diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 28eacb5..fb438ae 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -11,11 +11,33 @@ We've gone to great lengths to adhere to the Typescript Node community styleguid
 For more information on how to this works with other frontends/backends, head over to the [RealWorld](https://github.com/gothinkster/realworld) repo.
 
 
-## How it works
-
-> WIP
-
 ## Getting started
 
-> WIP
+To get the Node server running locally:
+
+- Clone this repo
+- `npm install` to install all required dependencies
+- Install MongoDB Community Edition ([instructions](https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/installation/#tutorials)) and run it by executing `mongod`
+- Copy `.env.example` to `.env` and enter all variables.
+- `npm run start` to start the local server.
+
+## Application Structure
+
+- `server.ts` - The entry point to our application.
+- `app.ts` - This file defines our application and connects it to MongoDB using mongoose. It also requires the routes and models we'll be using in the application.
+- `database/` - This folder contains he schema definitions for our Mongoose models and database connection code.
+- `routes/` - This folder contains the route definitions for our API.
+- `interfaces/` - This folder contains the interfaces for models
+- `utilities/` - This folder contains the environment variables, passport authentication code, logger amd error handling logic.
+
+## Error Handling
+
+In `utilities/error-handling.ts`, we define all error-handling middleware for handling all server errors. It will respond with error-specific status code and format the response to have [error messages the clients can understand](https://github.com/gothinkster/realworld/blob/master/API.md#errors-and-status-codes)
+
+## Authentication
+
+Requests are authenticated using the `Authorization` header with a valid JWT. We define two express middlewares in `routes/auth.js` that can be used to authenticate requests. The `required` middleware configures the `express-jwt` middleware using our application's secret and will return a 401 status code if the request cannot be authenticated. The payload of the JWT can then be accessed from `req.payload` in the endpoint. The `optional` middleware configures the `express-jwt` in the same way as `required`, but will *not* return a 401 status code if the request cannot be authenticated.
+
+
+<br />