openspec/changes/load-env-file/tasks.md

Tasks: Load Local Env File

1. Dependency And Startup

• Add python-dotenv to requirements.txt.
• Import load_dotenv in app.py.
• Call load_dotenv() before environment-backed configuration constants are assigned.
• Confirm explicit process environment variables still take precedence.

2. Documentation

• Update README setup instructions to mention automatic .env loading.
• Update .env.example comments if needed.
• Update runtime setup text if it currently implies shell exports are required.

3. Verification

• Update scripts/verify.py to assert the dependency and startup wiring.
• Run python scripts\verify.py.
• Run python -m py_compile app.py scripts\verify.py.
• Run git diff --check.