diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d0bd8ab1..b73c8676 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -237,3 +237,5 @@ documentation.json
 
 # direnv config file
 .envrc
+
+/public
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5b36215b..bff7b40e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ format: node_modules
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean:
-	rm -rf node_modules styleguide-app/elm.js styleguide-app/bundle.js $(shell find . -type d -name 'elm-stuff')
+	rm -rf node_modules styleguide-app/elm.js styleguide-app/bundle.js $(shell find . -type d -name 'elm-stuff') public
 
 .PHONY: styleguide-app
 styleguide-app: styleguide-app/elm.js
@@ -34,6 +34,35 @@ styleguide-app/bundle.js: lib/index.js node_modules
 styleguide-app/elm.js: styleguide-app/bundle.js $(shell find src styleguide-app -type f -name '*.elm')
 	cd styleguide-app; npx elm make Main.elm --output=$(@F)
 
+# for publishing styleguide
+
+# We don't want to have to generate new rules for every single asset, so we find
+# all the ones that exist (`STYLEGUIDE_ASSETS`) then replace the roots
+# (`PUBLIC_ASSETS`). The `%` wildcard works like it does in `public/%` below.
+STYLEGUIDE_ASSETS=$(shell find styleguide-app/assets -type f)
+PUBLIC_ASSETS=$(STYLEGUIDE_ASSETS:styleguide-app/assets/%=public/assets/%)
+
+public: public/index.html public/elm.js public/bundle.js $(PUBLIC_ASSETS)
+	touch -m $@
+
+# wildcard rule: % on the left-hand side will be matched and replaced on the
+# right-hand side. So `public/index.html` depends on `styleguide-app/index.html`
+#
+# - automatic variables: `$@` is the target (left-hand side of the rule.) `$<`
+#   is the first dependency.
+# - about the leading `@` in `mkdir`: leading `@` turns off echoing the
+#   command. We're just reducing log spam here.
+# - about `$(@D)`: $@ gets the target (left-hand side of the rule). Any
+#   automatic variable plus `D` gets the directory of that file, so `$(@D)` is
+#   the target's directory.
+public/%: styleguide-app/%
+	@mkdir -p $(@D)
+	cp $< $@
+
+.PHONY: serve-public
+serve-public: public
+	cd public; python -m http.server
+
 # plumbing
 
 node_modules: package.json
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 1254b5f4..bdd9883c 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -16,5 +16,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     # node dependencies
     nodejs
     nodePackages.npm
+
+    # preview dependencies
+    python3
   ];
 }