diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a725465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+vendor/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c19abf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+### openethereum-node-status
+
+A tiny stateless service to return health status and useful metrics from OpenEthereum/Parity nodes. Requires the [following API's](https://openethereum.github.io/JSONRPC) to be enabled:
+
+- eth
+- parity
+
+#### Endpoints
+
+- `/health` (Expect 200 for health with an additional JSON object with more info)
+- `/metrics` (Expect 200 for health with an additional JSON object with more info)
+
+#### Development
+
+`DEBUG_ENABLED=true go run cmd/node-status/main.go`
diff --git a/internal/server/router.go b/internal/server/router.go
index e547b49..2e1ca75 100644
--- a/internal/server/router.go
+++ b/internal/server/router.go
@@ -24,15 +24,14 @@ func healthHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 
 	fmt.Println(data.SyncComplete)
 	if !allOk {
+		// choose a better status code if available
 		c.JSON(http.StatusExpectationFailed, gin.H{
-			"ok":      false,
 			"message": "could not get node health status",
 		})
 		return
 	}
 
 	c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{
-		"ok":           true,
 		"syncComplete": data.SyncComplete,
 		"chainName":    data.ChainName,
 	})