diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5bd5c7a37572692fff64a7a979a184d1ddc44fae..49d6ea838bd539a05dee1c90ff41ce961a929cc1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ mpremote fs cp python_payload/boot.py :boot.py
 mpremote fs cp python_payload/cap_touch_demo.py :cap_touch_demo.py
 ```
 
-## how to build
+## how to install dependencies
+
+### Generic
 
 1. install esp-idf v4.4:
 (copied from https://www.wemos.cc/en/latest/tutorials/others/build_micropython_esp32.html)
@@ -49,14 +51,22 @@ $ source export.sh
 best put something like "alias espidf='source ~/esp-idf/export.sh'" in your .bashrc etc,
 you need to run it in every new terminal and adding it to autostart did bother us
 
-2. prepare build
+### Nix(OS)
+
+```
+$ nix-shell nix/shell.nix
+```
+
+## how to build
+
+1. prepare build
 ```
 $ cd micropython/
 $ make -C mpy-cross
 $ cd ports/esp32
 $ make submodules
 ```
-3. build/flash
+2. build/flash
 make sure esp-idf is sourced as in step 1 and that you are in micropython/ports/esp32
 build:
 ```
@@ -73,7 +83,7 @@ empty build cache (useful when moving files around):
 $ make clean
 ```
 
-4. access micropython repl:
+3. access micropython repl:
 ```
 $ picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyACM0
 ```
diff --git a/nix/shell.nix b/nix/shell.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5c2fb28d6962f5713db8a01cd3ed420c28fce612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+let
+  sources = import ./sources.nix;
+  nixpkgs = import sources.nixpkgs {
+    overlays = [
+      (import "${sources.nixpkgs-esp-dev}/overlay.nix")
+    ];
+  };
+
+in with nixpkgs; pkgs.mkShell {
+  name = "badg23-shell";
+  buildInputs = with pkgs; [
+    gcc-xtensa-esp32s3-elf-bin
+    openocd-esp32-bin
+    esp-idf
+    esptool
+
+    git wget gnumake
+    flex bison gperf pkgconfig
+
+    cmake ninja
+
+    ncurses5
+  ];
+}
diff --git a/nix/sources.json b/nix/sources.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..69aba976b54912563e52af02a720f59b51792a94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/sources.json
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{
+    "nixpkgs": {
+        "branch": "master",
+        "description": "Nix Packages collection",
+        "homepage": "",
+        "owner": "NixOS",
+        "repo": "nixpkgs",
+        "rev": "c11d08f02390aab49e7c22e6d0ea9b176394d961",
+        "sha256": "017jdga9j0qkdplly8pypxxcsski0h9galzaf9qsvpq0j50x86cv",
+        "type": "tarball",
+        "url": "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/c11d08f02390aab49e7c22e6d0ea9b176394d961.tar.gz",
+        "url_template": "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/archive/<rev>.tar.gz"
+    },
+    "nixpkgs-esp-dev": {
+        "branch": "master",
+        "description": "Nix flake and overlay for ESP8266 and ESP32 development.",
+        "homepage": "",
+        "owner": "mirrexagon",
+        "repo": "nixpkgs-esp-dev",
+        "rev": "48413ee362b4d0709e1a0dff6aba7fd99060335e",
+        "sha256": "1n0m1nr39ngff6px9gdm9hkgzqq7imdcakpgz9md7fmm5c7b309f",
+        "type": "tarball",
+        "url": "https://github.com/mirrexagon/nixpkgs-esp-dev/archive/48413ee362b4d0709e1a0dff6aba7fd99060335e.tar.gz",
+        "url_template": "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/archive/<rev>.tar.gz"
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nix/sources.nix b/nix/sources.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fe3dadf7ebb1da68bff868e5ca95a2eaae1ddc9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/sources.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+# This file has been generated by Niv.
+
+let
+
+  #
+  # The fetchers. fetch_<type> fetches specs of type <type>.
