diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
index 4fa4a24..698c56b 100644
--- a/.envrc
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -1 +1,11 @@
 source_env_if_exists .envrc.private
+
+# direnv cannot export shell aliases, so `storied` is a shim script on
+# PATH that runs the debug build.
+mkdir -p .direnv/bin
+cat > .direnv/bin/storied <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+exec cargo run --quiet -- "$@"
+SH
+chmod +x .direnv/bin/storied
+PATH_add .direnv/bin
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b2d982e..d57d93e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 .env
 .envrc.private
+/.direnv/
 /.superpowers/
 
 # Added by cargo