diff --git a/start.go b/start.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aae6057c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start.go
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+package duty
+
+import (
+	"net/url"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/flanksource/commons/logger"
+	. "github.com/flanksource/duty/api"
+	"github.com/flanksource/duty/context"
+	"github.com/flanksource/duty/kubernetes"
+	"github.com/flanksource/duty/postgrest"
+	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+)
+
+func readFromEnv(v string) string {
+	val := os.Getenv(v)
+	if val != "" {
+		return val
+	}
+	return v
+}
+
+func BindPFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.ConnectionString, "db", "DB_URL", "Connection string for the postgres database")
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.Schema, "db-schema", "public", "Postgres schema")
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.Postgrest.URL, "postgrest-uri", "http://localhost:3000", "URL for the PostgREST instance to use. If localhost is supplied, a PostgREST instance will be started")
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.Postgrest.LogLevel, "postgrest-log-level", "info", "PostgREST log level")
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.Postgrest.JWTSecret, "postgrest-jwt-secret", "PGRST_JWT_SECRET", "JWT Secret Token for PostgREST")
+	flags.BoolVar(&DefaultConfig.SkipMigrations, "skip-migrations", false, "Run database migrations")
+	flags.BoolVar(&DefaultConfig.Postgrest.Disable, "disable-postgrest", false, "Disable PostgREST. Deprecated (Use --postgrest-uri '' to disable PostgREST)")
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.Postgrest.DBAnonRole, "postgrest-anon-role", "postgrest-api", "PostgREST anonymous role")
+	flags.IntVar(&DefaultConfig.Postgrest.MaxRows, "postgrest-max-rows", 2000, "A hard limit to the number of rows PostgREST will fetch")
+	flags.StringVar(&DefaultConfig.LogLevel, "db-log-level", "error", "Set gorm logging level. trace, debug & info")
+	flags.BoolVar(&DefaultConfig.DisableKubernetes, "disable-kubernetes", false, "Disable Kubernetes integration")
+}
+
+type StartOption func(config Config) Config
+
+var DisablePostgrest = func(config Config) Config {
+	config.Postgrest.Disable = true
+	return config
+}
+
+var WithUrl = func(url string) func(config Config) Config {
+	return func(config Config) Config {
+		config.ConnectionString = url
+		return config
+	}
+}
+
+var SkipMigrations = func(config Config) Config {
+	config.SkipMigrations = true
+	return config
+}
+
+var ClientOnly = func(config Config) Config {
+	config.Postgrest.Disable = true
+	config.SkipMigrations = true
+	return config
+}
+
+var DisableKubernetes = func(config Config) Config {
+	config.DisableKubernetes = true
+	return config
+}
+
+func Start(name string, opts ...StartOption) (context.Context, func(), error) {
+	config := DefaultConfig
+	for _, opt := range opts {
+		config = opt(config)
+	}
+
+	if config.Postgrest.URL != "" && !config.Postgrest.Disable {
+		parsedURL, err := url.Parse(config.Postgrest.URL)
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.Fatalf("Failed to parse PostgREST URL: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		host := strings.ToLower(parsedURL.Hostname())
+		port, _ := strconv.Atoi(parsedURL.Port())
+		config.Postgrest.Port = int(port)
+		if host == "localhost" {
+			go postgrest.Start(config)
+		}
+	}
+
+	stop := func() {}
+
+	config.ConnectionString = readFromEnv(config.ConnectionString)
+	config.Schema = readFromEnv(config.Schema)
+
+	var ctx context.Context
+	if c, err := InitDB(config); err != nil {
+		return context.Context{}, stop, err
+	} else {
+		ctx = *c
+	}
+	if !config.DisableKubernetes {
+		if client, err := kubernetes.NewClient(); err == nil {
+			ctx = ctx.WithKubernetes(client)
+		} else {
+			ctx.Infof("Kubernetes client not available: %v", err)
+			ctx = ctx.WithKubernetes(kubernetes.Nil)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ctx, stop, nil
+}