+  #
+
+  fetch_file = pkgs: name: spec:
+    let
+      name' = sanitizeName name + "-src";
+    in
+    if spec.builtin or true then
+      builtins_fetchurl { inherit (spec) url sha256; name = name'; }
+    else
+      pkgs.fetchurl { inherit (spec) url sha256; name = name'; };
+
+  fetch_tarball = pkgs: name: spec:
+    let
+      name' = sanitizeName name + "-src";
+    in
+    if spec.builtin or true then
+      builtins_fetchTarball { name = name'; inherit (spec) url sha256; }
+    else
+      pkgs.fetchzip { name = name'; inherit (spec) url sha256; };
+
+  fetch_git = name: spec:
+    let
+      ref =
+        spec.ref or (
+          if spec ? branch then "refs/heads/${spec.branch}" else
+          if spec ? tag then "refs/tags/${spec.tag}" else
+          abort "In git source '${name}': Please specify `ref`, `tag` or `branch`!"
+        );
+      submodules = spec.submodules or false;
+      submoduleArg =
+        let
+          nixSupportsSubmodules = builtins.compareVersions builtins.nixVersion "2.4" >= 0;
+          emptyArgWithWarning =
+            if submodules
+            then
+              builtins.trace
+                (
+                  "The niv input \"${name}\" uses submodules "
+                  + "but your nix's (${builtins.nixVersion}) builtins.fetchGit "
+                  + "does not support them"
+                )
+                { }
+            else { };
+        in
+        if nixSupportsSubmodules
+        then { inherit submodules; }
+        else emptyArgWithWarning;
+    in
+    builtins.fetchGit
+      ({ url = spec.repo; inherit (spec) rev; inherit ref; } // submoduleArg);
+
+  fetch_local = spec: spec.path;
+
+  fetch_builtin-tarball = name: throw
+    ''[${name}] The niv type "builtin-tarball" is deprecated. You should instead use `builtin = true`.
+        $ niv modify ${name} -a type=tarball -a builtin=true'';
+
+  fetch_builtin-url = name: throw
+    ''[${name}] The niv type "builtin-url" will soon be deprecated. You should instead use `builtin = true`.
+        $ niv modify ${name} -a type=file -a builtin=true'';
+
+  #
+  # Various helpers
+  #
+
+  # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/83241/files#diff-c6f540a4f3bfa4b0e8b6bafd4cd54e8bR695
+  sanitizeName = name:
+    (
+      concatMapStrings (s: if builtins.isList s then "-" else s)
+        (
+          builtins.split "[^[:alnum:]+._?=-]+"
+            ((x: builtins.elemAt (builtins.match "\\.*(.*)" x) 0) name)
+        )
+    );
+
+  # The set of packages used when specs are fetched using non-builtins.
+  mkPkgs = sources: system:
+    let
+      sourcesNixpkgs =
+        import (builtins_fetchTarball { inherit (sources.nixpkgs) url sha256; }) { inherit system; };
+      hasNixpkgsPath = builtins.any (x: x.prefix == "nixpkgs") builtins.nixPath;
+      hasThisAsNixpkgsPath = <nixpkgs> == ./.;
+    in
+    if builtins.hasAttr "nixpkgs" sources
+    then sourcesNixpkgs
+    else if hasNixpkgsPath && ! hasThisAsNixpkgsPath then
+      import <nixpkgs> { }
+    else
+      abort
+        ''
+          Please specify either <nixpkgs> (through -I or NIX_PATH=nixpkgs=...) or
+          add a package called "nixpkgs" to your sources.json.
+        '';
+
+  # The actual fetching function.
+  fetch = pkgs: name: spec:
+
+    if ! builtins.hasAttr "type" spec then
+      abort "ERROR: niv spec ${name} does not have a 'type' attribute"
+    else if spec.type == "file" then fetch_file pkgs name spec
+    else if spec.type == "tarball" then fetch_tarball pkgs name spec
+    else if spec.type == "git" then fetch_git name spec
+    else if spec.type == "local" then fetch_local spec
+    else if spec.type == "builtin-tarball" then fetch_builtin-tarball name
+    else if spec.type == "builtin-url" then fetch_builtin-url name
+    else
+      abort "ERROR: niv spec ${name} has unknown type ${builtins.toJSON spec.type}";
+
+  # If the environment variable NIV_OVERRIDE_${name} is set, then use
+  # the path directly as opposed to the fetched source.
