diff --git a/gitea/act_runner/.env.example b/gitea/act_runner/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0887ca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitea/act_runner/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#CONFIG_FILE=/config.yaml
+GITEA_INSTANCE_URL=git.example.org
+GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN=abc
+GITEA_RUNNER_NAME=runner1
diff --git a/gitea/act_runner/docker-compose.yml b/gitea/act_runner/docker-compose.yml
index 964eeb3..cbfe58d 100644
--- a/gitea/act_runner/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/gitea/act_runner/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,13 +2,9 @@
 services:
   runner:
     image: gitea/act_runner:latest
-    environment:
-      CONFIG_FILE: /config.yaml
-      GITEA_INSTANCE_URL: "${INSTANCE_URL}"
-      GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN: "${REGISTRATION_TOKEN}"
-      GITEA_RUNNER_NAME: "${RUNNER_NAME}"
-      GITEA_RUNNER_LABELS: "${RUNNER_LABELS}"
-    volumes:
-      - ./config.yaml:/config.yaml
-      - ./data:/data
-      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock # needed to create a separate docker container for each job
+    env_file:
+      - .env
+    #volumes:
+      #- ./config.yaml:/config.yaml
+      #- ./data:/data
+      #- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock # needed to create a separate docker container for each job