diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f72b84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+layout python python2
+pip install --quiet -r requirements.txt
+watch_file requirements.txt
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 207b927..f5e1ea6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-html/
\ No newline at end of file
+html/
+.direnv
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 20ff8e5..6e637a6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,4 +10,6 @@ Review and run the `bootstrap.sh` script to generate the EPUB.
 
 **Note**: Currently relies on python2 and pip to install dependencies
 and does not setup a virtualenv. Please review the script and edit
-as per your needs.
+as per your needs. If you have [direnv](https://direnv.net/)
+installed, it will set up the virtualenv for you after you run
+`direnv allow`.