diff --git a/.github/workflows/governance-checks.yaml b/.github/workflows/governance-checks.yaml
index 97eec883035..81112901885 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/governance-checks.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/governance-checks.yaml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ETHERSCAN_API_KEY }}
-          INFURA_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.INFURA_API_KEY }}
+          RPC_URL: ${{ secrets.RPC_URL }}
           DAO_NAME: ${{ matrix.DAO_NAME }}
           GOVERNOR_ADDRESS: ${{ matrix.GOVERNOR_ADDRESS }}
+          RUNNING_LOCALLY: 0
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 64326427b71..551d0deb9ce 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 node_modules
 .idea
-
+reports/
+.env
+.env.local
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ef634397e81..25580f2ff39 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,29 @@ including automated scripts that apply checks to live proposals to allow
 for better informed voting.
 
 
-# Reports
+## Reports
 
-Find the reports [here](https://github.com/Uniswap/governance-seatbelt/tree/reports)
\ No newline at end of file
+Find the reports [here](https://github.com/Uniswap/governance-seatbelt/tree/reports) when run in CI, or in the `reports` folder if running locally
+
+## Development
+
+Create a file called `.env` with the following environment variables:
+
+```sh
+# URL to your node, e.g. Infura or Alchemy endpoint
+RPC_URL=yourNodeUrl
+
+# Etherscan API key: https://etherscan.io/myapikey
+ETHERSCAN_API_KEY=yourEtherscanApiKey
+
+# Name of the DAO to check
+DAO_NAME=Compound
+
+# Address of that DAO's governor contract
+GOVERNOR_ADDRESS=0xc0Da02939E1441F497fd74F78cE7Decb17B66529
+
+# Set to 1 if running locally, or 0 for CI
+RUNNING_LOCALLY=1
+```
+
+Other environment variables needed for CI can be found in `.github/workflows/governance-checks.yaml`
diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
index 668b010c042..b2010f5f080 100644
--- a/index.ts
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
+require('dotenv').config()
+import fs from 'fs';
 import {
   DAO_NAME,
   GITHUB_REPO_NAME,
   GITHUB_REPO_OWNER,
   GOVERNOR_ADDRESS,
   REPORTS_BRANCH,
+  RUNNING_LOCALLY
 } from "./utils/constants";
-import { github } from "./utils/clients/github";
 import { governorBravo } from "./utils/contracts/governor-bravo";
 import { provider } from "./utils/clients/ethers";
 import { AllCheckResults, Proposal } from "./types";
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ async function main() {
     .map((proposal) => proposal.args as unknown as Proposal);
 
   for (const proposal of activeProposals) {
+    console.log(`Checking proposal ${proposal.id}...`);
     const checkResults: AllCheckResults = Object.fromEntries(
       await Promise.all(
         Object.keys(ALL_CHECKS).map(async (checkId) => [
@@ -56,37 +59,46 @@ async function main() {
           : null,
       ]);
 
