diff --git a/fragments/java-version/accelerator.axl b/fragments/java-version/accelerator.axl
index 51912af45..514e8beff 100644
--- a/fragments/java-version/accelerator.axl
+++ b/fragments/java-version/accelerator.axl
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
 engine {
-  applyTo("README.md") {
-    UniquePath(strategy: FavorForeign)
-    ReplaceText(regex: {pattern: "set BP_JVM_VERSION=.*", with: 'set BP_JVM_VERSION=' + #javaVersion})
-  }
 
   applyTo("pom.xml") {
     ReplaceText(regex: {pattern: "<java.version>.*<", with: '<java.version>' + #javaVersion + '<'})
@@ -15,4 +11,9 @@ engine {
   applyTo("build.gradle.kts") {
     ReplaceText(regex: {pattern: "(?<unmodified>JavaVersion\.VERSION_)(\d+)", with: '${unmodified}' + #javaVersion})
   }
+
+  applyTo(".tanzu/config/*.yml") {
+    OpenRewriteRecipe('org.openrewrite.yaml.ChangeValue', { oldKeyPath: "$.spec.build.nonSecretEnv[?(@.name == 'BP_JVM_VERSION')].value", value: #javaVersion})
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-ai-chat/.tanzu/config/spring-ai-chat.yml b/spring-ai-chat/.tanzu/config/spring-ai-chat.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e2e1737af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-ai-chat/.tanzu/config/spring-ai-chat.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: apps.tanzu.vmware.com/v1
+kind: ContainerApp
+metadata:
+  creationTimestamp: null
+  name: spring-ai-chat
+spec:
+  build:
+    buildpacks: {}
+    nonSecretEnv:
+    - name: BP_JVM_VERSION
+      value: "17"
+    path: ../..
+  ports:
+  - name: main
+    port: 8080
diff --git a/spring-ai-chat/README.md b/spring-ai-chat/README.md
index 271122c3c..ad42b99ca 100644
--- a/spring-ai-chat/README.md
+++ b/spring-ai-chat/README.md
@@ -68,17 +68,13 @@ other.
 ## Configuring your app environment
 
 Change to the root directory of your generated app.
-### Initialize the ContainerApp
 
-```sh
-tanzu app init
-```
-### Configure the JDK version
+### About the ContainerApp
 
-You need to specify the JDK version to be used for the app:
+The project contains a `ContainerApp` manifest file that can be used when building and deploying the app. To review the content of this file run:
 
 ```sh
-tanzu app config build non-secret-env set BP_JVM_VERSION=17
+cat .tanzu/config/spring-ai-chat.yml
 ```
 
 ### Configure HTTP Ingress Routing
diff --git a/spring-ai-chat/accelerator.axl b/spring-ai-chat/accelerator.axl
index bbc037b44..959bc3412 100644
--- a/spring-ai-chat/accelerator.axl
+++ b/spring-ai-chat/accelerator.axl
@@ -41,6 +41,12 @@ engine {
     ReplaceText({{text: "spring-ai-chat", with: #artifactId.toLowerCase()}})
   }
 
+  // Update the artifact name and path as needed
+  applyTo(".tanzu/config/spring-ai-chat.yml") {
+    ReplaceText({{text: "spring-ai-chat", with: #artifactId.toLowerCase()}})
+    RewritePath(rewriteTo: '.tanzu/config/' + #artifactId.toLowerCase() + '.yml')
+  }
+
   {
     Include({'**'})
     + InvokeFragment("build-wrapper-maven")
diff --git a/spring-ai-chat/tanzu.yml b/spring-ai-chat/tanzu.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca7b3ffe2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-ai-chat/tanzu.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: config.tanzu.vmware.com/v1
+configuration:
+  dev:
+    paths:
+    - .tanzu/config/
+kind: TanzuConfig
diff --git a/tanzu-java-web-app/.tanzu/config/tanzu-java-web-app.yml b/tanzu-java-web-app/.tanzu/config/tanzu-java-web-app.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..36380a34a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tanzu-java-web-app/.tanzu/config/tanzu-java-web-app.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: apps.tanzu.vmware.com/v1
+kind: ContainerApp
+metadata:
+  creationTimestamp: null
+  name: tanzu-java-web-app
+spec:
+  build:
+    buildpacks: {}
+    nonSecretEnv:
+    - name: BP_JVM_VERSION
+      value: "17"
+    path: ../..
+  ports:
+  - name: main
+    port: 8080
diff --git a/tanzu-java-web-app/README.md b/tanzu-java-web-app/README.md
index cb14f9f21..4f68e73b7 100644
--- a/tanzu-java-web-app/README.md
+++ b/tanzu-java-web-app/README.md
@@ -75,18 +75,12 @@ tanzu build config --containerapp-registry REGISTRY
 
 Change to the root directory of your generated app.
 
-### Initialize the ContainerApp
+### About the ContainerApp
 
-```sh
-tanzu app init
-```
-
-### Configure the JDK version
-
-You need to specify the JDK version to be used for the app:
+The project contains a `ContainerApp` manifest file that can be used when building and deploying the app. To review the content of this file run:
 
 ```sh
-tanzu app config build non-secret-env set BP_JVM_VERSION=17
+cat .tanzu/config/tanzu-java-web-app.yml
 ```
 
 ### Configure for native build with GraalVM
diff --git a/tanzu-java-web-app/accelerator.axl b/tanzu-java-web-app/accelerator.axl
index 81742a3ef..ddb9f3062 100644
--- a/tanzu-java-web-app/accelerator.axl
+++ b/tanzu-java-web-app/accelerator.axl
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ engine {
     ReplaceText({{text: "tanzu-java-web-app", with: #artifactId.toLowerCase()}})
   }
 
+  // Update the artifact name and path as needed
+  applyTo(".tanzu/config/tanzu-java-web-app.yml") {
+    ReplaceText({{text: "tanzu-java-web-app", with: #artifactId.toLowerCase()}})
+    RewritePath(rewriteTo: '.tanzu/config/' + #artifactId.toLowerCase() + '.yml')
+  }
+
   {
     Include({'**'})
     // Update the java version
diff --git a/tanzu-java-web-app/tanzu.yml b/tanzu-java-web-app/tanzu.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca7b3ffe2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tanzu-java-web-app/tanzu.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: config.tanzu.vmware.com/v1
+configuration:
+  dev:
+    paths:
+    - .tanzu/config/
+kind: TanzuConfig