diff --git a/hledger-web/devel.hs b/hledger-web/devel.hs
index 5179a4334..0acb28540 100644
--- a/hledger-web/devel.hs
+++ b/hledger-web/devel.hs
@@ -6,14 +6,20 @@ import Control.Concurrent (forkIO)
 import System.Directory (doesFileExist, removeFile)
 import System.Exit (exitSuccess)
 import Control.Concurrent (threadDelay)
+import System.IO.Storage (withStore, putValue)
+
+import Hledger (readJournalFile)
 
 main :: IO ()
 main = do
     putStrLn "Starting devel application"
     (port, app) <- getApplicationDev
-    forkIO $ runSettings defaultSettings
-        { settingsPort = port
-        } app
+    forkIO $
+      withStore "hledger" $ do
+        readJournalFile Nothing Nothing "dev.journal" >>= putValue "hledger" "journal"
+        runSettings defaultSettings
+          { settingsPort = port
+          } app
     loop
 
 loop :: IO ()