diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 6209581..cbec572 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 APP_HOST=0.0.0.0
 APP_PORT=8000
 
+# Generate a strong secret key
+# On Linux: openssl rand -hex 32
+# If this variable is not set,
+# the key is generated automatically
+#SECRET_KEY=secret
+
 DB_HOST=${REPO_NAME_SNAKE}_db
 DB_PORT=3306
 DB_USER=${REPO_NAME_SNAKE}
diff --git a/app/common.py b/app/common.py
index 6ebcc1a..cc8a9ad 100644
--- a/app/common.py
+++ b/app/common.py
@@ -7,26 +7,47 @@ from pydantic import BaseSettings
 
 # Directories
 file_dir = Path(__file__).parent
-templates_dir = str(
-    file_dir.parent / 'templates'
-)
-static_dir = str(
-    file_dir.parent / 'static'
-)
+templates_dir = str(file_dir.parent / 'templates')
+static_dir = str(file_dir.parent / 'static')
 
 
 # Main configuration
 class Settings(BaseSettings):
     debug: bool = False
-    secret_key: str = secrets.token_hex(32)
+    secret_key: str = 'secret'
     app_host: str = '127.0.0.1'
     app_port: int = 8000
 
 
+# Instantiate Settings class
 settings = Settings()
 
-
 # Jinja templates handler
 templates = Jinja2Templates(
     directory=templates_dir,
 )
+
+
+def secret_key_check() -> None:
+    """Generates a secret key automatically
+    if the env var `secret_key` is not set
+    or contains text `secret`"""
+
+    if settings.secret_key == 'secret':
+
+        key_file = Path('/tmp/secret_key')
+
+        if key_file.exists():
+            with key_file.open('rt') as f:
+                secret_key = f.read()
+
+        else:
+            secret_key = secrets.token_hex(32)
+            with key_file.open('wt') as f:
+                f.write(secret_key)
+
+        settings.secret_key = secret_key
+
+
+# Call the function
+secret_key_check()
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 8a90be8..051d19e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -20,10 +20,14 @@ services:
     container_name: ${REPO_NAME_SNAKE}_db
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
-      - "./database:/var/lib/mysql"
+      #- "./database:/var/lib/mysql"
+      - "db_data:/var/lib/mysql"
     env_file: .env_db
     healthcheck:
       test: sh -c "mysqladmin ping -u$$$$MYSQL_USER -p$$$$MYSQL_PASSWORD"
       interval: 1s
       timeout: 3s
       retries: 20
+
+volumes:
+  db_data:
diff --git a/mypy.ini b/mypy.ini
deleted file mode 100644
index 6f9d658..0000000
--- a/mypy.ini
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-[mypy]
-show_error_codes = True
-ignore_missing_imports = True
-warn_redundant_casts = True
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..901443c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+[project]
+name = "app"
+version = "1.0.0"
+dependencies = [
+    "fastapi",
+    "uvicorn[standard]",
+    "jinja2",
+    "starlette-wtf",
+    "sqlalchemy",
+    "sqlalchemy-utils",
+    "mysqlclient",
+    "python-dotenv",
+]
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+packages = []
+
+[tool.mypy]
+show_error_codes = true
+ignore_missing_imports = true
+warn_redundant_casts = true
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 3b5e782..6517380 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 fastapi~=0.93.0
-starlette~=0.25.0
-pydantic~=1.10.6
+starlette
+pydantic
 
-uvicorn[standard]~=0.20.0
+uvicorn[standard]~=0.21.0
 gunicorn~=20.1.0
 
 jinja2~=3.1.2