diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6490af..37adf7a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
 # shiftregister
 
 ![kontakt logo with its left half rotated 180 degrees, resembling the left shift operator](assets/tonkakt.svg)
+
+## project setup
+
+* make sure python 3.11 or 3.10 is installed
+* install `python-psycopg2` system wide
+* `python -m venv env`
+* `. env/bin/activate`
+* comment out librabbitmq in requirements.txt when using python 3.11
+* `pip install -r requirements.txt`
+* `./manage.py migrate`
+* `./manage.py startserver`