diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -3,3 +3,7 @@
 ## 0.1.0.0  -- 2017-04-08
 
 * Initial release
+
+## 0.1.0.1  -- 2017-04-08
+
+* Add README to tarball.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+hail
+==========
+
+A service for pull-based continuous deployment based on hydra
+
+Usage
+------
+
+`hail --profile PROFILE --job-uri HYDRA_JOB_URI`
+
+Optional flags:
+  * `--netrc-file NETRC_FILE` The path to a [netrc](https://linux.die.net/man/5/netrc) file specifying credentials for the hydra HTTP access.
+    Defaults to `/etc/netrc` if it exists.
+  * `--poll-period PERIOD` The period with which to poll the job, in minutes (default: 5)
+  * `--oneshot` Just update once, rather than in a loop.
+
+`hail` assumes that the `nix` available in its `PATH` is set up to pull from its hydra's binary cache.
+
+Operation
+----------
+
+`hail` will regularly poll the latest successful build of the provided `HYDRA_JOB_URI`. When it changes, it will update `/nix/var/nix/profiles/PROFILE` to point to the new build and run `/nix/var/nix/profiles/PROFILE/bin/activate`
+
+If there is already a path at `/nix/var/nix/profiles/PROFILE` when `hail` starts up, it will run the `activate` program immediately.
+
+Step-by-step
+-------------
+
+1. Create a hydra jobset with a job that creates the profile for the service in question. The profile should have a program at `bin/activate` that:
+     * Sets up everything needed for the service to run (e.g. adding systemd/init.d services, initializing dbs if needed, etc)
+     * Is idempotent
+     * Can detect if there is a previous version of the service running and switch as atomically as possible
+2. Set up your nix config to pull from your hydra's binary cache.
+3. Run `hail` on all machines that should run the latest version of that service (see [Bootstrapping](#bootstrapping))
+4. Enjoy
+
+Bootstrapping
+--------------
+
+If there are multiple services each managed independently with `hail`, you probably want to have those `hail` instances themselves managed by a manager `hail` instance. See [hail-systemd-bootstrap.nix](./hail-systemd-bootstrap.nix) for a way to achieve this on systemd-based systems.
+
+Future work
+------------
+
+* Error reporting in a monitorable way
+* Handle the case where we don't want to update until all of a jobset succeeds
+* Native haskell client to talk to the nix daemon
+* Proper handling of manually-initiated rollbacks etc.
+* Libraries/templates for easily deploying new services
+* A good blue-greening story
+* Handle service removal
+* Incorporate with distro-agnostic service runner
diff --git a/hail.cabal b/hail.cabal
--- a/hail.cabal
+++ b/hail.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                hail
-version:             0.1.0.0
+version:             0.1.0.1
 synopsis:
          A service for pull-based continuous deployment based on hydra.
 description:
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 copyright:           (c) 2017, Takt Inc.
 category:            System
 build-type:          Simple
-extra-source-files:  ChangeLog.md
+extra-source-files:  ChangeLog.md, README.md
 cabal-version:       >=1.10
 data-files:          hail-systemd-bootstrap.nix