diff --git a/specs/phoenix/runner b/specs/phoenix/runner
index 9689d79..9d3a01a 100755
--- a/specs/phoenix/runner
+++ b/specs/phoenix/runner
@@ -68,6 +68,15 @@ sed -i "s/<APP_NAME>/$APP/g" "$BUILD/flake.nix"
 # `$(whoami)`. Reflect this in the config.
 sed -i "s/username: \"postgres\"/username: \"$(whoami)\"/g" "$BUILD/config/dev.exs"
 
+# Create a new database cluster.
+nix develop "$BUILD" --command bash -c "pg_ctl initdb -D $BUILD/data"
+
+# Append an additional rule to `.gitignore` to ignore the database cluster.
+cat <<EOF >> "$BUILD"/.gitignore
+# The default location of the generated database cluster.
+/data/
+EOF
+
 # ============================================================
 # EPILOGUE
 # ============================================================
diff --git a/specs/phoenix/template/README.md b/specs/phoenix/template/README.md
index 6ed16bc..02e2a22 100644
--- a/specs/phoenix/template/README.md
+++ b/specs/phoenix/template/README.md
@@ -10,12 +10,8 @@ $> nix develop
 
 ## Quickstart
 
-To begin, create a new database:
-```bash
-$> pg_ctl initdb
-```
-If the flake's default `devShell` is loaded, this will create a database cluster
-at `$PWD/data`. To start the database, run the following:
+An empty Postgres cluster is initialized at `/data`. To start the database, run
+the following:
 ```bash
 $> pg_ctl start -o --unix_socket_directories="$PGDATA"
 ```
@@ -23,8 +19,10 @@ To shut the database down, run:
 ```bash
 $> pg_ctl stop
 ```
-You can also specify a different location for the database cluster using the
-`-D` option in each of the above commands.
+You can connect to this database from the project root directory by running:
+```bash
+$> psql -h "$PWD"/data -d postgres
+```
 
 Afterward, you can run the Phoenix setup commands:
 ```bash
diff --git a/specs/postgres/runner b/specs/postgres/runner
index b68eb88..069e294 100755
--- a/specs/postgres/runner
+++ b/specs/postgres/runner
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ trap cleanup EXIT
 # Copy template contents over to the intermediate build directory.
 cp -r template/* "$BUILD"
 
+# Create a new database cluster.
+nix develop "$BUILD" --command bash -c "pg_ctl initdb -D $BUILD/data"
+
 # Explicitly set permissions on all copied files.
 find "$BUILD" -type f -execdir chmod 644 {} +
 
diff --git a/specs/postgres/template/.gitignore b/specs/postgres/template/.gitignore
index ff9b393..54fe298 100644
--- a/specs/postgres/template/.gitignore
+++ b/specs/postgres/template/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-# The default location of a generated database cluster.
+# The default location of the generated database cluster.
 /data/
diff --git a/specs/postgres/template/README.md b/specs/postgres/template/README.md
index 0428032..c7887f3 100644
--- a/specs/postgres/template/README.md
+++ b/specs/postgres/template/README.md
@@ -10,12 +10,8 @@ $> nix develop
 
 ## Quickstart
 
-To begin, create a new database:
-```bash
-$> pg_ctl initdb
-```
-If the flake's default `devShell` is loaded, this will create a database cluster
-at `$PWD/data`. To start the database, run the following:
+An empty Postgres cluster is initialized at `/data`. To start the database, run
+the following:
 ```bash
 $> pg_ctl start -o --unix_socket_directories="$PGDATA"
 ```
@@ -23,5 +19,7 @@ To shut the database down, run:
 ```bash
 $> pg_ctl stop
 ```
-You can also specify a different location for the database cluster using the
-`-D` option in each of the above commands.
+You can connect to this database from the project root directory by running:
+```bash
+$> psql -h "$PWD"/data -d postgres
+```