diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a8e370e..1ef5759 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ test:
 	npm run test-watch
 
 # publish to npm
+publish:
+	git push origin "main:publish"
+
+# publish to npm, called by ci
 ci-publish:
 	make build-lib
 	mv README.npm-lib.md README.md
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f34063..792471a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -41,3 +41,13 @@ make wasm
 ```
 rebuilds the `twelf.wasm` asset in docker. This artefact is also checked into the repository,
 and it similarly does not need to be built from a fresh checkout.
+
+```shell
+make deploy
+```
+pushes to the `deploy` branch, which causes [this Actions workflow](.github/workflows/static.yml) to rebuild the [static site](https://jcreedcmu.github.io/twelf-wasm).
+
+```shell
+make publish
+```
+pushes to the `publish` branch, which causes [this Actions workflow](.github/workflows/publish.yml) to publish [the npm package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/twelf-wasm).
diff --git a/README.npm-lib.md b/README.npm-lib.md
index f4d5034..9011d26 100644
--- a/README.npm-lib.md
+++ b/README.npm-lib.md
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 Twelf on Wasm Support
 =====================
 
-What we publish as an npm library as package `twelf-wasm` is just a
-small library. The intended use is for libary users (specifically the
-Twelf wiki) to conveniently construct url-fragment arguments with the
-`encode` function so that they can link to twelf-wasm and have it load
-a particular bit of twelf code at startup.
+This npm package `twelf-wasm` is a small library so that callers
+(specifically the Twelf wiki) can conveniently construct url-fragment
+arguments with the `encode` function so that they can link to
+twelf-wasm and have it load a particular bit of twelf code at startup.
+
+See the main README at https://github.com/jcreedcmu/twelf-wasm for
+more details.