diff --git a/.actrc b/.actrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cba56c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.actrc
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+--platform ubuntu-latest=myoung34/github-runner:latest
+--container-cap-add SYS_ADMIN
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98a6602
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+name: "ci-checks"
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+jobs:
+  tests:
+    name: verify nix shell is properly instantiated for no pre-installed nix
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses:
+          actions/checkout@v2.4.0
+          # Flakes do not like shallow clones
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - run: ./nix-shell.sh
diff --git a/DEVELOPMENT-CI.md b/DEVELOPMENT-CI.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06ef249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DEVELOPMENT-CI.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Development of GitHub Actions
+
+## Using `act` to run workflow locally
+
+1. Make sure docker is running and available, ex. `docker run hello-world`
+2. Run: `docker pull nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04-full` - this will take significant amount of time so make sure it doesn't block your work
+3. Run: `act`, it should start container and run workflow!
+
+To specify which workflow to run, use `-w {path_to_yaml}` when running `act`.
+Check `act --help` for more informations.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/nix.conf b/scripts/nix.conf
index 463f447..f0fff0f 100644
--- a/scripts/nix.conf
+++ b/scripts/nix.conf
@@ -4,3 +4,6 @@ keep-derivations = true
 keep-outputs = true
 require-sigs = false
 sandbox = true
+enforce-determinism = true
+log-lines = 100
+repeat = 1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/shell.nix b/scripts/shell.nix
index 18425f6..d3c7aa6 100644
--- a/scripts/shell.nix
+++ b/scripts/shell.nix
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ pkgs.mkShell {
     # Dynamically load nix envs
     nix-direnv
     shellcheck
+    act
+    docker
   ];
 
   TERM = "xterm";