diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e5ffc81..8988691 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,40 +1,53 @@
 ![App icon](images/FullSizeIcon.png)
 
 # VersionTwo
+
 Hackathon project: CLI tool to generate static planning view of issues for better team planning
 
-# 🚀 Getting Started
-## 📦 Requirements
+## 🚀 Getting Started
+
+### 📦 Requirements
+
 The following dependencies are required to run the program:
+
 - Python 3.x
   - `brew install python3`
 - Python `pyenv` and `pyenv-virtualenv`
-  -  `brew install pyenv pyenv-virtualenv`
+  - `brew install pyenv pyenv-virtualenv`
 - GitHub Command Line Interface (CLI) `gh`
   - `brew install gh`
 
-## 💻 Setup
+### 💻 Setup
+
 - Authentication through `gh auth login`
-- Set the appropriate token permissions: `gh auth refresh --scopes read:project`
-  - Note: The team must have `read` permissions on the Project Board in order to view the issues on the board.
-- Set the `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment variable: `export GITHUB_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)`
-- Set the `GITHUB_UNAME` environment variable: `export GITHUB_UNAME=$(gh auth status | grep "(GITHUB_TOKEN)" | cut -d " " -f9)`
+- Source the [setup-gh.sh](src/setup-gh.sh) script to configure your gh environment variables
+  
+  ```bash
+    source src/setup-gh.sh # follow the prompts
+  ```
+
+  - Sets the appropriate token scopes: `read: project`.
+    - Note: The team must have `read` permissions on the Project Board in order to view the issues on the board.
+  - Sets the `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment variable.
+  - Sets the `GITHUB_UNAME` environment variable.
 - Run `make install` inside the repo directory to configure the appropriate versions of dependencies.
 
-## 🛠 Usage
+### 🛠 Usage
+
 To run the main script, change to the current directory of the script, then run:
 
 `python version2.py --output-file "<filename.json>" --temp-dir "<temp.dir>" --include-project <project name>`
 
 See the `--help` menu for full list of filter functionality.
 
-# Background
+## Background
+
 GitHub users have issues assigned to themselves or a team they are a member of. These issues can be viewed on a 
 Project board, which captures the issues in swim lanes. The Project board can only automate with a single organization,
 meaning users who work in more than one org do not have a single location to view all issues. This leads to fragmented
 planning and execution.
 
-# How does it work?
+## How does it work?
 
 ```mermaid
 %% A · System-Architecture Diagram (≤25 nodes)
@@ -52,7 +65,8 @@ classDef api fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#2196f3;
 classDef cli fill:#f1f8e9,stroke:#7cb342;
 ```
 
-# Our Solution
+## Our Solution
+
 Our python script will query the GitHub API for all issues associated with the appropriate filters provided to the CLI
 tool. The output will be a static HTML page showing all issues in swim lanes. This provides a comprehensive overview
-of all issues the team or user has assigned. 
+of all issues the team or user has assigned.
diff --git a/src/setup-gh.sh b/src/setup-gh.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05799d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/setup-gh.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+
+# This script sets up the authentication parameters for the GitHub CLI
+# that are needed to run the version2.py script.
+# It is assumed that the GitHub CLI is already installed and configured
+# on the system.
+# The script will update the user's github token to have the needed scopes,
+# set the token in the environment and pull in the gh users username as
+# another environment variable.
+
+# Exit if not sourced
+if [[ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" == "${0}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: This script must be sourced, not executed."
+  echo "Usage: source ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check if the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable is already set
+set_gh_token() {
+    # If not set, set the scopes for the token and set the environment variable
+    gh auth refresh --scopes read:project
+
+    # Set the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable
+    export GITHUB_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)
+}
+
+configure_gh_env() {
+    if [ -n "${GITHUB_TOKEN}" ]; then
+        echo "GITHUB_TOKEN needs to be unset to update the token scopes."
+        unset GITHUB_TOKEN
+    fi
+
+    # set the gh_token
+    set_gh_token
+
+    # set the gh_user
+    export GITHUB_UNAME=$(gh api user --jq .login)
+
+    echo "GITHUB_TOKEN is set. Length is: ${#GITHUB_TOKEN}"
+    echo "GITHUB_UNAME is set to: ${GITHUB_UNAME}"
+}
+
+configure_gh_env