diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/.helmignore b/charts/rstudio-connect/.helmignore
index 93f437e0a..2abf3ce44 100644
--- a/charts/rstudio-connect/.helmignore
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/.helmignore
@@ -27,3 +27,6 @@
 ci/
 lint/
 tests/
+
+# local dev
+local-dev/
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/.gitignore b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b5c5edac3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+*.lic
+**netrc**
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/bootstrap.sh b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/bootstrap.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a939ea75b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/bootstrap.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Colors for output
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+BLUE='\033[0;34m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+
+# Configuration
+REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
+DEV_DIR="${REPO_ROOT}/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev"
+CONNECT_NAMESPACE="connect-dev"
+CONNECT_VERSION="$(yq '.versionOverride' "${DEV_DIR}/values.yaml")"
+
+info() {
+    echo -e "${BLUE}[INFO]${NC} $1"
+}
+
+warn() {
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}[WARN]${NC} $1"
+}
+
+error() {
+    echo -e "${RED}[ERROR]${NC} $1"
+}
+
+check_requirements() {
+    info "Checking requirements..."
+
+    local required_tools=("docker" "k3d" "kubectl" "helm" "yq")
+
+    for tool in "${required_tools[@]}"; do
+        if ! command -v "$tool" &> /dev/null; then
+            error "$tool is not installed. Please install $tool."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    done
+
+    if ! docker ps &> /dev/null; then
+        error "Docker is not accessible. Please ensure Docker is running."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+setup_k3d_cluster() {
+    info "Creating k3d cluster..."
+    k3d cluster create --config "${DEV_DIR}/k3d-config.yaml" || true
+
+    local cluster_name
+    cluster_name="$(yq '.metadata.name' "${DEV_DIR}/k3d-config.yaml")"
+
+    k3d image import \
+        "ghcr.io/rstudio/rstudio-connect:ubuntu2204-${CONNECT_VERSION}" \
+        "ghcr.io/rstudio/rstudio-connect-content-init:ubuntu2204-${CONNECT_VERSION}" \
+        "ghcr.io/rstudio/content-base:r4.2.3-py3.11.9-ubuntu2204" \
+        --cluster "${cluster_name}"
+
+    info "Waiting for k3d cluster to be ready..."
+    kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready nodes --all --timeout=300s
+}
+
+install_cnpg_operator() {
+    info "Installing CloudNativePG operator..."
+    
+    # TODO: use latest version dynamically
+    kubectl apply --server-side -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/release-1.26/releases/cnpg-1.26.0.yaml
+    
+    info "Waiting for CNPG operator to be ready..."
+    kubectl wait --for=condition=Available deployment/cnpg-controller-manager -n cnpg-system --timeout=300s
+    
+    info "CloudNativePG operator installed"
+}
+
+setup_nfs_server() {
+    info "Setting up NFS server..."
+
+    helm repo add nfs-ganesha-server-and-external-provisioner \
+        https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/nfs-ganesha-server-and-external-provisioner > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
+    helm repo update nfs-ganesha-server-and-external-provisioner
+    helm upgrade --install dev-nfs \
+        nfs-ganesha-server-and-external-provisioner/nfs-server-provisioner \
+        --set persistence.enabled=true \
+        --set persistence.size="1Gi" \
+        --set storageClass.name="nfs" \
+        --set storageClass.mountOptions="{vers=4}" \
+        --namespace nfs-server \
+        --create-namespace
+
+    info "NFS server setup complete"
+}
+
+setup_postgres() {
+    info "Setting up PostgreSQL cluster..."
+
+    kubectl apply -f "${DEV_DIR}/postgres-cluster.yaml"
+
+    local pg_cluster_name
+    pg_cluster_name="$(yq '.metadata.name' "${DEV_DIR}/postgres-cluster.yaml")"
+
+    info "Waiting for PostgreSQL cluster to be ready..."
+    kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready "cluster/${pg_cluster_name}" --namespace ${CONNECT_NAMESPACE} --timeout=600s
+
+    info "PostgreSQL cluster ready"
+}
+
+install_connect() {
+    info "Installing Posit Connect..."
