diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..ad58f80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# shellcheck disable=SC2002
+
+set -eu
+set -o pipefail
+IFS=$'\n\t'
+
+# print useful message on failure
+trap 's=$?; echo >&2 "$0: Error on line "$LINENO": $BASH_COMMAND"; exit $s' ERR
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+# cd "$DIR"
+here="$PWD"
+
+"$DIR/update-cached-repository.sh"
+
+# repository="${2:-https://gitea.philologue.net/philologue/diachron}"
+repository="${2:-$HOME/.cache/diachron/v1/repositories/diachron.git}"
+ref="${1:-hydrators-kysely}"
+
+echo will bootstrap ref "$ref" of repo "$repository"
+
+into=$(mktemp -d)
+cd "$into"
+echo I am in $(pwd)
+echo I will clone repository "$repository", ref "$ref"
+git clone "$repository"
+
+r=$(ls -1)
+
+cd "$r"
+
+echo I am in $(pwd)
+
+git checkout "$ref"
+
+ls
+echo working dir: $PWD
+# ls backend
+
+# exit 0
+
+tar cvf - $(cat "$PWD/file-list" | grep -v '^#') | (cd "$here" && tar xvf -)
+
+echo "$ref" > .diachron-version
diff --git a/update-cached-repository.sh b/update-cached-repository.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5a625bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/update-cached-repository.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eu
+set -o pipefail
+IFS=$'\n\t'
+
+trap 's=$?; echo >&2 "$0: Error on line "$LINENO": $BASH_COMMAND"; exit $s' ERR
+
+upstream=https://gitea.philologue.net/philologue/diachron
+cache_dir="$HOME/.cache/diachron/v1/repositories"
+cached_repo="$cache_dir/diachron.git"
+
+mkdir -p "$cache_dir"
+
+if [ -d "$cached_repo" ]; then
+    echo "Updating cached repository..."
+    git -C "$cached_repo" fetch --prune origin
+else
+    echo "Creating cached repository..."
+    git clone --mirror "$upstream" "$cached_repo"
+fi
+