diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5c6948c..3795006 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -54,10 +54,9 @@ To run a more complete system, you also need to have docker compose installed.
 
 To hack on diachron itself, you need the following:
 
+- bash
 - docker and docker compose
 - [fd](https://github.com/sharkdp/fd)
 - golang, version 1.23.6 or greater
 - shellcheck
 - shfmt
-
-
diff --git a/framework/shims/node b/framework/shims/node
index 090bb9a..5ac98a8 100755
--- a/framework/shims/node
+++ b/framework/shims/node
@@ -5,10 +5,8 @@
 set -eu
 
 node_shim_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
-export node_shim_DIR
-
-source "$node_shim_DIR"/../versions
 
+# shellcheck source=node.common
 source "$node_shim_DIR"/node.common
 
 exec "$nodejs_binary_dir/node" "$@"
diff --git a/framework/shims/node.common b/framework/shims/node.common
index c3253e1..3745766 100644
--- a/framework/shims/node.common
+++ b/framework/shims/node.common
@@ -2,23 +2,19 @@
 # shellcheck shell=bash
 
 node_common_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+project_root="$node_common_DIR/../.."
 
-# FIXME this shouldn't be hardcoded here of course
-nodejs_binary_dir="$node_common_DIR/../binaries/node-v22.15.1-linux-x64/bin"
+# shellcheck source=../versions
+source "$node_common_DIR"/../versions
+
+nodejs_binary_dir="$project_root/$nodejs_bin_dir"
 
 # This might be too restrictive.  Or not restrictive enough.
 PATH="$nodejs_binary_dir":/bin:/usr/bin
 
-project_root="$node_common_DIR/../.."
+node_dist_dir="$project_root/$nodejs_dist_dir"
 
-node_dir="$project_root/$nodejs_binary_dir"
-
-export NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX="$node_dir/npm"
-export NPM_CONFIG_CACHE="$node_dir/cache"
-export NPM_CONFIG_TMP="$node_dir/tmp"
-export NODE_PATH="$node_dir/node_modules"
-
-# echo $NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX
-# echo $NPM_CONFIG_CACHE
-# echo $NPM_CONFIG_TMP
-# echo $NODE_PATH
+export NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX="$node_dist_dir/npm"
+export NPM_CONFIG_CACHE="$node_dist_dir/cache"
+export NPM_CONFIG_TMP="$node_dist_dir/tmp"
+export NODE_PATH="$node_dist_dir/node_modules"
diff --git a/framework/versions b/framework/versions
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de9fbd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/framework/versions
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+
+# This file belongs to the framework.  You are not expected to modify it.
+
+# https://nodejs.org/dist
+nodejs_binary_linux_x86_64=https://nodejs.org/dist/v24.12.0/node-v24.12.0-linux-x64.tar.xz
+nodejs_checksum_linux_x86_64=bdebee276e58d0ef5448f3d5ac12c67daa963dd5e0a9bb621a53d1cefbc852fd
+nodejs_dist_dir=framework/binaries/node-v22.15.1-linux-x64
+nodejs_bin_dir="$nodejs_dist_dir/bin"
+
+caddy_binary_linux_x86_64=fixme
+caddy_checksum_linux_x86_64=fixmetoo
+
+# https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases
+pnpm_binary_linux_x86_64=https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/download/v10.28.0/pnpm-linux-x64
+pnpm_checksum_linux_x86_64=sha256:348e863d17a62411a65f900e8d91395acabae9e9237653ccc3c36cb385965f28
+
+
+golangci_lint=v2.7.2-alpine
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sync.sh b/sync.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5aa223d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sync.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Note: This is kind of AI slop and needs to be more carefully reviewed.
+
+set -eu
+
+DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
+# shellcheck source=framework/versions
+source "$DIR/framework/versions"
+
+# Ensure correct node version is installed
+node_installed_checksum_file="$DIR/framework/binaries/.node.checksum"
+node_installed_checksum=""
+if [ -f "$node_installed_checksum_file" ]; then
+	node_installed_checksum=$(cat "$node_installed_checksum_file")
+fi
+
+if [ "$node_installed_checksum" != "$nodejs_checksum_linux_x86_64" ]; then
+	echo "Downloading Node.js..."
+	node_archive="$DIR/framework/downloads/node.tar.xz"
+	curl -fsSL "$nodejs_binary_linux_x86_64" -o "$node_archive"
+
+	echo "Verifying checksum..."
+	echo "$nodejs_checksum_linux_x86_64  $node_archive" | sha256sum -c -
+
+	echo "Extracting Node.js..."
+	tar -xf "$node_archive" -C "$DIR/framework/binaries"
+	rm "$node_archive"
+
+	echo "$nodejs_checksum_linux_x86_64" >"$node_installed_checksum_file"
+fi
+
+# Ensure correct pnpm version is installed
+pnpm_binary="$DIR/framework/binaries/pnpm"
+pnpm_installed_checksum_file="$DIR/framework/binaries/.pnpm.checksum"
+pnpm_installed_checksum=""
+if [ -f "$pnpm_installed_checksum_file" ]; then
+	pnpm_installed_checksum=$(cat "$pnpm_installed_checksum_file")
+fi
+
+# pnpm checksum includes "sha256:" prefix, strip it for sha256sum
+pnpm_checksum="${pnpm_checksum_linux_x86_64#sha256:}"
+
+if [ "$pnpm_installed_checksum" != "$pnpm_checksum" ]; then
+	echo "Downloading pnpm..."
+	curl -fsSL "$pnpm_binary_linux_x86_64" -o "$pnpm_binary"
+
+	echo "Verifying checksum..."
+	echo "$pnpm_checksum  $pnpm_binary" | sha256sum -c -
+
+	chmod +x "$pnpm_binary"
+
+	echo "$pnpm_checksum" >"$pnpm_installed_checksum_file"
+fi
+
+# Get golang binaries in place
+cd "$DIR/master"
+go build
+
+cd "$DIR/logger"
+go build
+
+# Update framework code
+cd "$DIR/express"
+../cmd pnpm install