diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+Copyright (c)2011, Greg Weber
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+      with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of Greg Weber nor the names of other
+      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+      from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/Web/Heroku.hs b/Web/Heroku.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Web/Heroku.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+module Web.Heroku ( 
+    dbConnParams 
+  , parseDatabaseUrl
+  ) where
+
+import System.Environment
+import Network.URI
+import Data.Text
+import Prelude
+
+-- | read the DATABASE_URL environment variable
+-- and return an alist of connection parameters with the following keys:
+-- user, password, host, port, dbname
+--
+-- warning: just calls error if it can't parse correctly
+dbConnParams :: IO [(Text, Text)]
+dbConnParams = getEnv "DATABASE_URL" >>= return . parseDatabaseUrl
+
+parseDatabaseUrl :: String -> [(Text, Text)]
+parseDatabaseUrl durl =
+  let muri = parseAbsoluteURI durl
+      (auth, path) = case muri of
+                      Nothing ->  error "couldn't parse absolute uri"
+                      Just uri -> if uriScheme uri /= "postgres:"
+                                    then schemeError uri
+                                    else case uriAuthority uri of
+                                           Nothing   -> invalid
+                                           Just a -> (a, uriPath uri)
+      (user,password) = userAndPassword auth
+  in     [
+          (pack "user",     user)
+          -- tail not safe, but should be there on Heroku
+         ,(pack "password", Data.Text.tail password)
+         ,(pack "host",     pack $ uriRegName auth)
+         -- Heroku should use default port
+         -- ,(pack "port",     pack $ uriPort auth)
+         -- tail not safe but path should always be there
+         ,(pack "dbname",   pack $ Prelude.tail $ path)
+         ]
+  where
+    -- init is not safe, but should be there on Heroku
+    userAndPassword :: URIAuth -> (Text, Text)
+    userAndPassword = (breakOn $ pack ":") . pack . Prelude.init . uriUserInfo
+
+    schemeError uri = error $ "was expecting a postgres scheme, not: " ++ (uriScheme uri) ++ "\n" ++ (show uri)
+    -- should be an error 
+    invalid = error "could not parse heroku DATABASE_URL"
diff --git a/heroku.cabal b/heroku.cabal
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/heroku.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+Name:                heroku
+Version:             0.1
+Synopsis:            helpers for deploying to Heroku
+Description:         currently just a parser for DATABASE_URL
+Homepage:            https://github.com/gregwebs/haskell-heroku
+License:             BSD3
+License-file:        LICENSE
+Author:              Greg Weber
+Maintainer:          greg@gregweber.info
+Category:            Web
+Build-type:          Simple
+
+Cabal-version:       >=1.2
+
+
+Library
+  Exposed-modules:     Web.Heroku
+  
+  Build-depends: base >= 4 && < 5
+               , text
+               , network