diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c0a99419..7a3ee7f7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,5 +7,3 @@
 *.egg-info
 dist
 
-# for sjr local dev
-Makefile
diff --git a/docs/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..79a61d37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# Minimal makefile for Sphinx documentation
+#
+
+# You can set these variables from the command line.
+SPHINXOPTS    =
+SPHINXBUILD   = sphinx-build
+SPHINXPROJ    = PACKAGE_NAME
+SOURCEDIR     = .
+BUILDDIR      = _build
+
+# Put it first so that "make" without argument is like "make help".
+help:
+	@$(SPHINXBUILD) -M help "$(SOURCEDIR)" "$(BUILDDIR)" $(SPHINXOPTS) $(O)
+
+.PHONY: help Makefile
+
+# Catch-all target: route all unknown targets to Sphinx using the new
+# "make mode" option.  $(O) is meant as a shortcut for $(SPHINXOPTS).
+%: Makefile
+	@rsync -r --exclude '.ipynb_checkpoints/' ../notebooks/ ./notebooks/
+	@$(SPHINXBUILD) -M $@ "$(SOURCEDIR)" "$(BUILDDIR)" $(SPHINXOPTS) $(O)
+
+github:
+	@make html
+
+sync:
+
+	@rsync -avh --exclude '.nojekyll' _build/html/ ../docs/ --delete
+	@rsync -avh --exclude '.nojekyll' figs/ ../docs/figs/ --delete
+	@make clean
+	touch ../docs/.nojekyll
+
+clean:
+	rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)/*
+	rm -rf auto_examples/
+	rm -rf generated/