diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f0e7b240..b5693cf3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 Makefile
 Makefile.in
 .deps
+.hydra-data
 /config.guess
 /config.log
 /config.status
diff --git a/Procfile b/Procfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ccd32b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Procfile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+hydra-server: ./foreman/start-hydra.sh
+hydra-queue-runner: ./foreman/start-queue-runner.sh
+hydra-evaluator: ./foreman/start-evaluator.sh
+postgres: ./foreman/start-postgres.sh
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c4a40de9..100e24f2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ Make sure **State** at the top of the page is set to "_Enabled_" and click on "_
 ### Building Hydra
 
 You can build Hydra via `nix-build` using the provided [default.nix](./default.nix):
+
 ```
 $ nix-build
 ```
@@ -84,6 +85,27 @@ $ configurePhase # NOTE: not ./configure
 $ make
 ```
 
+### Executing Hydra During Development
+
+When working on new features or bug fixes you need to be able to run Hydra from your working copy. This
+can be done using [foreman](https://github.com/ddollar/foreman):
+
+```
+$ nix-shell
+$ # hack hack
+$ make
+$ foreman start
+```
+
+Have a look at the [Procfile](./Procfile) if you want to see how the processes are being started. In order to avoid
+conflicts with services that might be running on your host, hydra and postgress are started on custom ports:
+
+- hydra-server: 63333
+- postgresql: 64444
+
+Note that this is only ever meant as an ad-hoc way of executing Hydra during development. Please make use of the
+NixOS module for actually running Hydra in production.
+
 ### JSON API
 
 You can also interface with Hydra through a JSON API. The API is defined in [hydra-api.yaml](./hydra-api.yaml) and you can test and explore via the [swagger editor](https://editor.swagger.io/?url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/hydra/master/hydra-api.yaml)
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index ec6e0349..2611bd01 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -104,13 +104,17 @@
             [ makeWrapper autoconf automake libtool unzip nukeReferences pkgconfig libpqxx
               gitAndTools.topGit mercurial darcs subversion bazaar openssl bzip2 libxslt
               perlDeps perl final.nix
-              postgresql95 # for running the tests
               boost
+              postgresql95
               (if lib.versionAtLeast lib.version "20.03pre"
                then nlohmann_json
                else nlohmann_json.override { multipleHeaders = true; })
             ];
 
+          checkInputs = [
+            foreman
+          ];
+
           hydraPath = lib.makeBinPath (
             [ subversion openssh final.nix coreutils findutils pixz
               gzip bzip2 lzma gnutar unzip git gitAndTools.topGit mercurial darcs gnused bazaar
@@ -121,6 +125,10 @@
           shellHook = ''
             PATH=$(pwd)/src/hydra-evaluator:$(pwd)/src/script:$(pwd)/src/hydra-eval-jobs:$(pwd)/src/hydra-queue-runner:$PATH
             PERL5LIB=$(pwd)/src/lib:$PERL5LIB
+            export HYDRA_HOME="src/"
+            mkdir -p .hydra-data
+            export HYDRA_DATA="$(pwd)/.hydra-data"
+            export HYDRA_DBI='dbi:Pg:dbname=hydra;host=localhost;port=64444'
           '';
 
           preConfigure = "autoreconf -vfi";
diff --git a/foreman/start-evaluator.sh b/foreman/start-evaluator.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..249c4047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foreman/start-evaluator.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# wait for hydra-server to listen
+while ! nc -z localhost 63333; do sleep 1; done
+
+touch .hydra-data/hydra.conf
+HYDRA_CONFIG=$(pwd)/.hydra-data/hydra.conf exec hydra-evaluator
diff --git a/foreman/start-hydra.sh b/foreman/start-hydra.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..79b4fdb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foreman/start-hydra.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# wait for postgresql to listen
+while ! pg_isready -h $(pwd)/.hydra-data/postgres -p 64444; do sleep 1; done
+
+createdb -h $(pwd)/.hydra-data/postgres -p 64444 hydra
+
+hydra-init
+hydra-create-user alice --password foobar --role admin
+
+touch .hydra-data/hydra.conf
+HYDRA_CONFIG=$(pwd)/.hydra-data/hydra.conf exec hydra-dev-server --port 63333
diff --git a/foreman/start-postgres.sh b/foreman/start-postgres.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c3fd7669
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foreman/start-postgres.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+initdb ./.hydra-data/postgres
+exec postgres -D ./.hydra-data/postgres -k $(pwd)/.hydra-data/postgres -p 64444
diff --git a/foreman/start-queue-runner.sh b/foreman/start-queue-runner.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..7c92f4e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foreman/start-queue-runner.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# wait until hydra is listening on port 63333
+while ! nc -z localhost 63333; do sleep 1; done
+
+touch .hydra-data/hydra.conf
+HYDRA_CONFIG=$(pwd)/.hydra-data/hydra.conf exec hydra-queue-runner