+  replace = name: drv:
+    let
+      saneName = stringAsChars (c: if (builtins.match "[a-zA-Z0-9]" c) == null then "_" else c) name;
+      ersatz = builtins.getEnv "NIV_OVERRIDE_${saneName}";
+    in
+    if ersatz == "" then drv else
+      # this turns the string into an actual Nix path (for both absolute and
+      # relative paths)
+    if builtins.substring 0 1 ersatz == "/" then /. + ersatz else /. + builtins.getEnv "PWD" + "/${ersatz}";
+
+  # Ports of functions for older nix versions
+
+  # a Nix version of mapAttrs if the built-in doesn't exist
+  mapAttrs = builtins.mapAttrs or (
+    f: set: with builtins;
+    listToAttrs (map (attr: { name = attr; value = f attr set.${attr}; }) (attrNames set))
+  );
+
+  # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/0258808f5744ca980b9a1f24fe0b1e6f0fecee9c/lib/lists.nix#L295
+  range = first: last: if first > last then [ ] else builtins.genList (n: first + n) (last - first + 1);
+
+  # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/0258808f5744ca980b9a1f24fe0b1e6f0fecee9c/lib/strings.nix#L257
+  stringToCharacters = s: map (p: builtins.substring p 1 s) (range 0 (builtins.stringLength s - 1));
+
+  # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/0258808f5744ca980b9a1f24fe0b1e6f0fecee9c/lib/strings.nix#L269
+  stringAsChars = f: s: concatStrings (map f (stringToCharacters s));
+  concatMapStrings = f: list: concatStrings (map f list);
+  concatStrings = builtins.concatStringsSep "";
+
+  # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/8a9f58a375c401b96da862d969f66429def1d118/lib/attrsets.nix#L331
+  optionalAttrs = cond: as: if cond then as else { };
+
+  # fetchTarball version that is compatible between all the versions of Nix
+  builtins_fetchTarball = { url, name ? null, sha256 }@attrs:
+    let
+      inherit (builtins) lessThan nixVersion fetchTarball;
+    in
+    if lessThan nixVersion "1.12" then
+      fetchTarball ({ inherit url; } // (optionalAttrs (name != null) { inherit name; }))
+    else
+      fetchTarball attrs;
+
+  # fetchurl version that is compatible between all the versions of Nix
+  builtins_fetchurl = { url, name ? null, sha256 }@attrs:
+    let
+      inherit (builtins) lessThan nixVersion fetchurl;
+    in
+    if lessThan nixVersion "1.12" then
+      fetchurl ({ inherit url; } // (optionalAttrs (name != null) { inherit name; }))
+    else
+      fetchurl attrs;
+
+  # Create the final "sources" from the config
+  mkSources = config:
+    mapAttrs
+      (
+        name: spec:
+          if builtins.hasAttr "outPath" spec
+          then
+            abort
+              "The values in sources.json should not have an 'outPath' attribute"
+          else
+            spec // { outPath = replace name (fetch config.pkgs name spec); }
+      )
+      config.sources;
+
+  # The "config" used by the fetchers
+  mkConfig =
+    { sourcesFile ? if builtins.pathExists ./sources.json then ./sources.json else null
+    , sources ? if sourcesFile == null then { } else builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile sourcesFile)
+    , system ? builtins.currentSystem
+    , pkgs ? mkPkgs sources system
+    }: rec {
+      # The sources, i.e. the attribute set of spec name to spec
+      inherit sources;
+
+      # The "pkgs" (evaluated nixpkgs) to use for e.g. non-builtin fetchers
+      inherit pkgs;
+    };
+
+in
+mkSources (mkConfig { }) // { __functor = _: settings: mkSources (mkConfig settings); }