diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fa67fe35..15763616 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -54,6 +54,19 @@ instance.  Available formats are:
 - [Info][doc-info]
 
 
+## Getting Started
+To get started, make sure Saxon version 9 or later is available and its path
+set as `SAXON_CP`; that the path to hoxsl is set via `HOXSL`; and then run
+the `bootstrap` script:
+
+```bash
+export SAXON_CP=/path/to/saxon9he.jar
+export HOXSL=/path/to/hoxsl/root
+
+./boostrap
+```
+
+
 ## Hacking
 Information for TAME developers can be found in the file `HACKING`.
 
diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..6b6fcdaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Bootstrap from source repository
+#
+#   Copyright (C) 2018 R-T Specialty, LLC.
+#
+#   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#   (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#   GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+##
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+export SAXON_CP="${SAXON_CP?Missing path to saxon9he.jar}"
+export RATER_CLASSPATH="${RATER_CLASSPATH:-$SAXON_CP}"
+export HOXSL="${HOXSL?Missing path to hoxsl}"
+
+test "${1:-}" = -n || git submodule update --init --recursive
+
+cd progtest \
+  && { which npm && npm install || true; } \
+  && ./autogen.sh && ./configure \
+  && cd - \
+  && { test -e hoxsl || ln -s ../hoxsl; } \
+  && autoreconf -fvi \
+  && ./configure \
+  && make all
+