diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..069943f5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Use install-deps instead of 'install' because usually 'make install' adds a
+# binary to the system path and we don't want to confuse users
+install-deps:
+#	Install ligo/tezos specific system-level dependencies
+	sudo scripts/install_native_dependencies.sh
+
+build-deps:
+#	Create opam dev switch locally for use with Ligo, add merlin/etc
+	if [ -n "`opam switch show | grep -P ".+/ligo"`" ];
+	then exit; else scripts/setup_dev_switch.sh;
+	fi
+#	Set up the local ligo opam repository so that it can be built
+	if [ -n "`opam repo list --safe | grep -P "ligo-opam-repository"`" ];
+	then exit; else scripts/setup_ligo_opam_repository.sh;
+	fi
+#	Install OCaml build dependencies for Ligo
+	scripts/install_ligo_with_dependencies.sh
+
+build: build-deps
+#	Build Ligo for local dev use
+	scripts/build_ligo_local.sh
+
+.ONESHELL:
+test: build
+	scripts/test_ligo.sh
diff --git a/scripts/build_ligo_local.sh b/scripts/build_ligo_local.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..85fcb6892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build_ligo_local.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+eval $(opam env)
+dune build -p ligo
diff --git a/scripts/install_build_environment.sh b/scripts/install_build_environment.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..4d5e36400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/install_build_environment.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# This script installs opam for the user. It should NOT be included in any makefiles/etc.
+
+if [ -n "`which opam`" ]
+then
+    if [ -n "`opam --version | grep -P "2\..\.."`" ]
+    then
+	echo "Opam 2.x seems to already exist, exiting..."
+	exit 1
+    else
+	read -p "This script will upgrade opam to the 2.x series, are you okay with that? (y/n)" choice1
+	case "$choice1" in
+	    y|Y ) : ;;
+	    n|N ) exit ;;
+	esac
+    fi
+fi
+
+sudo apt-get install -y make \
+     m4 \
+     gcc \
+     patch \
+     bubblewrap \
+     rsync \
+     curl \
+    
+if [ -n "`uname -a | grep -i ubuntu`" ]
+then
+    sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:avsm/ppa
+    sudo apt-get update
+    sudo apt-get install opam
+else
+    # I'm going to assume here that we're on x86_64, 32-bit users should be basically
+    # extinct at this point right?
+    curl -L https://github.com/ocaml/opam/releases/download/2.0.4/opam-2.0.4-x86_64-linux \
+	 --output opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin
+    if [ "`openssl sha256 -r opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin`" = "373e34f92f282273d482537f8103caad0d17b6f2699ff504bed77f474cb0c951 *opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin" ]
+    then
+	# Stay paranoid, in case other checks fail don't want to overrwrite
+	# user's opam on accident
+	chmod +x opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin # Set execute so we can get version
+	if [ -e /usr/local/bin/opam ]
+	then
+	    opam_old_v=`/usr/local/bin/opam --version`
+	    opam_new_v=`opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin --version`
+	    read -p "This will overrwrite the opam you have in /usr/local/bin (version $opam_old_v) with version $opam_new_v, do you actually want to do that? Type yes. (yes/n)" choice2
+	else
+	    choice2="yes"
+	fi
+	if [ $choice2 = "yes" ]
+	then
+	    sudo mv opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin /usr/local/bin/opam
+	else
+	    rm opam_temp_version_2_0_4.bin
+	    exit
+	fi
+    else
+	echo "opam file hash doesn't match what was recorded at time of signature verification!"
+	echo "(If you actually get this message, you should probably file an issue)"
+	echo "https://gitlab.com/ligolang/ligo/issues"
+	exit 1
+    fi	   	   
+fi
+
+opam init -a --bare
diff --git a/scripts/setup_dev_switch.sh b/scripts/setup_dev_switch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..5b9ea1dca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/setup_dev_switch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+opam switch create . ocaml-base-compiler.4.06.1
+eval $(opam env)
+opam install -y ocp-indent tuareg merlin alcotest-lwt crowbar
+opam -y user-setup install
diff --git a/scripts/test_ligo.sh b/scripts/test_ligo.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d13e26d3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/test_ligo.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+eval $(opam env)
+dune build @ligo-test