diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1cc70d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+.direnv
+.envrc
+vssm
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5700e79..f7d372e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,2 +1,31 @@
 # vssm_full
 
+Build script that produces a single `vssm` binary with the web dashboard (`vssm_web`) embedded.
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Go
+- Node.js + npm
+- git
+
+***A `flake.nix` is provided for Nix users, run `nix develop` for a shell with all dependencies available.***
+
+## Usage
+
+```sh
+./build.sh
+```
+
+This clones `vssm` and `vssm_web` at the versions pinned in `versions.txt`, builds the frontend, embeds it into the Go binary, and outputs `./vssm`.
+
+## Versions
+
+Edit `versions.txt` to pin specific tagged releases of `vssm` and `vssm_web`.
+
+## Configuration
+
+See the [vssm README](https://git.bellsworne.tech/chrisbell/vssm) for configuration details, including the config file format, auth tokens, and instance setup.
+
+## Running as a background service
+
+*WIP* — instructions for setting up `vssm daemon` as a systemd service (or equivalent) will be added here in the future.
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d24b988
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ORIGINAL_DIR=$(pwd)
+source versions.txt
+
+WORKDIR=$(mktemp -d)
+trap "rm -rf $WORKDIR" EXIT
+
+echo "Cloning vssm @ $VSSM_VERSION..."
+git clone --branch "$VSSM_VERSION" --depth 1 https://git.bellsworne.tech/chrisbell/vssm "$WORKDIR/vssm"
+
+echo "Cloning vssm_web @ $VSSM_WEB_VERSION..."
+git clone --branch "$VSSM_WEB_VERSION" --depth 1 https://git.bellsworne.tech/chrisbell/vssm_web "$WORKDIR/vssm_web"
+
+echo "Building web frontend..."
+cd "$WORKDIR/vssm_web/vssm_web"
+npm install
+npm run build
+
+echo "Copying frontend into vssm..."
+rm -rf "$WORKDIR/vssm/web/dist"
+cp -r dist "$WORKDIR/vssm/web/dist"
+
+echo "Building vssm binary..."
+cd "$WORKDIR/vssm"
+go build -o vssm
+
+echo "Copying binary to output..."
+cp vssm "$ORIGINAL_DIR/vssm"
+
+echo "Done. Binary at ./vssm"
diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..366b8c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+{
+  "nodes": {
+    "nixpkgs": {
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1781074563,
+        "narHash": "sha256-md8WlXOlfnIeHeOScMTTHFyf2d6iaTwPl2apR5EQ3P4=",
+        "owner": "NixOS",
+        "repo": "nixpkgs",
+        "rev": "9ae611a455b90cf061d8f332b977e387bda8e1ca",
+        "type": "github"
+      },
+      "original": {
+        "owner": "NixOS",
+        "ref": "nixos-unstable",
+        "repo": "nixpkgs",
+        "type": "github"
+      }
+    },
+    "root": {
+      "inputs": {
+        "nixpkgs": "nixpkgs",
+        "utils": "utils"
+      }
+    },
+    "systems": {
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1681028828,
+        "narHash": "sha256-Vy1rq5AaRuLzOxct8nz4T6wlgyUR7zLU309k9mBC768=",
+        "owner": "nix-systems",
+        "repo": "default",
+        "rev": "da67096a3b9bf56a91d16901293e51ba5b49a27e",
+        "type": "github"
+      },
+      "original": {
+        "owner": "nix-systems",
+        "repo": "default",
+        "type": "github"
+      }
+    },
+    "utils": {
+      "inputs": {
+        "systems": "systems"
+      },
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1731533236,
+        "narHash": "sha256-l0KFg5HjrsfsO/JpG+r7fRrqm12kzFHyUHqHCVpMMbI=",
+        "owner": "numtide",
+        "repo": "flake-utils",
+        "rev": "11707dc2f618dd54ca8739b309ec4fc024de578b",
+        "type": "github"
+      },
+      "original": {
+        "owner": "numtide",
+        "repo": "flake-utils",
+        "type": "github"
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "root": "root",
+  "version": 7
+}
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aec686f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+{
+  description = "Dev shell";
+
+  inputs = {
+    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
+    utils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
+  };
+
+  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, utils }:
+    utils.lib.eachDefaultSystem (system:
+      let
+        pkgs = import nixpkgs { 
+          inherit system;
+          config = {
+            allowUnfree = true;
+          }; 
+        };
+        
+        dotnetRuntime = pkgs.dotnet-runtime_10.passthru.unwrapped;
+      in
+      {
+        devShells.default = pkgs.mkShell {
+          buildInputs = with pkgs; [
+            go
+            gopls
+            gotools
+            delve
+            golangci-lint
+
+            nodejs_22
+            pnpm
+            
+            pkgs.dotnet-runtime_10
+            patchelf
+          ];
+
+          shellHook = ''
+            export DOTNET_ROOT="${dotnetRuntime}/share/dotnet"
+            export DOTNET_ROOT_X64="${dotnetRuntime}/share/dotnet"
+            export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${pkgs.stdenv.cc.cc.lib}/lib:${pkgs.zlib}/lib:/run/opengl-driver/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
+
+            echo " == Dev shell loaded == "
+          '';
+        };
+      }
+    );
+}
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78dfbc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+VSSM_VERSION=v1.0.0
+VSSM_WEB_VERSION=v1.0.0