diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
index 37e7e9e8..7b7af656 100644
--- a/.envrc
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ export android_emulator=false
 
 use nix --arg use_android $use_android --arg android_emulator $android_emulator
 
+# you can put secret keys in here
+source .privenv || :
+
 export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin
 export JB55=32e1827635450ebb3c5a7d12c1f8e7b2b514439ac10a67eef3d9fd9c5c68e245
-
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b0aafcd8..5ac3c673 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 .buildcmd
 perf.data
 perf.data.old
+.privenv
 target
 queries/damus-notifs.json
 .git