diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..621e974a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+if direnv_version "2.30.0" \
+&& has nix \
+&& nix show-config experimental-features 2>/dev/null | grep -wqF flakes
+then
+    watch_file ./packaging/nix/*.nix
+    use flake ./packaging/nix
+fi
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3f6211e50..38f0645ae 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 .cproject
 .settings/
 .vscode/
+.direnv/
 
 *.egg-info/