diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e55668a..0789410 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,6 +34,16 @@ And then execute:
 
 ## Usage
 
+The simplest way to get started:
+
+```rb
+require 'sequel_tools'
+
+namespace :db do
+  SequelTools.inject_rake_tasks Hash[db_url: 'postgres://username:password@localhost/dbname'], self
+end
+```
+
 Here's a sample Rakefile supporting migrate actions:
 
 ```ruby
@@ -41,7 +51,7 @@ require 'bundler/setup'
 require 'sequel_tools'
 
 base_config = SequelTools.base_config(
-  project_root: File.expand_path(__dir__),
+  project_root: __dir__,
   dbadapter: 'postgres',
   dbname: 'mydb',
   username: 'myuser',
diff --git a/lib/sequel_tools.rb b/lib/sequel_tools.rb
index 5a6e6d2..cd3c972 100644
--- a/lib/sequel_tools.rb
+++ b/lib/sequel_tools.rb
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
 # frozen-string-literal: true
 
 require 'sequel_tools/version'
+require 'sequel/core'
+require 'uri'
 
 module SequelTools
   DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
-    project_root: nil,
+    project_root: Dir.pwd,
     pg_dump: 'pg_dump', # command used to run pg_dump
     psql: 'psql', # command used to run psql
     maintenancedb: :default, # DB to connect to for creating/dropping databases
     migrations_location: 'db/migrations',
     schema_location: 'db/migrations/schema.sql',
     seeds_location: 'db/seeds.rb',
+    db_url: nil,
     dbname: nil,
     dbhost: 'localhost',
     dbadapter: 'postgres',
@@ -24,13 +27,27 @@ module SequelTools
     extra_tables_in_dump: nil,
   } # unfrozen on purpose so that one might want to update the defaults
 
-  REQUIRED_KEYS = [ :project_root, :dbadapter, :dbname, :username ]
   class MissingConfigError < StandardError; end
   def self.base_config(extra_config = {})
     config = DEFAULT_CONFIG.merge extra_config
-    REQUIRED_KEYS.each do |key|
-      raise MissingConfigError, "Expected value for #{key} config is missing" if config[key].nil?
+    unless config[:db_url] || (config[:dbadapter && config[:dbname]])
+      raise MissingConfigError, "Must provide either :db_url or :dbadapter and :dbname config options"
     end
+
+    if config[:db_url]
+      db = Sequel.connect(config[:db_url], test: false, keep_reference: false)
+      if RUBY_PLATFORM == 'java'
+        uri = URI.parse(config[:db_url][/\Ajdbc:(.+)/, 1])
+        config[:dbadapter] = uri.scheme
+        config[:dbname] = uri.path[/\/(.+)/, 1]
+      else
+        config[:dbadapter] = db.opts[:adapter]
+        config[:dbname] = db.opts[:database]
+      end
+      config[:username] = db.opts[:user]
+      config[:password] = db.opts[:password]
+    end
+
     [:migrations_location, :schema_location, :seeds_location].each do |k|
       config[k] = File.expand_path config[k], config[:project_root]
     end
@@ -40,7 +57,7 @@ def self.base_config(extra_config = {})
   def self.inject_rake_tasks(config = {}, rake_context)
     require_relative 'sequel_tools/actions_manager'
     require_relative 'sequel_tools/all_actions'
-    actions_manager = ActionsManager.new config
+    actions_manager = ActionsManager.new base_config(config)
     actions_manager.load_all
     actions_manager.export_as_rake_tasks rake_context
   end