diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,3 +14,6 @@
 .eslintcache
 .vscode
 !.vscode/extensions.json
+
+# Nix
+result*
diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+{
+  "nodes": {
+    "nixpkgs": {
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1641404362,
+        "narHash": "sha256-8j21rw0xwwuiz8uOybm6gbeQIfAga/cwovzr3z1xzOg=",
+        "owner": "nixos",
+        "repo": "nixpkgs",
+        "rev": "defafc9a220440180a34f923be9772d9c89a8197",
+        "type": "github"
+      },
+      "original": {
+        "owner": "nixos",
+        "ref": "nixpkgs-unstable",
+        "repo": "nixpkgs",
+        "type": "github"
+      }
+    },
+    "root": {
+      "inputs": {
+        "nixpkgs": "nixpkgs",
+        "utils": "utils"
+      }
+    },
+    "utils": {
+      "locked": {
+        "lastModified": 1638122382,
+        "narHash": "sha256-sQzZzAbvKEqN9s0bzWuYmRaA03v40gaJ4+iL1LXjaeI=",
+        "owner": "numtide",
+        "repo": "flake-utils",
+        "rev": "74f7e4319258e287b0f9cb95426c9853b282730b",
+        "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
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{
+  description = "Comm flake";
+
+  inputs = {
+    utils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
+    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable";
+  };
+
+  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, utils, ... }:
+    let
+      # Overlays allow for extending a package set, in this case, we are extending nixpkgs
+      # with our devShell
+      localOverlay = import ./nix/overlay.nix;
+      overlays = [
+        localOverlay
+      ];
+
+      # Since we build for many systems (e.g. m1 mac, x86_64-linux), we create
+      # a helper function to help facilitate instantiation of the related package set
+      pkgsForSystem = system: import nixpkgs {
+        inherit overlays system;
+      };
+
+    # utils.lib.eachSystem helps create a result set of expected flake outputs
+    # of the form <output>.<system>
+    # https://github.com/numtide/flake-utils#usage for more examples
+    in utils.lib.eachSystem [ "x86_64-linux" "x86_64-darwin" "aarch64-darwin" ] (system: rec {
+      legacyPackages = pkgsForSystem system;
+      inherit (legacyPackages) devShell;
+    }) // {
+      # these outputs will lack the system suffix (e.g. devShell.aarch64-darwin), thus should
+      # be system agnostic such as overlays or utility functions.
+      overlays = { inherit localOverlay; };
+      overlay = localOverlay;
+    };
+}
diff --git a/nix/dev-shell.nix b/nix/dev-shell.nix
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/dev-shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+{ mkShell
+, stdenv
+, lib
+, arcanist
+, darwin
+, nodejs-16_x
+, protobuf3_15
+, yarn
+}:
+
+mkShell rec {
+
+  # programs which are meant to be executed should go here
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    arcanist
+    nodejs-16_x
+    protobuf3_15
+    yarn
+  ];
+
+  # include any libraries buildInputs
+  buildInputs = [
+    protobuf3_15 # exposes both a library and a command, thus should appear in both inputs
+  ] ++ lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin (with darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks; [
+    CoreFoundation
+    Security
+  ]);
+
+  # shell commands to be ran upon entering shell
+  shellHook = ''
+    echo "Welcome to Comm dev environment! :)"
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/nix/overlay.nix b/nix/overlay.nix
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/overlay.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# An overlay allows for a package set to be extended with new or modified packages
+
+# `final` refers to the package set with all overlays applied.
+# This allows for added or modified packages to be referenced with
+# all relevant changes
+final:
+
+# `prev` refers to the previous package set before this current overlay is applied.
+# This is cheaper for nix to evaluate, thus should be prefered over final when possible.
+prev:
+
+{
+  # add packages meant for just this repository
+  devShell = final.callPackage ./dev-shell.nix { };
+}