diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 13a0ce3..14c1033 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -159,6 +159,8 @@ cython_debug/
 #  option (not recommended) you can uncomment the following to ignore the entire idea folder.
 #.idea/
 
+venv
+
 # nixos-shell
 nixos.qcow2
 
@@ -166,4 +168,4 @@ nixos.qcow2
 result
 
 # test sources
-tests/**/*.item
\ No newline at end of file
+tests/**/*.item
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cafa6a3..ba57d2e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 help: ## display this help
 	@awk 'BEGIN{FS = ":.*##"; printf "\033[1m\nUsage\n \033[1;92m make\033[0;36m <target>\033[0m\n"} /^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+:.*?##/ { printf "  \033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2 } ' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
 
+venv: ## link the python dev environment to ./venv
+	nix build .#pythonEnv -o venv
+
 lint: ## run linters
 	nix fmt
 	black **/*.py
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 7e5c31b..058ecb0 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@
     let
       inherit (nixpkgs.lib) makeOverridable nixosSystem;
       system = "x86_64-linux";
+      pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
+      pythonEnv = pkgs.python3.withPackages (
+        pypkgs: with pypkgs; [
+          flask
+          black
+          pytest
+        ]
+      );
     in
     {
       formatter.${system} = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system}.nixfmt-rfc-style;
@@ -39,32 +47,22 @@
         {
           default = self.packages.${system}.intake;
           inherit (pkgs) intake;
+          inherit pythonEnv;
         };
 
       devShells.${system} = {
-        default =
-          let
-            pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
-            pythonEnv = pkgs.python3.withPackages (
-              pypkgs: with pypkgs; [
-                flask
-                black
-                pytest
-              ]
-            );
-          in
-          pkgs.mkShell {
-            packages = [
-              pythonEnv
-              pkgs.gnumake
-              pkgs.nixos-shell
-              # We only take this dependency for htpasswd, which is a little unfortunate
-              pkgs.apacheHttpd
-            ];
-            shellHook = ''
-              PS1="(develop) $PS1"
-            '';
-          };
+        default = pkgs.mkShell {
+          packages = [
+            pythonEnv
+            pkgs.gnumake
+            pkgs.nixos-shell
+            # We only take this dependency for htpasswd, which is a little unfortunate
+            pkgs.apacheHttpd
+          ];
+          shellHook = ''
+            PS1="(develop) $PS1"
+          '';
+        };
       };
 
       overlays.default = final: prev: {