diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0af3803
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+.DS_Store
+data/*
+study/*
+config/portal.properties
+!*.sh
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 90cefc1..7cd2ceb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ database needs to import some data.
 ```
 docker-compose up
 ```
+If you are developing and want to expose the database for inspection through a program like Sequel Pro, run:
+```
+docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f open-db-ports.yml up
+```
 In a different terminal import a study
 ```
 docker-compose run --rm cbioportal metaImport.py -u http://cbioportal:8080 -s study/lgg_ucsf_2014/ -o
diff --git a/open-db-ports.yml b/open-db-ports.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43bf117
--- /dev/null
+++ b/open-db-ports.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+services:
+  cbioportal-database:
+    ports:
+      - "3306:3306"