diff --git a/bin/build.ts b/bin/build.ts
index 0b5fb4e..3d6896f 100755
--- a/bin/build.ts
+++ b/bin/build.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ export default async function run(args?: string[]): Promise<void> {
         type: "string",
         default: "./"
       },
+      minify: {
+        type: "boolean",
+        // Default to true; use --no-minify to disable
+        default: true
+      },
       template: {
         type: "string"
       },
@@ -45,6 +50,7 @@ export default async function run(args?: string[]): Promise<void> {
   --template <path>        path to the HTML template
   -o, --out <dir>          path to the output directory (relative to root)
   --base <path>            serving base path; defaults to ./
+  --no-minify              disable JS/CSS minification
   --empty                  whether to empty the output directory before building
   -h, --help               show this message
 `);
@@ -57,6 +63,8 @@ export default async function run(args?: string[]): Promise<void> {
     root: values.root,
     base: values.base,
     build: {
+      minify: values.minify ? "esbuild" : false,
+      cssMinify: values.minify ? "esbuild" : false,
       outDir: values.out,
       emptyOutDir: values.empty,
       rollupOptions: {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fde535c..69e70a9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     "notebooks": "tsx bin/notebooks.ts",
     "download": "tsx bin/notebooks.ts download",
     "docs:preview": "tsx --watch bin/notebooks.ts preview --root docs --template docs/observable.tmpl",
+    "docs:build-dev": "tsx bin/notebooks.ts build --root docs --template docs/observable.tmpl --no-minify -- $(find docs -path 'docs/.observable' -prune -o -name '*.html' -print)",
     "docs:build": "tsx bin/notebooks.ts build --root docs --template docs/observable.tmpl -- $(find docs -path 'docs/.observable' -prune -o -name '*.html' -print)"
   },
   "bin": {