diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3550a30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+use flake
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dc0dcbb..5b3e2bc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -64,3 +64,8 @@ sandbox/benchmark/results/
 sandbox/benchmark/datasets/
 sandbox/benchmark/.venv/
 sandbox/playground/.venv/
+
+# Nix devshell (opt-in; see flake.nix)
+.direnv/
+.pgrx/
+.nix-cargo/
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index b59eb90..5c88032 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -15,9 +15,41 @@ cargo test --features pg17
 cargo pgrx test pg17
 ```
 
+`cargo pgrx init` with no arguments builds PostgreSQL from source and needs
+ICU, pkg-config, bison, flex, readline, zlib, openssl, and perl on the host.
+On macOS the typical prerequisites are:
+
+```bash
+brew install icu4c pkg-config bison flex readline zlib openssl@3
+export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$(brew --prefix icu4c)/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"
+```
+
+To skip the source build entirely, point pgrx at an existing PostgreSQL
+install:
+
+```bash
+cargo pgrx init --pg17 $(brew --prefix postgresql@17)/bin/pg_config
+```
+
 Use PostgreSQL 13 through 18 when validating compatibility-sensitive changes.
 The default local feature is `pg17`.
 
+### Nix devshell (optional)
+
+A `flake.nix` is provided for contributors who use Nix. It pins the Rust
+toolchain, `cargo-pgrx`, and a Postgres major matching the pgrx feature
+flag, and initializes `cargo pgrx` against the nix-provided Postgres on
+first entry — no system deps to install.
+
+```bash
+nix develop          # default shell: pg17
+nix develop .#pg16   # switch majors
+cd graph && cargo test --features pg17
+```
+
+With direnv installed, `direnv allow` activates the shell automatically.
+The Nix path is opt-in; the brew/apt paths above remain fully supported.
+
 ## Pull Request Bar
 
 - Keep SQL APIs aligned with `docs/user_guide/api-reference.mdx`.
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..902b4db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+{
+  description = "pgGraph dev environment (optional, opt-in).";
+
+  inputs = {
+    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
+    flake-utils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
+    rust-overlay = {
+      url = "github:oxalica/rust-overlay";
+      inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
+    };
+  };
+
+  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, flake-utils, rust-overlay }:
+    flake-utils.lib.eachDefaultSystem (system:
+      let
+        pkgs = import nixpkgs {
+          inherit system;
+          overlays = [ rust-overlay.overlays.default ];
+        };
+
+        # Toolchain pinned to the rust-version in graph/Cargo.toml.
+        rust = pkgs.rust-bin.stable."1.95.0".default.override {
+          extensions = [ "rust-src" "rust-analyzer" "clippy" "rustfmt" ];
+        };
+
+        # cargo-pgrx version is pinned in graph/Cargo.toml as `pgrx = "=0.18.0"`.
+        # nixpkgs' cargo-pgrx may drift from that, so we install the exact
+        # version into a project-local CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT on first shell entry.
+        # This keeps the host's global ~/.cargo/bin untouched.
+        pgrxVersion = "0.18.0";
+
+        commonBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
+          icu
+          openssl
+          zlib
+          readline
+          libxml2
+          libxslt
+          pkg-config
+        ] ++ pkgs.lib.optionals pkgs.stdenv.isDarwin [
+          libiconv
+        ];
+
+        mkShell = pg: pkgs.mkShell {
+          packages = [
+            rust
+            pg
+            pkgs.cacert
+          ] ++ commonBuildInputs;
+
+          shellHook = ''
+            export PGRX_HOME="$PWD/.pgrx"
+            export CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT="$PWD/.nix-cargo"
+            export PATH="$CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
+            export PG_CONFIG="${pg}/bin/pg_config"
+
+            mkdir -p "$PGRX_HOME" "$CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT"
+
+            # Install the pinned cargo-pgrx if not already present.
+            if ! "$CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT/bin/cargo-pgrx" --version 2>/dev/null | grep -q '${pgrxVersion}'; then
+              echo "Installing cargo-pgrx ${pgrxVersion} into $CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT ..."
+              cargo install --locked cargo-pgrx --version ${pgrxVersion}
+            fi
+
+            # Initialize pgrx against the nix-provided Postgres on first entry.
+            pg_major="$("$PG_CONFIG" --version | awk '{print $2}' | cut -d. -f1)"
+            if [ ! -d "$PGRX_HOME/$pg_major.''${pg_major}" ] && [ ! -f "$PGRX_HOME/config.toml" ]; then
+              echo "Running cargo pgrx init --pg$pg_major=$PG_CONFIG ..."
+              (cd "$PWD/graph" && cargo pgrx init --pg$pg_major="$PG_CONFIG")
+            fi
+
+            echo "pgGraph devshell: PG $pg_major @ $PG_CONFIG"
+            echo "Try: (cd graph && cargo test --features pg$pg_major)"
+          '';
+        };
+      in {
+        devShells = {
+          default = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_17;
+          pg13 = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_13;
+          pg14 = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_14;
+          pg15 = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_15;
+          pg16 = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_16;
+          pg17 = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_17;
+          # pg18 lands in nixpkgs once it's released upstream; uncomment then:
+          # pg18 = mkShell pkgs.postgresql_18;
+        };
+
+        formatter = pkgs.nixpkgs-fmt;
+      });
+}