diff --git a/docs/.gitignore b/docs/.gitignore
index 69fa449..48edc77 100644
--- a/docs/.gitignore
+++ b/docs/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 _build/
+public_git/
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 4a0e97a..2ed64c0 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -57,9 +57,10 @@ author = 'Christian Schwarz'
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '0.0.2'
+import subprocess
+version = subprocess.check_output(["git", "describe"]).decode("utf-8")
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '0.0.2'
+release = version
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/docs/publish.sh b/docs/publish.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e024016
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/publish.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -eo pipefail
+
+GHPAGESREPO="git@github.com:zrepl/zrepl.github.io.git"
+SCRIPTDIR=$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )
+PUBLICDIR="${SCRIPTDIR}/public_git"
+
+checkout_repo_msg() {
+    echo "clone ${GHPAGESREPO} to ${PUBLICDIR}:"
+    echo "	git clone ${GHPAGESREPO} ${PUBLICDIR}"
+    git clone "${GHPAGESREPO}" "${PUBLICDIR}"
+}
+
+exit_msg() {
+    echo "error, exiting..."
+}
+trap exit_msg EXIT
+
+cd "$SCRIPTDIR"
+
+if [ ! -d "$PUBLICDIR" ]; then
+    checkout_repo_msg
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo -n "PRESS ENTER to confirm you commited the docs changes to the zrepl repo"
+read
+
+pushd "$PUBLICDIR" 
+
+echo "verify we're in the GitHub pages repo..."
+git remote get-url origin | grep -E "^${GHPAGESREPO}\$"
+if [ "$?" -ne "0" ] ;then 
+    checkout_repo_msg
+    echo "finished checkout, please run again"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "resetting GitHub pages repo to latest commit"
+git fetch origin
+git reset --hard origin/master
+
+echo "cleaning GitHub pages repo"
+git rm -rf .
+
+popd
+
+echo "building site"
+set -e
+make clean
+make html
+rsync -a _build/html/ public_git/
+set +e
+
+CURRENT_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+git status --porcelain
+if [[ "$(git status --porcelain)" != "" ]]; then
+    CURRENT_COMMIT="${CURRENT_COMMIT}(dirty)" 
+fi
+COMMIT_MSG="sphinx render from publish.sh - `date -u` - ${CURRENT_COMMIT}"
+
+pushd "$PUBLICDIR"
+
+echo "adding and commiting all changes in GitHub pages repo"
+git add -A
+git commit -m "$COMMIT_MSG"
+#git push origin master
+