diff --git a/etc/dev-start.sh b/etc/dev-start.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..6112cf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/dev-start.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# dev-start.sh
+# description: Developer friendly Inbucket configuration
+
+export INBUCKET_LOGLEVEL="TRACE"
+export INBUCKET_SMTP_DOMAINNOSTORE="bitbucket.local"
+export INBUCKET_WEB_TEMPLATECACHE="false"
+export INBUCKET_WEB_COOKIEAUTHKEY="not-secret"
+export INBUCKET_STORAGE_TYPE="file"
+export INBUCKET_STORAGE_PARAMS="path:/tmp/inbucket"
+export INBUCKET_STORAGE_RETENTIONPERIOD="5m"
+
+if ! test -x ./inbucket; then
+  echo "$PWD/inbucket not found/executable!" >&2
+  echo "Run this script from the inbucket root directory after running make" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+exec ./inbucket $*