diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..72ba8d33b7ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# opentrons-api
+Python API for writing protocols and running them on Opentrons robots
+
+## Endy Lab Development Environment
+We are using conda virtual envs to make sure we all have the same development environment.
+
+Using python 3.5 for opencv compatibility
+
+```
+conda create -n opentrons python=3.5 numpy pandas matplotlib jupyter
+```
+
+Use local copy of opentrons code in the virtual env.
+
+```
+source activate opentrons
+cd opentrons-api/api
+pip install -e .
+```