We present a general algorithm for constructing the holographic dictionary for Lifshitz and hyperscaling violating Lifshitz backgrounds for any value of the dynamical exponent z and any value of the hyperscaling violation parameter θ compatible with the null energy condition. The objective of the algorithm is the construction of the general asymptotic solution of the radial Hamilton–Jacobi equation subject to the desired boundary conditions, from which the full dictionary can be subsequently derived. Contrary to the relativistic case, we find that a fully covariant construction of the asymptotic solution for running non-relativistic theories necessitates an expansion in the eigenfunctions of two commuting operators instead of one. This provides a covariant but non-relativistic grading of the expansion, according to the number of time derivatives.