diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 17b3e994..ac0e8257 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -110,12 +110,15 @@ jobs:
           save-if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' }}
 
       # general examples
+      - run: cargo install just --locked
+      - name: "Rust Dataflow example"
+        timeout-minutes: 30
+        working-directory: examples/rust-dataflow
+        run: just run
+
       - name: "Build examples"
         timeout-minutes: 30
         run: cargo build --examples
-      - name: "Rust Dataflow example"
-        timeout-minutes: 30
-        run: cargo run --example rust-dataflow
       - name: "Multiple Daemons example"
         timeout-minutes: 30
         run: cargo run --example multiple-daemons
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0852cb85..16208f2c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -101,10 +101,6 @@ tokio-stream = "0.1.11"
 name = "c-dataflow"
 path = "examples/c-dataflow/run.rs"
 
-[[example]]
-name = "rust-dataflow"
-path = "examples/rust-dataflow/run.rs"
-
 [[example]]
 name = "rust-ros2-dataflow"
 path = "examples/rust-ros2-dataflow/run.rs"
diff --git a/examples/rust-dataflow/.gitignore b/examples/rust-dataflow/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1fcb1529
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/rust-dataflow/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+out
diff --git a/examples/rust-dataflow/README.md b/examples/rust-dataflow/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fad6b6c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/rust-dataflow/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Rust Dataflow Example
+
+This example uses the [`just`](https://github.com/casey/just) tool for building and running the dataflow:
+
+- Build: `just build`
+- Run: `just run`
diff --git a/examples/rust-dataflow/justfile b/examples/rust-dataflow/justfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..68a353c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/rust-dataflow/justfile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# you can use the installed `dora` command instead of this `cargo run` command
+dora := "cargo run -p dora-cli --"
+
+# build dora and the example nodes/operators
+build:
+    {{ dora }} build dataflow.yml
+
+# build and run the dataflow example
+run: build
+    # The `--run-dataflow` argument is mostly meant for testing. It's recommended
+    # to instead run `dora daemon` in one terminal and `dora start dataflow.yml` in another
+    RUST_LOG=debug {{ dora }} daemon --run-dataflow dataflow.yml
diff --git a/examples/rust-dataflow/run.rs b/examples/rust-dataflow/run.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index f5e035a5..00000000
--- a/examples/rust-dataflow/run.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-use dora_tracing::set_up_tracing;
-use eyre::{bail, Context};
-use std::path::Path;
-
-#[tokio::main]
-async fn main() -> eyre::Result<()> {
-    set_up_tracing("rust-dataflow-runner").wrap_err("failed to set up tracing subscriber")?;
-
-    let root = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"));
-    std::env::set_current_dir(root.join(file!()).parent().unwrap())
-        .wrap_err("failed to set working dir")?;
-
-    let dataflow = Path::new("dataflow.yml");
-    build_dataflow(dataflow).await?;
-
-    run_dataflow(dataflow).await?;
-
-    Ok(())
-}
-
-async fn build_dataflow(dataflow: &Path) -> eyre::Result<()> {
-    let cargo = std::env::var("CARGO").unwrap();
-    let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new(&cargo);
-    cmd.arg("run");
-    cmd.arg("--package").arg("dora-cli");
-    cmd.arg("--").arg("build").arg(dataflow);
-    if !cmd.status().await?.success() {
-        bail!("failed to build dataflow");
-    };
-    Ok(())
-}
-
-async fn run_dataflow(dataflow: &Path) -> eyre::Result<()> {
-    let cargo = std::env::var("CARGO").unwrap();
-    let mut cmd = tokio::process::Command::new(&cargo);
-    cmd.arg("run");
-    cmd.arg("--package").arg("dora-cli");
-    cmd.arg("--")
-        .arg("daemon")
-        .arg("--run-dataflow")
-        .arg(dataflow);
-    if !cmd.status().await?.success() {
-        bail!("failed to run dataflow");
-    };
-    Ok(())
-}