diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db9fbd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# va playbook
+
+ansible playbook for solanum that supports hosts running debian or alpine
+
+## setup
+- add new host to your hosts file
+- run `solanum.yml` on new host
+- (optional) add your `ssl.pem` and `ssl.key` to `/home/ircd/ircd/etc/`. you probably want to make a cronjob for acme to automatically do this when the cert expires
+- run config.yml on the whole network
+
+## hosts ini
+everything except the server name, `linkpass`, and `sid` are optional and have sane defaults
+```
+name.of.the.server linkpass=yourreceivepassword sid=123 autoconn=other.server.name paport=6697 pahost=name.accessable.by.other.hosts ansible_host=name.accessable.by.playbook sponsor='nice person' services=linkpass
+```
+- linkpass: password to receive from other linking servers. preferrably use something random for each one
+- sid: the Server ID for the server to use, in the format `[0-9][A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9]`
+- autoconn: server name to autoconnect to in the `connect {}` block
+- paport: port for other servers to use for linking
+- pahost: hostname for other servers to use for linking
+- ansible_host: hostname for ansible to use
+- sponsor: put a little server donated by person in the MOTD
+- services: password to accept for services connecting over localhost, use only on the server that links to services