diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 8441c390..3d5ec534 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# .env.example - contains basic environment variable configurations.
+# Copy this file to .env and fill in the actual values before running the application.
+# Do not commit the .env file to version control as it may contain sensitive information.
 
 # =============================
 # Backend Database Configuration
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 69ad2946..883c33d1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .python-version
-__pycache__/
+**/__pycache__/
+
+**/.env
diff --git a/backend/.gitignore b/backend/.gitignore
index f2a1ccb1..cc4585c5 100644
--- a/backend/.gitignore
+++ b/backend/.gitignore
@@ -7,6 +7,3 @@
 /dist/
 /docs/_build/
 /src/*.egg-info/
-__pycache__/
-
-.env