diff --git a/tildes/requirements-dev.in b/tildes/requirements-dev.in
index 09af633..49d0417 100644
--- a/tildes/requirements-dev.in
+++ b/tildes/requirements-dev.in
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 -r requirements.in
 black
+faker
 freezegun
 html5validator
 mypy
diff --git a/tildes/requirements-dev.txt b/tildes/requirements-dev.txt
index b29fba1..4465b4c 100644
--- a/tildes/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/tildes/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ click==8.0.1
 cornice==5.2.0
 decorator==5.0.9
 dodgy==0.2.1
+faker==18.11.2
 flake8==3.9.2
 flake8-polyfill==1.0.2
 freezegun==1.1.0
diff --git a/tildes/scripts/seed_dev_database.py b/tildes/scripts/seed_dev_database.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16b5049
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/scripts/seed_dev_database.py
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2023 Tildes contributors <code@tildes.net>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+"""Script to seed a dev database with fake data.
+
+If you run this script as is, no data will be inserted. To get this script to do
+something, you must modify at least one of the following variables and change the value
+to a number greater than zero.
+    - NUM_GROUPS
+    - NUM_TOPICS (also NUM_TAGS for this one)
+    - NUM_USERS
+
+Note: This script is mean to be run on *dev databases only*. Running on production will
+insert a ton of junk data.
+"""
+
+import os
+import sys
+import random
+from io import StringIO
+import csv
+from typing import Any, Tuple
+from sqlalchemy import func
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+from faker import Faker
+
+from tildes.lib.database import get_session_from_config
+from tildes.lib.hash import hash_string
+from tildes.models.group import Group
+from tildes.models.topic import Topic
+from tildes.models.user import User
+
+
+class WeightedValues:
+    """Mapping of values by weight. Useful for working with semi-random data."""
+
+    def __init__(self, default_value: Any, odds: list[Tuple[float, Any]]):
+        """Create new weighted values."""
+        self.default_value = default_value
+        self.odds = odds
+
+    def get(self) -> Any:
+        """Get a random value from the odds dict, or the default value.
+
+        Values with a higher ratio are more likely be to returned. For example, if this
+        class instance was constructed as
+
+            WeightedValues("dunno", {0.5: "hello", 0.2: "goodbye"})
+
+        then this function will have a 50% chance to return "hello", a 20% chance to
+        return "goodbye", and a remaining 30% chance to return "dunno".
+        """
+        rand = random.random()
+        num = 0.0
+        for (ratio, value) in self.odds:
+            num += ratio
+            if rand < num:
+                return value
+        return self.default_value
+
+
+# Number of each resource to insert during seeding.
+# A value of `0` means no new records will be inserted.
+NUM_GROUPS = 0
+NUM_TOPICS = 0
+NUM_TAGS = 0  # must be greater than 0 when creating topics
+NUM_USERS = 0
+
+TAG_NESTING_ODDS = WeightedValues(
+    1,
+    [
+        (0.25, 2),  # "a.b"
+        (0.05, 3),  # "a.b.c"
+    ],
+)
+TOPIC_LINK_ODDS = WeightedValues(
+    "TEXT",
+    [
+        (0.4, "LINK"),
+    ],
+)
+TAGS_PER_TOPIC_ODDS = WeightedValues(
+    1,
+    [
+        (0.2, 2),
+        (0.4, 3),
+        (0.1, 4),
+        (0.1, 5),
+        (0.1, 6),
+    ],
+)
+
+fake = Faker()
+
+
+def seed_dev_database() -> None:
+    """Seed a dev database with one or more resource.
+
+    Note that not all resources are represented yet because I'm lazy.
+    """
+    ini_file_path = get_ini_file_path()
+    db_session = get_session_from_config(ini_file_path)
+
+    # This function might call `sys.exit()` if the user does not okay the seeding.
+    confirm_everything_looks_okay(db_session, ini_file_path)
+
+    # NOTE: Creating records in bulk using the Tildes models is quite inefficient.
+    # Instead, we'll insert using PostgreSQL's COPY and raw CSV strings.
+    if NUM_GROUPS > 0:
+        seed_groups(db_session)
+
+    if NUM_USERS > 0:
+        seed_users(db_session)
+
+    if NUM_TOPICS > 0:
+        seed_topics(db_session)
+
+    db_session.commit()
+    print("Database seeding completed")
+
+
+def seed_groups(db_session: Session) -> None:
+    """Insert dummy groups into database."""
+    print(f"Generating {NUM_GROUPS} groups")
+    groups_output = StringIO()
+    csv_writer = csv.writer(groups_output, delimiter="\t")
+    print_progress(0, NUM_GROUPS)
+    for i in range(NUM_GROUPS):
+        csv_writer.writerow(
+            [
+                fake.unique.word(),
+                "automatically generated by seed_dev_database.py",
+            ]
+        )
+        print_progress(i + 1, NUM_GROUPS)
+    print("Writing groups to database")
+    raw_conn = db_session.get_bind().raw_connection()
+    cursor = raw_conn.cursor()
+    groups_output.seek(0)
+    # Set timeout to an arbitrarily high number since COPY can take a while.
