diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c443556f5..39a4e8702 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -17,3 +17,7 @@ cmd/tailscaled/tailscaled
 
 # Dependency directories (remove the comment below to include it)
 # vendor/
+
+# direnv config, this may be different for other people so it's probably safer
+# to make this nonspecific.
+.envrc
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..273ecf9b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# This is a shell.nix file used to describe the environment that tailscale needs
+# for development. This includes a lot of the basic tools that you need in order
+# to get started. We hope this file will be useful for users of Nix on macOS or
+# Linux.
+#
+# For more information about this and why this file is useful, see here:
+# https://nixos.org/guides/nix-pills/developing-with-nix-shell.html
+#
+# Also look into direnv: https://direnv.net/, this can make it so that you can
+# automatically get your environment set up when you change folders into the
+# project.
+{ pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {} }:
+
+pkgs.mkShell {
+  # This specifies the tools that are needed for people to get started with
+  # development. These tools include:
+  #  - The Go compiler toolchain (and all additional tooling with it)
+  #  - goimports, a robust formatting tool for Go source code
+  #  - gopls, the language server for Go to increase editor integration
+  #  - git, the version control program (used in some scripts)
+  buildInputs = with pkgs; [
+    go goimports gopls git
+  ];
+}