diff --git a/bin/start_keycloak b/bin/start_keycloak
index 335fa718..a95a9492 100755
--- a/bin/start_keycloak
+++ b/bin/start_keycloak
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ docker exec keycloak /opt/keycloak/bin/kc.sh import --file /tmp/finance-realm.js
 docker exec keycloak /opt/keycloak/bin/kc.sh import --file /tmp/spiffworkflow-realm.json || echo ''
 echo 'ran import finance realm'
 
-docker logs -f keycloak
-
 
 
 # to export:
diff --git a/bin/wait_for_keycloak b/bin/wait_for_keycloak
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d7018465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/wait_for_keycloak
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+function error_handler() {
+  >&2 echo "Exited with BAD EXIT CODE '${2}' in ${0} script at line: ${1}."
+  exit "$2"
+}
+trap 'error_handler ${LINENO} $?' ERR
+set -o errtrace -o errexit -o nounset -o pipefail
+
+max_attempts="${1:-}"
+if [[ -z "$max_attempts" ]]; then
+  max_attempts=100
+fi
+
+echo "waiting for backend to come up..."
+attempts=0
+while [[ "$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://localhost:7002/realms/master/.well-known/openid-configuration)" != "200" ]]; do
+  if [[ "$attempts" -gt "$max_attempts" ]]; then
+    >&2 echo "ERROR: Server not up after $max_attempts attempts. There is probably a problem"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  attempts=$(( attempts + 1 ))
+  sleep 1
+done