diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 004c7f854..728a5fedf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 # spiff-arena
 
+This is a monorepo based on git subtrees that pulls together various
+spiffworkflow-related projects. Here's an example command to push back to one
+project:
 
-git subtree push --prefix=spiffworkflow-frontend git@github.com:sartography/spiffworkflow-frontend.git add_md_file
+    git subtree push --prefix=spiffworkflow-frontend git@github.com:sartography/spiffworkflow-frontend.git add_md_file
+
+# run all lint checks and tests
 
-# run pyl
 `./bin/run_pyl`
 
 Requires at root: