diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d953f4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+use nix
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a66b3e93..9b9580a3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+.direnv
 .pio
 .vscode/.browse.c_cpp.db*
 .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json
diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..828c0ee8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{ pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {} }:
+let
+in
+  pkgs.mkShell {
+    buildInputs = [
+      pkgs.platformio
+      # optional: needed as a programmer i.e. for esp32
+      pkgs.avrdude
+    ];
+}