diff --git a/scripts/setup-swap.js b/scripts/setup-swap.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..56cbc93f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/setup-swap.js
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+import { $ } from 'execa'
+import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+
+console.log('setting up swapfile...')
+await $`fallocate -l 512M /swapfile`
+await $`chmod 0600 /swapfile`
+await $`mkswap /swapfile`
+await writeFile('/proc/sys/vm/swappiness', '10')
+await $`swapon /swapfile`
+await writeFile('/proc/sys/vm/overcommit_memory', '1')
+console.log('swapfile setup complete')
diff --git a/scripts/start.js b/scripts/start.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e3d9e0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import './setup-swap.js'
+import '@kentcdodds/workshop-app/start'