From a8a80996462117afea96d13ff15156ae1744ef0f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Chris Duncan <chris@codecow.com>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 14:16:02 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Update server instructions.

---
 README.md | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 33 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e27a51b..e24f4a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -173,25 +173,46 @@ official Nano node software. The installed command will launch the server in a
 detached process, and it can also be started manually to customize behavior by
 executing the server script directly.
 
-#### Environment Variables
+#### Configuration
 
-`NANO_POW_DEBUG`: enable additional logging saved to the HOME directory
+NanoPow will look for a configuration file in the user home directory at the
+location `${HOME}/.nano-pow/config` and read the following variables:
 
-`NANO_POW_EFFORT`: increase or decrease demand on the GPU
+- `DEBUG`: enable additional logging saved to the HOME directory
+- `EFFORT`: increase or decrease demand on the GPU
+- `PORT`: override the default port 5040
 
-`NANO_POW_PORT`: override the default port 5040
+It will then fall back to environment variables for any values not found in the
+config file. The same variable names are used, prefixed with `NANO_POW_`:
+
+- `NANO_POW_DEBUG`: enable additional logging saved to the HOME directory
+- `NANO_POW_EFFORT`: increase or decrease demand on the GPU
+- `NANO_POW_PORT`: override the default port 5040
+
+Environment variables can also be specified inline at time of execution.
+
+```console
+$ # Launch the server and detach from the current session to run in the background
+$ NANO_POW_PORT=8080 nano-pow --server
+```
+
+```console
+$ # View process ID for "NanoPow Server"
+$ cat ~/.nano-pow/server.pid
+```
+
+```console
+$ # Display list of server logs
+$ ls ~/.nano-pow/logs/
+```
 
 ```console
-# Launch the server and detach from the current session
-NANO_POW_PORT=8080 nano-pow --server
-# View process ID for "NanoPow Server"
-cat ~/.nano-pow/server.pid
-# Display list of server logs
-ls ~/.nano-pow/logs/
-# Find process ID manually
-pgrep NanoPow
+$ # Find process ID manually
+$ pgrep NanoPow
 ```
 
+#### Usage
+
 Work is generated or validated by sending an HTTP `POST` request to the
 configured hostname or IP address of the machine. Some basic help is available
 via `GET` request.
-- 
2.52.0