def bootstrap_tank():

    try:
        import tank
    except Exception, e:
        OpenMaya.MGlobal.displayError("Shotgun: Could not import sgtk! Disabling for now: %s" % e)
        return

    if not "TANK_ENGINE" in os.environ:
        OpenMaya.MGlobal.displayError("Shotgun: Missing required environment variable TANK_ENGINE.")
        return

    engine_name = os.environ.get("TANK_ENGINE")
    try:
        context = tank.context.deserialize(os.environ.get("TANK_CONTEXT"))
        print "context: ", context
    except Exception, e:
        OpenMaya.MGlobal.displayError("Shotgun: Could not create context! Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit will be disabled. Details: %s" % e)
        return

    try:
        engine = tank.platform.start_engine(engine_name, context.tank, context)
    except Exception, e:
        OpenMaya.MGlobal.displayError("Shotgun: Could not start engine: %s" % e)
        return

    file_to_open = os.environ.get("TANK_FILE_TO_OPEN")
    if file_to_open:
        # finally open the file
        cmds.file(file_to_open, force=True, open=True)

    # clean up temp env vars
    for var in ["TANK_ENGINE", "TANK_CONTEXT", "TANK_FILE_TO_OPEN"]:
        if var in os.environ:
            del os.environ[var]