diff --git a/docs/hacking.md b/docs/hacking.md
index 265c930..2c3ba54 100644
--- a/docs/hacking.md
+++ b/docs/hacking.md
@@ -24,11 +24,13 @@ live-reloader:
 
 ```bash
 TANGLED_DEV=true nix run .#watch-appview
+```
+
+> **Note:** TANGLED_DB_PATH might be of interest to point to
 
-# TANGLED_DB_PATH might be of interest to point to
-# different sqlite DBs
+In a separate shell, you can live-reload tailwind:
 
-# in a separate shell, you can live-reload tailwind
+```bash
 nix run .#watch-tailwind
 ```
 
@@ -39,9 +41,9 @@ with `sshd`, `repoguard`, `keyfetch`, a git user, which is
 quite cumbersome and so the nix flake provides a
 `nixosConfiguration` to do so.
 
-To begin, head to `http://localhost:3000` in the browser and
+To begin, head to `http://localhost:3000/knots` in the browser and
 generate a knotserver secret. Replace the existing secret in
-`flake.nix` with the newly generated secret.
+`flake.nix` with the newly generated secret, look for `KNOT_SERVER_SECRET=...`.
 
 You can now start a lightweight NixOS VM using
 `nixos-shell` like so:
@@ -53,8 +55,17 @@ QEMU_NET_OPTS="hostfwd=tcp::6000-:6000,hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22" nixos-shell --flak
 ```
 
 This starts a knotserver on port 6000 with `ssh` exposed on
-port 2222. You can push repositories to this VM with this
-ssh config block on your main machine:
+port 2222.
+
+while the VM is booting up, you can set up a ssh identity and git remote to push something to your local knotserver.
+
+Make youself a SSH keypair:
+
+```bash
+ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/my_tangled_key 
+```
+
+Add the public key to your account: http://localhost:3000/settings, and declare the host in your SSH config (typically at `~/.ssh/config`):
 
 ```bash
 Host nixos-shell
@@ -64,7 +75,11 @@ Host nixos-shell
     IdentityFile ~/.ssh/my_tangled_key
 ```
 
-Set up a remote called `local-dev` on a git repo:
+Then, once the knotserver is up, you can go to http://localhost:3000/knots and click <kbd>Initialize</kbd>.
+
+You can then create a repo at http://localhost:3000/repo/new. Choose your local knot (localhost:6000).
+
+Set up a remote called `local-dev` on a git repo, then push to it:
 
 ```bash
 git remote add local-dev git@nixos-shell:user/repo