diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index c3aa756..d311460 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ group :development do
 end
 
 group :test do
-  # rspec
+  # unit tests
   gem "rspec-instafail",           "0.2.6",  require: false
   gem "fuubar",                    "2.0.0"
   gem "nyan-cat-formatter",                  require: false
@@ -40,12 +40,16 @@ group :test do
 end
 
 group :development, :test do
-  # rspec
+  # unit tests
   gem "rspec-rails", "3.3.1"
 
-  # guard
+  # automatic test runs
   gem "guard-rspec", require: false
 
+  # preloading environment
+  gem "spring"
+  gem "spring-commands-rspec"
+
   # GUID generation
   gem "uuid", "2.3.8"
 
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index c456053..0beb76f 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -204,6 +204,9 @@ GEM
     simplecov-rcov (0.2.3)
       simplecov (>= 0.4.1)
     slop (3.6.0)
+    spring (1.3.6)
+    spring-commands-rspec (1.0.4)
+      spring (>= 0.9.1)
     sprockets (3.2.0)
       rack (~> 1.0)
     sprockets-rails (2.3.1)
@@ -242,6 +245,8 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rubocop (= 0.32.0)
   simplecov (= 0.10.0)
   simplecov-rcov (= 0.2.3)
+  spring
+  spring-commands-rspec
   sqlite3
   uuid (= 2.3.8)
   yard
diff --git a/bin/rails b/bin/rails
index 4595731..f281890 100755
--- a/bin/rails
+++ b/bin/rails
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 # This command will automatically be run when you run "rails" with Rails 4 gems installed from the root of your application.
 
+begin
+  load File.expand_path("../spring", __FILE__)
+rescue LoadError
+end
+
 ENGINE_ROOT = File.expand_path('../..', __FILE__)
 ENGINE_PATH = File.expand_path('../../lib/diaspora_federation/engine', __FILE__)
 
diff --git a/bin/rake b/bin/rake
index 26c7a2d..6779365 100755
--- a/bin/rake
+++ b/bin/rake
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@
 # this file is here to facilitate running it.
 #
 
+begin
+  load File.expand_path("../spring", __FILE__)
+rescue LoadError
+end
+
 require 'pathname'
 ENV['BUNDLE_GEMFILE'] ||= File.expand_path("../../Gemfile",
   Pathname.new(__FILE__).realpath)
diff --git a/bin/rspec b/bin/rspec
index 0c86b5c..ce2c396 100755
--- a/bin/rspec
+++ b/bin/rspec
@@ -6,11 +6,15 @@
 # this file is here to facilitate running it.
 #
 
+begin
+  load File.expand_path("../spring", __FILE__)
+rescue LoadError
+end
+
 require 'pathname'
 ENV['BUNDLE_GEMFILE'] ||= File.expand_path("../../Gemfile",
   Pathname.new(__FILE__).realpath)
 
 require 'rubygems'
 require 'bundler/setup'
-
 load Gem.bin_path('rspec-core', 'rspec')
diff --git a/bin/spring b/bin/spring
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7b45d37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/spring
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+# This file loads spring without using Bundler, in order to be fast.
+# It gets overwritten when you run the `spring binstub` command.
+
+unless defined?(Spring)
+  require "rubygems"
+  require "bundler"
+
+  if match = Bundler.default_lockfile.read.match(/^GEM$.*?^    (?:  )*spring \((.*?)\)$.*?^$/m)
+    Gem.paths = { "GEM_PATH" => [Bundler.bundle_path.to_s, *Gem.path].uniq }
+    gem "spring", match[1]
+    require "spring/binstub"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/config/spring.rb b/config/spring.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5684f46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/spring.rb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Spring.application_root = "./test/dummy"
diff --git a/test/dummy/bin/rails b/test/dummy/bin/rails
index 5191e69..4d608ed 100755
--- a/test/dummy/bin/rails
+++ b/test/dummy/bin/rails
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
+begin
+  load File.expand_path("../spring", __FILE__)
+rescue LoadError
+end
 APP_PATH = File.expand_path('../../config/application', __FILE__)
 require_relative '../config/boot'
 require 'rails/commands'
diff --git a/test/dummy/bin/rake b/test/dummy/bin/rake
index 1724048..8017a02 100755
--- a/test/dummy/bin/rake
+++ b/test/dummy/bin/rake
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
+begin
+  load File.expand_path("../spring", __FILE__)
+rescue LoadError
+end
 require_relative '../config/boot'
 require 'rake'
 Rake.application.run
diff --git a/test/dummy/bin/spring b/test/dummy/bin/spring
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7b45d37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/dummy/bin/spring
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+# This file loads spring without using Bundler, in order to be fast.
+# It gets overwritten when you run the `spring binstub` command.
+
+unless defined?(Spring)
+  require "rubygems"
+  require "bundler"
+
+  if match = Bundler.default_lockfile.read.match(/^GEM$.*?^    (?:  )*spring \((.*?)\)$.*?^$/m)
+    Gem.paths = { "GEM_PATH" => [Bundler.bundle_path.to_s, *Gem.path].uniq }
+    gem "spring", match[1]
+    require "spring/binstub"
+  end
+end