-      let sha: string | undefined;
-      try {
-        const { data } = await github.rest.repos.getContent({
+      const report = toProposalReport(
+        { start: startBlock, end: endBlock, current: latestBlock },
+        proposal,
+        checkResults
+      );
+
+      if (RUNNING_LOCALLY) {
+        // Running locally, dump to file
+        const dir = `./reports/${DAO_NAME}/${GOVERNOR_ADDRESS}/`; // TODO more robust way to keep this in sync with `path`
+        if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+        fs.writeFileSync(`${dir}/${proposal.id}.md`, report);
+
+      } else {
+        // Running in CI, save to file on REPORTS_BRANCH
+        const { github } = await import("./utils/clients/github"); // lazy load to avoid errors about missing env vars when not in CI
+        let sha: string | undefined;
+        try {
+          const { data } = await github.rest.repos.getContent({
+            owner: GITHUB_REPO_OWNER,
+            repo: GITHUB_REPO_NAME,
+            ref: REPORTS_BRANCH,
+            path,
+          });
+          if ("sha" in data) {
+            sha = data.sha;
+          }
+        } catch (error) {
+          console.warn("Failed to get sha for file at path", path, error);
+        }
+
+        await github.rest.repos.createOrUpdateFileContents({
           owner: GITHUB_REPO_OWNER,
           repo: GITHUB_REPO_NAME,
-          ref: REPORTS_BRANCH,
+          branch: REPORTS_BRANCH,
+          message: `Update ${path} as of ${formattedDateTime}`,
+          content: Buffer.from(report, "utf-8").toString("base64"),
           path,
+          sha,
         });
-        if ("sha" in data) {
-          sha = data.sha;
-        }
-      } catch (error) {
-        console.warn("Failed to get sha for file at path", path, error);
       }
-
-      await github.rest.repos.createOrUpdateFileContents({
-        owner: GITHUB_REPO_OWNER,
-        repo: GITHUB_REPO_NAME,
-        branch: REPORTS_BRANCH,
-        message: `Update ${path} as of ${formattedDateTime}`,
-        content: Buffer.from(
-          toProposalReport(
-            { start: startBlock, end: endBlock, current: latestBlock },
-            proposal,
-            checkResults
-          ),
-          "utf-8"
-        ).toString("base64"),
-        path,
-        sha,
-      });
     } catch (error) {
       console.error("Failed to update file contents", error);
     }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 57f9cc96dcd..83f4db246f8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     "@ethercast/etherscan-client": "^1.0.1",
     "@octokit/action": "^3.15.2",
     "@types/node": "^16.7.13",
+    "dotenv": "^10.0.0",
     "ethers": "^5.4.6",
     "ts-node": "^10.2.1",
     "typescript": "^4.4.2"
diff --git a/utils/clients/ethers.ts b/utils/clients/ethers.ts
index f3d6421b63b..1f96c53f285 100644
--- a/utils/clients/ethers.ts
+++ b/utils/clients/ethers.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 import { providers } from "ethers";
-import { INFURA_API_KEY } from "../constants";
+import { RPC_URL } from "../constants";
 
-export const provider = new providers.InfuraProvider(1, INFURA_API_KEY);
+export const provider = new providers.JsonRpcProvider(RPC_URL);
diff --git a/utils/constants.ts b/utils/constants.ts
index c649d165014..f27a9f86d28 100644
--- a/utils/constants.ts
+++ b/utils/constants.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ export const REPOSITORY: string = process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY!;
 export const [GITHUB_REPO_OWNER, GITHUB_REPO_NAME] =
   typeof REPOSITORY === "string" ? REPOSITORY.split("/") : [];
 export const GOVERNOR_ADDRESS: string = process.env.GOVERNOR_ADDRESS!;
-export const INFURA_API_KEY: string = process.env.INFURA_API_KEY!;
+export const RPC_URL: string = process.env.RPC_URL!;
 export const ETHERSCAN_API_KEY: string = process.env.ETHERSCAN_API_KEY!;
 export const DAO_NAME: string = process.env.DAO_NAME!;
 export const REPORTS_BRANCH = "reports";
+export const RUNNING_LOCALLY = Boolean(process.env.RUNNING_LOCALLY) // use 1 or 0 because Boolean('false') = true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 99db0daebc8..2312e2b749d 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -578,6 +578,11 @@ diff@^4.0.1:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/diff/-/diff-4.0.2.tgz#60f3aecb89d5fae520c11aa19efc2bb982aade7d"
   integrity sha512-58lmxKSA4BNyLz+HHMUzlOEpg09FV+ev6ZMe3vJihgdxzgcwZ8VoEEPmALCZG9LmqfVoNMMKpttIYTVG6uDY7A==
 
+dotenv@^10.0.0:
+  version "10.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv/-/dotenv-10.0.0.tgz#3d4227b8fb95f81096cdd2b66653fb2c7085ba81"
+  integrity sha512-rlBi9d8jpv9Sf1klPjNfFAuWDjKLwTIJJ/VxtoTwIR6hnZxcEOQCZg2oIL3MWBYw5GpUDKOEnND7LXTbIpQ03Q==
+
 elliptic@6.5.4:
   version "6.5.4"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/elliptic/-/elliptic-6.5.4.tgz#da37cebd31e79a1367e941b592ed1fbebd58abbb"