diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index acb1528..48774ae 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -115,6 +115,21 @@ docker run -it --rm \
 -p 8080:8080 \
 cellxgene-gateway
 ```
+## Running cellxgene gateway with start scripts
+
+For your convenience, we provide start scripts for flask, gunicorn and uwsgi.
+
+First, set up a .env
+```bash
+cp env_example .env
+# edit .env
+open .env
+```
+
+Then run the scripts in a subshell
+```bash
+( ./start_flask.sh )
+```
 
 # Customization
 
diff --git a/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py b/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py
index fd7bf45..1e6d00a 100644
--- a/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py
+++ b/cellxgene_gateway/gateway.py
@@ -378,8 +378,10 @@ def ip_address():
 
 def start_pruner_thread():
     pruner = PruneProcessCache(cache)
-
-    background_thread = Thread(target=pruner)
+    # Run the pruner as a daemon thread so it won't block interpreter
+    # shutdown (for example when Ctrl-C is used in the main thread).
+    # This avoids "Exception ignored in: <module 'threading'...>" at exit.
+    background_thread = Thread(target=pruner, daemon=True)
     background_thread.start()
 
 
diff --git a/start_flask.sh b/start_flask.sh
index d28c1df..14387dd 100755
--- a/start_flask.sh
+++ b/start_flask.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #
 # PREREQUISITES:
 # - Gunicorn installed (included with cellxgene 1.3.0, or: pip install gunicorn)
-# - Virtual environment activated or .venv present
+# - Virtual environment activated
 # - .env file with CELLXGENE_LOCATION and CELLXGENE_DATA (or CELLXGENE_BUCKET)
 #
 # USAGE:
diff --git a/start_gunicorn.sh b/start_gunicorn.sh
index 4e6da8f..eeef9bb 100755
--- a/start_gunicorn.sh
+++ b/start_gunicorn.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #
 # PREREQUISITES:
 # - Gunicorn installed (included with cellxgene 1.3.0, or: pip install gunicorn)
-# - Virtual environment activated or .venv present
+# - Virtual environment activated
 # - .env file with CELLXGENE_LOCATION and CELLXGENE_DATA (or CELLXGENE_BUCKET)
 #
 # USAGE:
diff --git a/start_uwsgi.sh b/start_uwsgi.sh
index 7cfaa58..3482085 100755
--- a/start_uwsgi.sh
+++ b/start_uwsgi.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #
 # PREREQUISITES:
 # - uWSGI installed (pip install uwsgi)
-# - Virtual environment activated or .venv present
+# - Virtual environment activated
 # - .env file with CELLXGENE_LOCATION and CELLXGENE_DATA (or CELLXGENE_BUCKET)
 #
 # USAGE: