diff --git a/pylib/Makefile b/pylib/Makefile
index 2441d4855..34766523f 100644
--- a/pylib/Makefile
+++ b/pylib/Makefile
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ PROTODEPS := $(wildcard ../proto/*.proto)
 
 .build/py-proto: .build/dev-deps $(PROTODEPS)
 	protoc --proto_path=../proto --python_out=anki --mypy_out=anki $(PROTODEPS)
-	# fixup import path
 	perl -i'' -pe 's/from fluent_pb2/from anki.fluent_pb2/' anki/backend_pb2.pyi
 	perl -i'' -pe 's/import fluent_pb2/import anki.fluent_pb2/' anki/backend_pb2.py
 	@touch $@
diff --git a/qt/ftl/.gitignore b/qt/ftl/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f606d5e0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qt/ftl/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+repo
diff --git a/qt/ftl/scripts/fetch-latest-translations b/qt/ftl/scripts/fetch-latest-translations
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..5285d7031
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qt/ftl/scripts/fetch-latest-translations
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo "Downloading latest translations..."
+
+if [ ! -d repo ]; then
+  git clone https://github.com/ankitects/anki-desktop-ftl repo
+fi
+
+(cd repo && git pull)
diff --git a/qt/ftl/scripts/upload-latest-templates b/qt/ftl/scripts/upload-latest-templates
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a60f3ff2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qt/ftl/scripts/upload-latest-templates
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# expects to be run from the ftl folder
+#
+
+test -d repo || exit 1
+
+rsync -av --delete *.ftl repo/desktop/templates/
+(cd repo && git add desktop; git commit -m update; git push)
diff --git a/rslib/Makefile b/rslib/Makefile
index 7afc9979b..8449b4330 100644
--- a/rslib/Makefile
+++ b/rslib/Makefile
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ develop: .build/vernum ftl/repo
 ftl/repo:
 	(cd ftl && ./scripts/fetch-latest-translations)
 
-ALL_SOURCE := $(find src -type f) $(wildcard ftl/*.ftl)
+ALL_SOURCE := $(shell find src -type f) $(wildcard ftl/*.ftl)
 
 # nightly currently required for ignoring files in rustfmt.toml
 RUST_TOOLCHAIN := $(shell cat rust-toolchain)
diff --git a/rspy/Makefile b/rspy/Makefile
index 7215bf937..9e5dee63f 100644
--- a/rspy/Makefile
+++ b/rspy/Makefile
@@ -9,16 +9,23 @@ $(shell mkdir -p .build ../dist)
 OUTDIR := ../dist
 BUILDFLAGS := --release --strip
 
+FTLS := ../qt/ftl
+
 .PHONY: all develop build check fix clean
 
 all: develop
 
-develop: .build/tools .build/vernum
-	maturin develop $(BUILDFLAGS)
+develop: .build/develop
 
-build: .build/tools .build/vernum
+.build/develop: .build/tools .build/vernum $(wildcard $(FTLS)/*.ftl)
+	touch ../proto/backend.proto
+	FTL_TEMPLATE_DIRS="$(FTLS)" maturin develop $(BUILDFLAGS)
+	touch $@
+
+build: .build/tools .build/vernum $(wildcard $(FTLS)/*.ftl)
 	rm -rf $(OUTDIR)/ankirspy*
-	maturin build -i $(shell which python3) -o $(OUTDIR) $(BUILDFLAGS)
+	touch ../proto/backend.proto
+	FTL_TEMPLATE_DIRS="$(FTLS)" maturin build -i $(shell which python3) -o $(OUTDIR) $(BUILDFLAGS)
 
 check: .build/check