diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index fc2b2450a..da2fb1cf3 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -1,189 +1,111 @@
+###############################################################################
+# NOTE: With default settings Cognee only needs an OpenAI LLM_API_KEY to be set.
+#       The rest of the settings don't have to be set.
+#       Default relational database: SQLite
+#       Default vector database   : LanceDB
+#       Default graph database    : Kuzu
+#
+#       These default databases are all file-based, so no extra setup is needed
+#       for local use.
+###############################################################################
 
-###
-### DEV
-###
-
-
-TOKENIZERS_PARALLELISM="false"
-
-###
-### LLM
-###
-
-###
-### simple, "expensive", an OpenAPI key
-###
+################################################################################
+#  🧠 LLM Settings
+################################################################################
 
 LLM_API_KEY="your_api_key"
-
-###
-### DEV LLM, cheap with content filters
-###
-
-LLM_MODEL="azure/gpt-4o-mini"
-LLM_ENDPOINT="https://DNS.azure.com/openai/deployments/gpt-4o-mini"
-LLM_API_KEY="<<TALK TO YOUR AZURE GUY"
-LLM_API_VERSION="2024-12-01-preview"
-#llm api version might not be relevant
+LLM_MODEL="openai/gpt-4o-mini"
+LLM_PROVIDER="openai"
+LLM_ENDPOINT=""
+LLM_API_VERSION=""
 LLM_MAX_TOKENS="16384"
 
-EMBEDDING_MODEL="azure/text-embedding-3-large"
-EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT="https://DNS.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/text-embedding-3-large"
-EMBEDDING_API_KEY="<<TALK TO YOUR AZURE GUY>"
-EMBEDDING_API_VERSION="2024-12-01-preview"
-EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=3072
-EMBEDDING_MAX_TOKENS=8191
-
-###
-### free local LLM, install it
-###
-
-LLM_API_KEY = "ollama"
-LLM_MODEL = "llama3.1:8b"
-LLM_PROVIDER = "ollama"
-LLM_ENDPOINT = "http://localhost:11434/v1"
-EMBEDDING_PROVIDER = "ollama"
-EMBEDDING_MODEL = "avr/sfr-embedding-mistral:latest"
-EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT = "http://localhost:11434/api/embeddings"
-EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS = 4096
-HUGGINGFACE_TOKENIZER = "Salesforce/SFR-Embedding-Mistral"
-
-###
-### openrouter, also frewe
-###
-
-LLM_API_KEY="<<go-get-one-yourself"
-LLM_PROVIDER="custom"
-LLM_MODEL="openrouter/google/gemini-2.0-flash-lite-preview-02-05:free"
-LLM_ENDPOINT="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
-
-###
-### deepinfra
-###
-
-LLM_API_KEY="<<>>"
-LLM_PROVIDER="custom"
-LLM_MODEL="deepinfra/meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3-8B-Instruct"
-LLM_ENDPOINT="https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai"
-
 EMBEDDING_PROVIDER="openai"
-EMBEDDING_API_KEY="<<>>"
-EMBEDDING_MODEL="deepinfra/BAAI/bge-base-en-v1.5"
+EMBEDDING_MODEL="openai/text-embedding-3-large"
 EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT=""
 EMBEDDING_API_VERSION=""
 EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=3072
 EMBEDDING_MAX_TOKENS=8191
+# If embedding key is not provided same key set for LLM_API_KEY will be used
+#EMBEDDING_API_KEY="your_api_key"
 
-###
-### DB
-###
-
-###
-### db minimal/default
-###
-
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="networkx"
-VECTOR_DB_PROVIDER="lancedb"
-DB_PROVIDER=sqlite
-DB_NAME=cognee_db
-
-###
-### Relational options
-###
+################################################################################
+# 🗄️ Relational database settings
+################################################################################
 
 DB_PROVIDER="sqlite"
 DB_NAME=cognee_db
 
-DB_PROVIDER=postgres
-DB_NAME=cognee_db
-DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
-DB_PORT=5432
-DB_USERNAME=cognee
-DB_PASSWORD=cognee
+# -- To switch to Postgres / PGVector, uncomment and fill these: -------------
+#DB_PROVIDER=postgres
+#DB_NAME=cognee_db
+# To use Postgres with the Cognee backend in Docker compose use the following instead: DB_HOST=host.docker.internal
+#DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
+#DB_PORT=5432
+#DB_USERNAME=cognee
+#DB_PASSWORD=cognee
 
