diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5cf9451bf..207f1974f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -191,3 +191,6 @@ dev/
 
 # requirements backups files
 requirements.*.backup
+
+# Local run files
+local-run.yaml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8006af769..448f5d9ad 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -152,13 +152,32 @@ Installation steps depends on operation system. Please look at instructions for
 # Run LCS locally
 
 To quickly get hands on LCS, we can run it using the default configurations provided in this repository:
-0. install dependencies using [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/) `uv sync --group dev --group llslibdev`
-1. check Llama stack settings in [run.yaml](run.yaml), make sure we can access the provider and the model, the server shoud listen to port 8321.
-2. export the LLM token env var that Llama stack requires. for OpenAI, we set the env var by `export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxxxx`
-3. start Llama stack server `uv run llama stack run run.yaml`
-4. [Optional] If you're new to Llama stack, run through a quick tutorial to learn the basics of what the server is used for, by running the interactive tutorial script `./scripts/llama_stack_tutorial.sh`
+
+0. install dependencies using [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)
+   ```bash
+   uv sync --group dev --group llslibdev
+   ```
+1. create llama stack `run.yaml`. you can do this by running the local run generation script
+   ```bash
+   ./scripts/generate_local_run.sh
+   ```
+2. export the LLM token environment variable that Llama stack requires. for OpenAI, we set the env var by
+   ```bash
+   export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxxxx
+   ```
+3. start Llama stack server
+   ```bash
+   uv run llama stack run local-run.yaml
+   ```
+4. [Optional] If you're new to Llama stack, run through a quick tutorial to learn the basics of what the server is used for, by running the interactive tutorial script
+   ```bash
+   ./scripts/llama_stack_tutorial.sh
+   ```
 5. check the LCS settings in [lightspeed-stack.yaml](lightspeed-stack.yaml). `llama_stack.url` should be `url: http://localhost:8321`
-6. start LCS server `make run`
+6. start LCS server
+    ```
+   make run
+    ```
 7. access LCS web UI at [http://localhost:8080/](http://localhost:8080/)
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/generate_local_run.sh b/scripts/generate_local_run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e198e1da9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/generate_local_run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Script to generate local-run.yaml from run.yaml
+# Replaces ~/ with the user's home directory
+
+# Get the directory where the script is located
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+# Get the parent directory (project root where run.yaml is located)
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}/.." && pwd)"
+
+# Input and output files
+INPUT_FILE="${PROJECT_ROOT}/run.yaml"
+OUTPUT_FILE="${PROJECT_ROOT}/local-run.yaml"
+
+# Check if run.yaml exists
+if [ ! -f "$INPUT_FILE" ]; then
+    echo "Error: run.yaml not found at $INPUT_FILE" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Replace ~/ with $HOME/ and write to local-run.yaml
+sed "s|~/|$HOME/|g" "$INPUT_FILE" > "$OUTPUT_FILE"
+
+echo "Successfully generated $OUTPUT_FILE"