+
+    kubectl create secret generic connect-license --from-file=connect.lic --namespace ${CONNECT_NAMESPACE} || true
+    kubectl apply -f "${DEV_DIR}/connect-pvc.yaml"
+
+    pushd "${REPO_ROOT}/charts/rstudio-connect" > /dev/null
+    helm dependency build
+    popd > /dev/null
+
+    helm upgrade --install connect "${REPO_ROOT}/charts/rstudio-connect" \
+        --namespace ${CONNECT_NAMESPACE} \
+        --values "${DEV_DIR}/values.yaml" \
+        --wait \
+        --timeout=600s
+    
+    info "Posit Connect installed"
+}
+
+main() {
+    info "Starting Posit Connect development cluster setup..."
+    
+    check_requirements
+    setup_k3d_cluster
+    install_cnpg_operator
+    setup_nfs_server
+    kubectl create namespace ${CONNECT_NAMESPACE} || true
+    setup_postgres
+    install_connect
+
+    info "Setup complete! Connect is available at http://localhost:3939"
+}
+
+main
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/connect-pvc.yaml b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/connect-pvc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f9fc2fe1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/connect-pvc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: connect-pvc
+  namespace: connect-dev
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+    - ReadWriteMany
+  storageClassName: nfs
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: "5Gi"
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/justfile b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/justfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a9cd7a083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/justfile
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+template:
+    helm dependency build ..
+    helm template .. --values ./values.yaml
+
+template-debug:
+    helm dependency build ..
+    helm template --debug .. --values ./values.yaml
+
+up:
+    ./bootstrap.sh
+
+down:
+    k3d cluster delete --config ./k3d-config.yaml
+
+update-connect:
+    #!/usr/bin/env bash
+    set -euo pipefail
+
+    helm upgrade --install connect ../ \
+        --namespace connect-dev \
+        --values "{{ justfile_directory() }}/values.yaml" \
+        --wait \
+        --timeout=600s
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/k3d-config.yaml b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/k3d-config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5bd9d4ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/k3d-config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+apiVersion: k3d.io/v1alpha5
+kind: Simple
+metadata:
+  name: connect-dev
+servers: 1
+agents: 0
+options:
+  k3s:
+    extraArgs:
+      - arg: --disable=traefik
+        nodeFilters:
+          - server:*
+ports:
+  - port: 3939:30080
+    nodeFilters:
+      - server:*
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/postgres-cluster.yaml b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/postgres-cluster.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad0163438
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/postgres-cluster.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+apiVersion: postgresql.cnpg.io/v1
+kind: Cluster
+metadata:
+  name: connect-dev-pg
+  namespace: connect-dev
+spec:
+  storage:
+    size: 20Gi
diff --git a/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/values.yaml b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/values.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1763f3de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/rstudio-connect/local-dev/values.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+versionOverride: "2025.07.0"
+
+launcher:
+  enabled: true
+  useTemplates: true # Required to set a custom PyPI repo
+  templateValues:
+    pod:
+      volumes:
+        - name: pip-config-volume
+          configMap:
+            name: pip-config-connect
+        - name: netrc-config-volume
+          secret:
+            secretName: connect-netrc
+      volumeMounts:
+        - mountPath: /etc/pip.conf
+          name: pip-config-volume
+          subPath: pip.conf
+        - mountPath: /etc/netrc
+          name: netrc-config-volume
+          subPath: netrc
+      env:
+        - name: NETRC
+          value: /etc/netrc
+
+sharedStorage:
+  create: false
+  mount: true
+  name: connect-pvc
+  storageClassName: nfs
+
+license:
+  file:
+    secret: connect-license
+    secretKey: connect.lic
+
+config:
+  Authentication:
+    Provider: password
+    InsecureDefaultUserAPIKey: true
+    BasicAuth: true
+  Database:
+    Provider: "Postgres"
+  Postgres:
+    URL: "postgres://app@connect-dev-pg-rw.connect-dev:5432/app"
+  Launcher:
+    Kubernetes: true
+    DataDirPVCName: connect-pvc
+
+service:
+  type: NodePort
+  nodePort: 30080
+
+pod:
+  env:
+    - name: CONNECT_POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+      valueFrom:
+        secretKeyRef:
+          name: connect-dev-pg-app
+          key: password
+
+# Required to set a custom PyPI repo
+extraObjects:
+  - apiVersion: v1
+    kind: ConfigMap
+    metadata:
+      name: pip-config-connect
+    data:
+      # TODO: if using Posit Package Manager, edit the below to match your package manager python repo URL
+      pip.conf: |
+        [global]
+        timeout = 60
+        index-url = https://packagemanager.posit.co/pypi/latest/simple
+        trusted-host = packagemanager.posit.co