diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dc4dc65..c2c1abb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,3 +7,29 @@ Server for stable, curated Haskell package sets
 
 This repo is part of the [Stackage project](https://github.com/fpco/stackage),
 and the live server can be viewed at https://www.stackage.org.
+
+## Building locally
+
+Build locally by passing the `dev` flag to it:
+
+``` shellsession
+$ stack build . --flag stackage-server:dev
+```
+
+Now, initially you need to run the cron job to create and populate the database:
+
+``` shellsession
+$ export PGSTRING=postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/stackage
+$ stack exec stackage-server-cron
+```
+
+Note that you need to modify the PGSTRING environment variable according to your actual database configuration. Also, you need to create an empty database before running the cron job. Note that it takes quites some time for it to load your database.
+
+After this, run the stackage server:
+
+``` shellsession
+$ export PGSTRING=postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/stackage
+$ stack exec stackage-server
+```
+
+
diff --git a/package.yaml b/package.yaml
index 115819b..aa612c5 100644
--- a/package.yaml
+++ b/package.yaml
@@ -147,6 +147,8 @@ executables:
     when:
     - condition: flag(library-only)
       buildable: false
+    - condition: flag(dev)
+      cpp-options: -DDEVELOPMENT
 
   stackage-server-cron:
     main: stackage-server-cron.hs
@@ -161,3 +163,5 @@ executables:
     when:
     - condition: flag(library-only)
       buildable: false
+    - condition: flag(dev)
+      cpp-options: -DDEVELOPMENT
diff --git a/src/Application.hs b/src/Application.hs
index 041f850..88c2c71 100644
--- a/src/Application.hs
+++ b/src/Application.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {-# OPTIONS_GHC -fno-warn-orphans #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP#-}
 module Application
     ( getApplicationDev
     , appMain
@@ -81,7 +82,9 @@ makeApplication foundation = do
     appPlain <- toWaiAppPlain foundation
 
     let middleware = id -- prometheus def
+#if !DEVELOPMENT
                    . forceSSL' (appSettings foundation)
+#endif
                    . logWare
                    . defaultMiddlewaresNoLogging
 
diff --git a/src/Stackage/Database/Cron.hs b/src/Stackage/Database/Cron.hs
index adafc4c..d2523b5 100644
--- a/src/Stackage/Database/Cron.hs
+++ b/src/Stackage/Database/Cron.hs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP#-}
 module Stackage.Database.Cron
     ( stackageServerCron
     , newHoogleLocker
@@ -107,6 +108,7 @@ stackageServerCron = do
           }
     createStackageDatabase dbfp
 
+#if !DEVELOPMENT          
     db <- openStackageDatabase dbfp
 
     do
@@ -139,6 +141,7 @@ stackageServerCron = do
                     let dest = unpack key
                     createDirectoryIfMissing True $ takeDirectory dest
                     renamePath fp dest
+#endif
 
 createHoogleDB :: StackageDatabase -> Manager -> SnapName -> IO (Maybe FilePath)
 createHoogleDB db man name = handleAny (\e -> print e $> Nothing) $ do