diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8de0792c9..fe380e5ab 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,6 +48,16 @@ sudo apt install build-essential debhelper cmake libclang-dev libncurses5-dev cl
 sudo apt install unzip automake build-essential file pkg-config git python libtool libtinfo5 cmake openjdk-8-jre-headless
 ```
 
+Run prebuild script
+
+```
+cd scripts
+./prebuild.sh
+// when finished go back to the root directory
+cd ..
+```
+
+
 Remove pre-installed system libraries for the following packages built by cryptography plugins in the crypto_plugins folder: `boost iconv libjson-dev libsecret openssl sodium unbound zmq`.  You can use
 ```
 sudo apt list --installed | grep boost
diff --git a/scripts/prebuild.sh b/scripts/prebuild.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..31acfa82c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prebuild.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Create template lib/external_api_keys.dart file if it doesn't already exist
+KEYS=../lib/external_api_keys.dart
+if ! test -f "$KEYS"; then
+    echo 'prebuild.sh: creating template lib/external_api_keys.dart file'
+    echo 'const kChangeNowApiKey = "";' > $KEYS
+fi