diff --git a/tasks.py b/tasks.py
index e69de29..a099f7f 100644
--- a/tasks.py
+++ b/tasks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+import os
+import subprocess
+from invoke import task, Collection
+
+
+def is_linux():
+    uname_output = subprocess.Popen(["uname", "-a"],
+                                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE).communicate()[0]
+    if uname_output.decode('utf-8').startswith('Linux'):
+        return True
+    return False
+
+
+@task
+def stopenv(c):
+    """stop the constellation"""
+    c.run('docker-compose down')
+
+
+@task(stopenv)
+def clean(c):
+    """clean up the repo (NOTE: stops constellation)"""
+    if is_linux():
+        # _print("*** FIXING PERMISSIONS ***")  # pylint: disable=E1601
+        dir_basename = os.path.basename(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))
+        c.run(f'sudo chown -R {os.geteuid()}.{os.getegid()} ../{dir_basename}')
+    # _print("*** CLEANING UP REPO ***")  # pylint: disable=E1601
+    c.run('find . | grep -E "(__pycache__|\.pyc|\.pyo$)" | xargs rm -rf')
+
+
+@task
+def prune_docker(c):
+    """reclaim space from docker (run often)"""
+    c.run('docker system prune -f --volumes')
+
+
+@task()
+def startenv(c):
+    """start the constellation"""
+    c.run('docker-compose up')
+
+
+@task(stopenv, startenv)
+def restartenv(c):
+    pass
+
+
+@task(clean, help={'name': 'only build for supplied container name'})
+def buildenv(c, name=None):
+    """build new constellation containers"""
+    cmd = 'docker-compose build'
+    c.run('{cmd} name' if name else cmd)
+
+
+@task
+def showenv(c):
+    """show running constellation containers"""
+    c.run('docker-compose ps')
+
+
+@task
+def shell(c):
+    """start a shell"""
+    os.system('docker-compose run workflow bash')
+
+
+@task
+def dbshell(c):
+    """start a dbshell"""
+    os.system('docker-compose run workflow python manage.py dbshell')
+
+
+@task(help={'filename': 'path to the file containing the test module',
+            'substring': 'only run tests that contain the supplied substring'})
+def run_tests(c, filename=None, substring=None):
+    """run the test suite"""
+    env_opts = ''
+    dcrun = f'docker-compose run {env_opts} workflow'
+    cmd = f'{dcrun} py.test -rf'
+    if substring:
+        cmd += f' -k {substring}'
+    if filename:
+        cmd += f' {filename}'
+    print('RUNNING PYTEST: {}\n'.format(cmd))
+    c.run(cmd)
+
+
+@task
+def list_branches(c):
+    """list branches in order of last commit"""
+    c.run('git branch --sort=committerdate')
+
+
+@task
+def prune_git_branches(c):
+    """Clean up outdated references"""
+    c.run('git remote prune origin')
+
+
+@task
+def list_git_references(c):
+    """List git references"""
+    c.run('git branch -r')
+
+
+ns = Collection()
+
+ns_repo = Collection('repo')
+ns_repo.add_task(clean)
+ns_repo.add_task(list_git_references, 'git-references')
+ns_repo.add_task(prune_git_branches, 'git-prune')
+ns_repo.add_task(list_branches, 'branches')
+ns.add_collection(ns_repo)
+
+ns_dev = Collection('dev')
+ns_dev.add_task(startenv, 'start')
+ns_dev.add_task(stopenv, 'stop')
+ns_dev.add_task(restartenv, 'restart')
+ns_dev.add_task(buildenv, 'build')
+ns_dev.add_task(showenv, 'show')
+
+ns_docker = Collection('docker')
+ns_docker.add_task(prune_docker, 'clean')
+ns_dev.add_collection(ns_docker)
+
+ns_workflow = Collection('workflow')
+ns_workflow.add_task(shell)
+ns_workflow.add_task(run_tests, 'test')
+ns_dev.add_collection(ns_workflow)
+
+ns_database = Collection('database')
+ns_database.add_task(dbshell, 'shell')
+ns_dev.add_collection(ns_database)
+
+ns_env = Collection('env')
+ns_env.add_collection(ns_dev)
+
+ns.add_collection(ns_env)
+