-###
-### Graph options
-###
-
-
-#Default
+################################################################################
+# 🕸️ Graph Database settings
+################################################################################
 
+# Default (local file-based)
 GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="kuzu"
 
-#or if using remote
+# -- To switch to Remote Kuzu uncomment and fill these: -------------------------------------------------------------
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="kuzu"
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="kuzu-remote"
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_URL="http://localhost:8000"
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_USERNAME=XXX
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_PASSWORD=YYY
 
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="kuzu"
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="kuzu-remote"
-GRAPH_DATABASE_URL="http://localhost:8000"
-GRAPH_DATABASE_USERNAME=XXX
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PASSWORD=YYY
+# -- To switch to Neo4j uncomment and fill these: -------------------------------------------------------------------
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="neo4j"
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_URL=bolt://localhost:7687
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_USERNAME=neo4j
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_PASSWORD=localneo4j
 
-# or if using neo4j
-
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PROVIDER="neo4j"
-GRAPH_DATABASE_URL=bolt://localhost:7687
-GRAPH_DATABASE_USERNAME=neo4j
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PASSWORD=localneo4j
-
-###
-### Vector options
-###
+################################################################################
+#  📐 Vector Database settings
+################################################################################
 
+# Supported providers: pgvector | qdrant | weaviate | milvus | lancedb | chromadb
 VECTOR_DB_PROVIDER="lancedb"
+# Not needed if a cloud vector database is not used
+VECTOR_DB_URL=
+VECTOR_DB_KEY=
 
-VECTOR_DB_PROVIDER="pgvector"
+################################################################################
+#  📂 ROOT DIRECTORY IF USING COGNEE LIB INSIDE A DOCKER
+################################################################################
+# Set up the Cognee system directory. Cognee will store system files and databases here.
+# DATA_ROOT_DIRECTORY='/Users/<user>/Desktop/cognee/.cognee_data/'
+# SYSTEM_ROOT_DIRECTORY='/Users/<user>/Desktop/cognee/.cognee_system/'
 
-###
-### for release test
-###
+################################################################################
+#  🔄  MIGRATION (RELATIONAL → GRAPH) SETTINGS
+################################################################################
 
-LLM_API_KEY="..."
-
-OPENAI_API_KEY="..."
-
-MIGRATION_DB_PATH="~/Downloads/"
-MIGRATION_DB_NAME="Chinook_Sqlite.sqlite"
+MIGRATION_DB_PATH="/path/to/migration/directory"
+MIGRATION_DB_NAME="migration_database.sqlite"
 MIGRATION_DB_PROVIDER="sqlite"
 
-GRAPH_DATABASE_URL="bolt://54.246.89.112:7687"
-GRAPH_DATABASE_USERNAME="neo4j"
-GRAPH_DATABASE_PASSWORD="pleaseletmein"
-
-###
-### ROOT DIRECTORY IF USING COGNEE LIB INSIDE A DOCKER
-###
-# Set up the Cognee system directory. Cognee will store system files and databases here.
-
-
-DATA_ROOT_DIRECTORY ='/cognee_data/data'
-SYSTEM_ROOT_DIRECTORY= '/cognee_data/system'
-
-
-
-# Postgres specific parameters (Only if Postgres or PGVector is used). Do not use for cognee default simplest setup of SQLite-NetworkX-LanceDB
-# DB_USERNAME=cognee
-# DB_PASSWORD=cognee
-# To use Postgres with the Cognee backend in Docker compose use the following instead: DB_HOST=host.docker.internal
-# DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
-# DB_PORT=5432
-
-
-
-# Params for migrating relational database data to graph / Cognee ( PostgreSQL and SQLite supported )
-# MIGRATION_DB_PATH="/path/to/migration/directory"
-# MIGRATION_DB_NAME="migration_database.sqlite"
-# MIGRATION_DB_PROVIDER="sqlite"
-# Postgres specific parameters for migration
+# -- Postgres-specific migration params --------------------------------------
 # MIGRATION_DB_USERNAME=cognee
 # MIGRATION_DB_PASSWORD=cognee
 # MIGRATION_DB_HOST="127.0.0.1"
 # MIGRATION_DB_PORT=5432
 
-# LITELLM Logging Level. Set to quiten down logging
-LITELLM_LOG="ERROR"
+################################################################################
+# 🔒 Security Settings
+################################################################################
 
