diff --git a/docs/changelog/1326.feature.rst b/docs/changelog/1326.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19a5e3052
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/1326.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add the ``--devenv ENVDIR`` option for creating development environments from ``[testenv]`` configurations - by :user:`asottile`.
diff --git a/docs/example/devenv.rst b/docs/example/devenv.rst
index 2d62987b9..57e9ffaaf 100644
--- a/docs/example/devenv.rst
+++ b/docs/example/devenv.rst
@@ -10,16 +10,44 @@ environments. It can also be used for setting up normalized project development
 environments and thus help reduce the risk of different team members using
 mismatched development environments.
 
+
+Creating development environments using the ``--devenv`` option
+===============================================================
+
+The easiest way to set up a development environment is to use the ``--devenv``
+option along with your existing configured ``testenv``s.  The ``--devenv``
+option accepts a single argument, the location you want to create a development
+environment at.
+
+For example, if I wanted to replicate the ``py36`` environment, I could run::
+
+    $ tox --devenv venv-py36 -e py36
+    ...
+    $ source venv-py36/bin/activate
+    (venv-py36) $ python --version
+    Python 3.6.7
+
+The ``--devenv`` option skips the ``commands=`` section of that configured
+test environment and always sets ``usedevelop=true`` for the environment that
+is created.
+
+If you don't specify an environment with ``-e``, the devenv feature will
+default to ``-e py`` -- usually taking the interpreter you're running ``tox``
+with and the default ``[testenv]`` configuration.
+
+Creating development environments using configuration
+=====================================================
+
 Here are some examples illustrating how to set up a project's development
 environment using tox. For illustration purposes, let us call the development
 environment ``dev``.
 
 
 Example 1: Basic scenario
-=========================
+-------------------------
 
 Step 1 - Configure the development environment
-----------------------------------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 First, we prepare the tox configuration for our development environment by
 defining a ``[testenv:dev]`` section in the project's ``tox.ini``
@@ -54,7 +82,7 @@ configuration:
 
 
 Step 2 - Create the development environment
--------------------------------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Once the ``[testenv:dev]`` configuration section has been defined, we create
 the actual development environment by running the following:
@@ -68,7 +96,7 @@ This creates the environment at the path specified by the environment's
 
 
 Example 2: A more complex scenario
-==================================
+----------------------------------
 
 Let us say we want our project development environment to:
 
diff --git a/src/tox/config/__init__.py b/src/tox/config/__init__.py
index f42f60088..dc57f775e 100644
--- a/src/tox/config/__init__.py
+++ b/src/tox/config/__init__.py
@@ -415,6 +415,9 @@ def tox_addoption(parser):
         metavar="envlist",
         help="work against specified environments (ALL selects all).",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--devenv", help="sets up a development environment based on the tox configuration."
+    )
     parser.add_argument("--notest", action="store_true", help="skip invoking test commands.")
     parser.add_argument(
         "--sdistonly", action="store_true", help="only perform the sdist packaging activity."
@@ -497,12 +500,19 @@ def tox_addoption(parser):
         "args", nargs="*", help="additional arguments available to command positional substitution"
     )
 
+    def _set_envdir_from_devenv(testenv_config, value):
+        if testenv_config.config.option.devenv:
+            return py.path.local(testenv_config.config.option.devenv)
+        else:
+            return value
+
     parser.add_testenv_attribute(
         name="envdir",
         type="path",
         default="{toxworkdir}/{envname}",
         help="set venv directory -- be very careful when changing this as tox "
         "will remove this directory when recreating an environment",
+        postprocess=_set_envdir_from_devenv,
     )
 
     # add various core venv interpreter attributes
@@ -751,7 +761,7 @@ def pip_pre(testenv_config, value):
 
     def develop(testenv_config, value):
         option = testenv_config.config.option
-        return not option.installpkg and (value or option.develop)
+        return not option.installpkg and (value or option.develop or bool(option.devenv))
 
     parser.add_testenv_attribute(
         name="usedevelop",
@@ -1106,6 +1116,12 @@ def run(name, section, subs, config):
 
         config.skipsdist = reader.getbool("skipsdist", all_develop)
 
+        if config.option.devenv:
+            config.option.notest = True
+
+        if config.option.devenv and len(config.envlist) != 1:
+            feedback("--devenv requires only a single -e", sysexit=True)
+
     def handle_provision(self, config, reader):
         requires_list = reader.getlist("requires")
         config.minversion = reader.getstring("minversion", None)
@@ -1251,6 +1267,7 @@ def _getenvdata(self, reader, config):
                 (os.environ.get(PARALLEL_ENV_VAR_KEY), True),
                 (from_option, True),
                 (from_environ, True),
+                ("py" if self.config.option.devenv else None, False),
                 (from_config, False),
             )
             env_str, envlist_explicit = next(((i, e) for i, e in candidates if i), ([], False))
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_z_cmdline.py b/tests/unit/test_z_cmdline.py
index 60941971c..f193df4dc 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_z_cmdline.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_z_cmdline.py
@@ -789,6 +789,52 @@ def test_notest_setup_py_error(initproj, cmd):
     assert re.search("ERROR:.*InvocationError", result.out)
 
 
+def test_devenv(initproj, cmd):
+    initproj(
+        "example123",
+        filedefs={
+            "setup.py": """\
+                from setuptools import setup
+                setup(name='x')
+            """,
+            "tox.ini": """\
+            [tox]
+            # envlist is ignored for --devenv
+            envlist = foo,bar,baz
+
+            [testenv]
+            # --devenv implies --notest
+            commands = python -c "exit(1)"
+            """,
+        },
+    )
+    result = cmd("--devenv", "venv")
+    result.assert_success()
+    # `--devenv` defaults to the `py` environment and a develop install
+    assert "py develop-inst:" in result.out
+    assert re.search("py create:.*venv", result.out)
+
+
+def test_devenv_does_not_allow_multiple_environments(initproj, cmd):
+    initproj(
+        "example123",
+        filedefs={
+            "setup.py": """\
+                from setuptools import setup
+                setup(name='x')
+            """,
+            "tox.ini": """\
+            [tox]
+            envlist=foo,bar,baz
+            """,
+        },
+    )
+
+    result = cmd("--devenv", "venv", "-e", "foo,bar")
+    result.assert_fail()
+    assert result.err == "ERROR: --devenv requires only a single -e\n"
+
+
 def test_PYC(initproj, cmd, monkeypatch):
     initproj("example123", filedefs={"tox.ini": ""})
     monkeypatch.setenv("PYTHONDOWNWRITEBYTECODE", "1")