diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,3 +5,22 @@
 Efemra is absolutely WIP and does not work at all! Feel free to watch as I stumble my way through Zig, Vulkan and graphics programming. I hope to have more to show for myself soon.
 
 In the meantime, please check out pim, because that engine actually works and is super cool!
+
+## dependencies
+
+Currently I am only targeting Linux and testing on Gentoo. Probably will investigate Windows once things get further. You'll need:
+
+* Zig 0.10 (this is the prerelease version)
+* vulkan: headers, layers, and loader (these will depend on your package manager).
+* glfw 3 headers
+* Possibly some other stuff that you likely already have? TODO: experiment with building on a popular distro to see what's needed.
+* Currently efemra isn't at the point of loading Quake levels, but that probably will eventually be a thing.
+
+
+## building
+
+It might not build yet... but in theory:
+
+* Install [gyro](https://github.com/mattnite/gyro) zig package manager.
+* Execute `gyro fetch` to fetch dependencies.
+* Execute `gyro build run` to build and (someday) run!