Local development prerequisites are undocumented: Docker is required, and the README never says which env file to create

Expected Behavior

The README "Local development" section lists every local prerequisite and gives copy-pasteable steps. It currently says: "Configure the variables in .env.example, then: pnpm install && pnpm dev" and "there is no separate local-only runtime."

Current Behavior

Two things bite on a fresh clone:

1. Docker is silently required. agent/agent.ts sets experimental.tasks: true, so the first chat message that starts a task runs in an eve sandbox. On Vercel that is Vercel Sandbox; locally it is Docker — the dev log shows [eve:dev] eve: opening sandbox session "root" on backend "docker"... and a container eve-sbx-ses-docker-… appears. Nothing in the README, .env.example, or AGENTS.md mentions Docker, so on a machine without Docker running the first agent turn fails with no setup hint.

2. Which env file? Editing .env.example in place does nothing — Next.js / @next/env only load .env, .env.local, etc. .gitignore ignores .env* except .env.example, so the intended file is implied but never stated. KERNEL_API_KEY is required by lib/env.ts but is only mentioned indirectly via the Deployment section's marketplace note.

Possible Solution

• Add a prerequisites list to "Local development": Node 24, pnpm, Docker running (local eve task sandbox), a Neon database (see the related issue on the Neon-only driver), and a Kernel API key.
• Change the steps to cp .env.example .env.local, then fill in BETTER_AUTH_SECRET, BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000, DATABASE_URL, DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED, SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY, KERNEL_API_KEY, and run pnpm db:migrate before pnpm dev.
• Optionally have pnpm dev check docker info up front and print a clear message.

Minimal Reproducible Example

1. Fresh clone; follow the README literally (edit .env.example, pnpm install, pnpm dev) → lib/env.ts throws on missing BETTER_AUTH_SECRET.
2. Fix the env file, stop Docker, pnpm dev, sign in, send any message that starts a task → sandbox open fails.

Context

First-run setup on 2026-08-27. Both were solvable by reading code, but each cost time that a two-line README change would save every new contributor.

Update the README's "Local development" section using the requirements shown in agent/agent.ts, lib/env.ts, .env.example, and AGENTS.md. Start by checking those files and the existing setup instructions; done means a fresh clone can create .env.local, prepare the listed services and variables, run pnpm db:migrate and pnpm dev, and understand the Docker requirement.