diff --git a/_docs/dev_setup.md b/_docs/dev_setup.md
index 70ea65c00b..d81564ee48 100644
--- a/_docs/dev_setup.md
+++ b/_docs/dev_setup.md
@@ -39,9 +39,7 @@ An easy way to get started with running the app in development is to run the two
 
 ArtCraft's server is a Rust / Actix app called `storyteller-web`.
 
-It can function entirely within the development environment, and ArtCraft can be pointed to a 
-local instance of the server.
+You don't need to run this to develop the ArtCraft application, but it can be useful to spin up 
+a development instance for adding new server functions or as your own private local copy.
 
-**TODO**: Concisely describe setting up server components. Note: we have 
-previous docs in `old/` that may still be relevant, though they're perhaps
-slightly out of date.
+See [dev_setup_server.md](./dev_setup_server.md) for instructions.
diff --git a/_docs/dev_setup_server.md b/_docs/dev_setup_server.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6cb4070411
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_docs/dev_setup_server.md
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# ArtCraft Server
+
+ArtCraft's server is a Rust / Actix app called `storyteller-web`.
+
+You don't need to run this to develop the ArtCraft application, but it can be useful to spin up
+a development instance for adding new server functions or as your own private local copy.
+
+`storyteller-web` can function entirely within the development environment, and ArtCraft can be
+pointed to a local instance of the server.
+
+**TODO**: Concisely describe setting up server components. Note: we have
+previous docs in `old/` that may still be relevant, though they're perhaps
+slightly out of date.
+
+## Server Setup (Mac)
+
+### Install and Migrate MySQL Database
+
+```bash
+# For now, the tooling doesn't support MySQL 9.6 as it was just released in January 2026.
+# This will probably change in the future to no longer need to specify the 8.* series.
+brew install mysql@8.4
+
+# Try to connect
+mysql -uroot
+
+# If connection fails, start service, then try again.
+brew services start mysql
+mysql -uroot
+
+# If that fails, reboot and try connecting again.
+```
+
+Create the `storyteller` database table. Connect to the database:
+
+```bash
+sudo mysql -u root
+
+# If it needs a password, use argument -p and when prompted use "root" as the typical default password
+```
+
+Then run this:
+
+```mysql
+use mysql;
+CREATE DATABASE storyteller;
+CREATE USER 'storyteller'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
+GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON storyteller.* TO 'storyteller'@'localhost';
+```
+
+Then verify access with `./script/dev_mysql_connect.sh`
+
+```bash
+cargo install diesel_cli \
+  --no-default-features \
+  --features mysql,sqlite
+```
+
+If this fails,
+
+```bash
+brew install zstd
+brew install openssl
+```
+
+Possibly,
+
+```bash
+export RUSTFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix zstd)/lib -L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib"
+```
+
+In older Macs, there [have been some issues with Diesel CLI](https://github.com/diesel-rs/diesel/issues/2605)
+that require a few extra dependencies to be installed:
+
+```bash
+# If you're on Mac and the above command didn't work, run the following and then retry:
+brew install libpq
+```
+
+You're ready to run the migrations:
+
+```bash
+diesel migration run
+```
+
+You might get a scary message about `"Encountered unknown type for Mysql: enum"` -- you can safely ignore this
+error if you see it in isolation. It doesn't impact the migrations whatsoever.
+
+### Install Redis (Mac)
+
+```bash
+# Install Redis
+brew install redis
+
+# Start the service:
+brew services start redis
+```
+