-# Set this environment variable to disable sending telemetry data
-# TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
+# When set to false don't allow adding of local system files to Cognee. Should be set to False when Cognee is used as a backend.
+ACCEPT_LOCAL_FILE_PATH=True
+
+# When set to false don't allow HTTP requests to be sent from Cognee.
+# This protects against Server Side Request Forgery when proper infrastructure is not in place.
+ALLOW_HTTP_REQUESTS=True
 
 # Set this variable to True to enforce usage of backend access control for Cognee
 # Note: This is only currently supported by the following databases:
@@ -194,3 +116,94 @@ LITELLM_LOG="ERROR"
 # It enforces LanceDB and KuzuDB use and uses them to create databases per Cognee user + dataset
 ENABLE_BACKEND_ACCESS_CONTROL=False
 
+################################################################################
+#  🛠️ DEV Settings
+################################################################################
+
+ENV="local"
+
+TOKENIZERS_PARALLELISM="false"
+
+# LITELLM Logging Level. Set to quiet down logging
+LITELLM_LOG="ERROR"
+
+# Set this environment variable to disable sending telemetry data
+# TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
+
+# Default User Configuration
+# DEFAULT_USER_EMAIL=""
+# DEFAULT_USER_PASSWORD=""
+
+------------------------------- END OF POSSIBLE SETTINGS -------------------------------
+
+
+###############################################################################
+# 🧪  EXAMPLE OVERRIDES (commented out)
+###############################################################################
+# The blocks below show how to configure alternative providers.
+# Uncomment + fill values to switch.
+
+########## Azure OpenAI #######################################################
+#LLM_MODEL="azure/gpt-4o-mini"
+#LLM_ENDPOINT="https://DNS.azure.com/openai/deployments/gpt-4o-mini"
+#LLM_API_KEY="<<TALK TO YOUR AZURE GUY"
+#LLM_API_VERSION="2024-12-01-preview"
+
+## llm api version might not be relevant
+#LLM_MAX_TOKENS="16384"
+
+#EMBEDDING_MODEL="azure/text-embedding-3-large"
+#EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT="https://DNS.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/text-embedding-3-large"
+#EMBEDDING_API_KEY="<<TALK TO YOUR AZURE GUY>"
+#EMBEDDING_API_VERSION="2024-12-01-preview"
+#EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=3072
+#EMBEDDING_MAX_TOKENS=8191
+
+########## Local LLM via Ollama ###############################################
+
+#LLM_API_KEY ="ollama"
+#LLM_MODEL="llama3.1:8b"
+#LLM_PROVIDER="ollama"
+#LLM_ENDPOINT="http://localhost:11434/v1"
+#EMBEDDING_PROVIDER="ollama"
+#EMBEDDING_MODEL="avr/sfr-embedding-mistral:latest"
+#EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT="http://localhost:11434/api/embeddings"
+#EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=4096
+#HUGGINGFACE_TOKENIZER="Salesforce/SFR-Embedding-Mistral"
+
+########## OpenRouter (also free) #########################################################
+
+#LLM_API_KEY="<<go-get-one-yourself"
+#LLM_PROVIDER="custom"
+#LLM_MODEL="openrouter/google/gemini-2.0-flash-lite-preview-02-05:free"
+#LLM_ENDPOINT="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
+
+########## DeepInfra ##########################################################
+
+#LLM_API_KEY="<<>>"
+#LLM_PROVIDER="custom"
+#LLM_MODEL="deepinfra/meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3-8B-Instruct"
+#LLM_ENDPOINT="https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai"
+
+#EMBEDDING_PROVIDER="openai"
+#EMBEDDING_API_KEY="<<>>"
+#EMBEDDING_MODEL="deepinfra/BAAI/bge-base-en-v1.5"
+#EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT=""
+#EMBEDDING_API_VERSION=""
+#EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=3072
+#EMBEDDING_MAX_TOKENS=8191
+
+
+########## Release Test ###############################################
+
+#LLM_API_KEY="..."
+
+#OPENAI_API_KEY="..."
+
+#MIGRATION_DB_PATH="~/Downloads/"
+#MIGRATION_DB_NAME="Chinook_Sqlite.sqlite"
+#MIGRATION_DB_PROVIDER="sqlite"
+
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_URL="bolt://54.246.89.112:7687"
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_USERNAME="neo4j"
+#GRAPH_DATABASE_PASSWORD="pleaseletmein"