+    cursor.execute("SET statement_timeout = '999999s'")
+    cursor.copy_from(
+        groups_output,
+        "groups",
+        columns=(
+            "path",
+            "short_description",
+        ),
+    )
+    raw_conn.commit()
+
+
+def seed_users(db_session: Session) -> None:
+    """Insert dummy users into database."""
+    print(f"Generating {NUM_USERS} users")
+    users_output = StringIO()
+    csv_writer = csv.writer(users_output, delimiter="\t")
+    print_progress(0, NUM_USERS)
+    password_hash = hash_string("password")
+    for i in range(NUM_USERS):
+        csv_writer.writerow(
+            [
+                fake.unique.user_name(),
+                password_hash,
+            ]
+        )
+        print_progress(i + 1, NUM_USERS)
+    print("Writing users to database")
+    raw_conn = db_session.get_bind().raw_connection()
+    cursor = raw_conn.cursor()
+    users_output.seek(0)
+    # Set timeout to an arbitrarily high number since COPY can take a while.
+    cursor.execute("SET statement_timeout = '999999s'")
+    cursor.copy_from(
+        users_output,
+        "users",
+        columns=(
+            "username",
+            "password_hash",
+        ),
+    )
+    raw_conn.commit()
+
+
+def seed_topics(db_session: Session) -> None:
+    """Insert dummy topics into database."""
+    print(f"Generating {NUM_TOPICS} topics")
+    topics_output = StringIO()
+    csv_writer = csv.writer(topics_output, delimiter="\t")
+    all_groups = db_session.query(Group).all()
+    if not all_groups:
+        raise Exception("At least one group is required when seeding topics")
+    all_users = db_session.query(User).all()
+    if not all_users:
+        raise Exception("At least one user is required when seeding topics")
+    all_tags = []
+    if NUM_TAGS > 0:
+        for _ in range(NUM_TAGS):
+            nesting_level = TAG_NESTING_ODDS.get()
+            tag = ".".join([fake.word() for _ in range(nesting_level)])
+            all_tags.append(tag)
+    if not all_tags:
+        raise Exception("At least one tag is required for seeding topics")
+    print_progress(0, NUM_TOPICS)
+    for i in range(NUM_TOPICS):
+        num_tags = TAGS_PER_TOPIC_ODDS.get()
+        topic_type = TOPIC_LINK_ODDS.get()
+        text_content = fake.sentence()
+        csv_writer.writerow(
+            [
+                random.choice(all_groups).group_id,
+                random.choice(all_users).user_id,
+                topic_type,
+                " ".join(fake.words(3)),
+                text_content if topic_type == "TEXT" else None,
+                f"<p>{text_content}</p>" if topic_type == "TEXT" else None,
+                fake.url() if topic_type == "LINK" else None,
+                f"{{{','.join([random.choice(all_tags) for _ in range(num_tags)])}}}",
+            ]
+        )
+        print_progress(i + 1, NUM_TOPICS)
+    print("Writing topics to database")
+    raw_conn = db_session.get_bind().raw_connection()
+    cursor = raw_conn.cursor()
+    topics_output.seek(0)
+    # Set timeout to an arbitrarily high number since COPY can take a while.
+    cursor.execute("SET statement_timeout = '999999s'")
+    cursor.copy_from(
+        topics_output,
+        "topics",
+        columns=(
+            "group_id",
+            "user_id",
+            "topic_type",
+            "title",
+            "markdown",
+            "rendered_html",
+            "link",
+            "tags",
+        ),
+    )
+    raw_conn.commit()
+
+
+def get_ini_file_path() -> str:
+    """Get the ini file path from environment, or the default development.ini path."""
+    if "INI_FILE" in os.environ:
+        return os.environ["INI_FILE"]
+    return os.path.abspath(
+        os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "development.ini")
+    )
+
+
+def confirm_everything_looks_okay(db_session: Session, ini_file_path: str) -> None:
+    """Ask the user to confirm this database seeding.
+
+    This function calls `sys.exit` if they bail.
+    """
+    num_existing_groups = db_session.query(func.count(Group.group_id)).scalar()
+    num_existing_topics = db_session.query(func.count(Topic.topic_id)).scalar()
+    num_existing_users = db_session.query(func.count(User.user_id)).scalar()
+    print("Confirm this database seeding.")
+    print("")
+    print(f"  ini file: {ini_file_path}")
+    print(
+        f"  groups: {NUM_GROUPS} groups will be inserted, "
+        f"{num_existing_groups} already exist"
+    )
+    print(
+        f"  topics: {NUM_TOPICS} topic swill be inserted with {NUM_TAGS} "
+        f"possible tags, {num_existing_topics} already exist"
+    )
+    print(f"  users: {NUM_USERS} will be inserted, {num_existing_users} already exist")
+    print("")
+    answer = input("Proceed with database seeding? [y/N] ")
+    if not answer.lower().startswith("y"):
+        sys.exit()
+
+
+def print_progress(num_finished: int, num_total: int) -> None:
+    """Print the progress for some task in "completed/total" format."""
+    print(f"Completed {num_finished}/{num_total}", end="\r")
+    if num_finished >= num_total:
+        print("")
+        print("Done", flush=True)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    seed_dev_database()