key:
+GCode reads your API key from `~/.gcode/.env` (not a project-root `.env`).
+Create it from the template and add your OpenRouter API key:
+
+```bash
+mkdir -p ~/.gcode
+cp .env.example ~/.gcode/.env
+```
+
+Then edit `~/.gcode/.env`:
 
 ```
 OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...