diff --git a/client/other/shared b/client/other/shared
new file mode 120000
index 00000000..5b802bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/other/shared
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/Users/kdodds/Developer/testing-workshop/shared
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/client/package.json b/client/package.json
index 97b35932..14260b8e 100644
--- a/client/package.json
+++ b/client/package.json
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@
     "enzyme-to-json": "^3.3.0",
     "lodash.pick": "^4.4.0",
     "react-scripts": "^2.0.0-next.9754a231",
-    "react-test-renderer": "^16.2.0"
+    "react-test-renderer": "^16.2.0",
+    "til-shared": "file:other/shared"
   },
   "browserslist": {
     "development": [
diff --git a/client/test/client-test-utils.js b/client/test/client-test-utils.js
index 73464264..7533324a 100644
--- a/client/test/client-test-utils.js
+++ b/client/test/client-test-utils.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import React from 'react'
 import {Router} from 'react-router-dom'
 import {mount} from 'enzyme'
 import {createMemoryHistory} from 'history'
-import * as generate from '../../other/generate'
+import * as generate from 'til-shared/generate'
 
 function mountWithRouter(ui, {route = '/'} = {}) {
   const history = createMemoryHistory({initialEntries: [route]})
diff --git a/cypress/utils.js b/cypress/utils.js
index 477fadba..338e9338 100644
--- a/cypress/utils.js
+++ b/cypress/utils.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import * as generate from '../other/generate'
+import * as generate from '../shared/generate'
 
 function loginAsNewUser() {
   return createNewUser().then(user => {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4058c0da..820c9f70 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -29,21 +29,8 @@
     "lint": "eslint . --cache --cache-location node_modules/.cache/eslint",
     "validate": "concurrently --names \"lint,test:coverage,test:e2e\" --prefix \"[{name}]\" --prefix-colors \"bgGreen.reset.bold,bgBlue.reset.bold,bgRed.reset.bold\" \"npm run lint --silent\" \"npm run test:coverage --silent\" \"npm run test:e2e --silent\"",
     "precommit": "lint-staged && npm run --silent validate",
-    "clean": "rimraf node_modules ./client/node_modules ./server/node_modules",
-    "setup": "node ./scripts/verify && node ./scripts/install && npm run validate",
-    "now-build": "cd server && npm install",
-    "now-start": "node ./server"
-  },
-  "now": {
-    "name": "til",
-    "alias": "til.now.sh",
-    "files": [
-      "./server",
-      "./shared"
-    ]
-  },
-  "dependencies": {
-    "jsonwebtoken": "^8.1.1"
+    "clean": "rimraf node_modules ./shared/node_modules ./client/node_modules ./server/node_modules",
+    "setup": "node ./scripts/verify && node ./scripts/install && npm run validate"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "all-contributors-cli": "^4.10.1",
diff --git a/scripts/deploy.sh b/scripts/deploy.sh
index 8528d6e4..2bc2aa9b 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-npm i -g now@9
-now -e NODE_ENV=production --token $NOW_TOKEN --npm deploy --public
-now alias --token=$NOW_TOKEN
+cd server
+npx --package now@9 --call \
+"now -e NODE_ENV=production --token $NOW_TOKEN --npm deploy --public && now alias --token=$NOW_TOKEN"
diff --git a/scripts/install.js b/scripts/install.js
index bca41b7c..3b260f54 100644
--- a/scripts/install.js
+++ b/scripts/install.js
@@ -4,9 +4,10 @@ var path = require('path')
 var installDeps = require('./workshop-setup').installDeps
 
 var main = path.resolve(__dirname, '..')
+var shared = path.resolve(__dirname, '../shared')
 var server = path.resolve(__dirname, '../server')
 var client = path.resolve(__dirname, '../client')
-installDeps([main, server, client]).then(
+installDeps([main, shared, server, client]).then(
   function() {
     console.log('👍  all dependencies installed')
   },
diff --git a/server/__tests__/auth.js b/server/__tests__/auth.js
index 13b44d4f..c77d04e8 100644
--- a/server/__tests__/auth.js
+++ b/server/__tests__/auth.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import faker from 'faker'
 import axios from 'axios'
 import db from '../src/db'
 // eslint-disable-next-line
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@ afterAll(async () => {
 })
 
 beforeEach(async () => {
-  testUser = generate.userData({id: faker.random.uuid()})
+  testUser = generate.userData({id: generate.id()})
   await resetDb({testUser})
   const token = getUserToken(testUser)
   authAPI = axios.create({baseURL})
diff --git a/server/__tests__/posts.js b/server/__tests__/posts.js
index cec5a83e..d3a7f894 100644
--- a/server/__tests__/posts.js
+++ b/server/__tests__/posts.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import faker from 'faker'
 import axios from 'axios'
 // eslint-disable-next-line
 import {resetDb, generate} from 'server-test-utils'
@@ -21,7 +20,7 @@ afterAll(async () => {
 })
 
 beforeEach(async () => {
-  testUser = generate.userData({id: faker.random.uuid()})
+  testUser = generate.userData({id: generate.id()})
   mockData = await resetDb({testUser})
   const token = getUserToken(testUser)
   authAPI = axios.create({baseURL})
diff --git a/server/other/shared b/server/other/shared
new file mode 120000
index 00000000..5b802bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/other/shared
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/Users/kdodds/Developer/testing-workshop/shared
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/package.json b/server/package.json
index 3cb523a6..f6f03166 100644
--- a/server/package.json
+++ b/server/package.json
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
     "start": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production node .",
     "dev": "node .",
     "build": "babel --ignore __tests__,__mocks__ --out-dir dist src",
-    "test": "cd .. && npm run test:server --silent"
+    "test": "cd .. && npm run test:server --silent",
+    "now-build": "echo \"build happens before deploy\"",
+    "now-start": "node ."
   },
   "author": "Kent C. Dodds <kent@doddsfamily.us> (http://kentcdodds.com/)",
   "license": "MIT",
@@ -19,10 +21,16 @@
     "express": "^4.16.2",
     "express-async-errors": "^2.1.0",
     "express-jwt": "^5.3.0",
+    "jsonwebtoken": "^8.1.1",
     "lodash": "^4.17.4",
     "loglevel": "^1.6.1",
     "passport": "^0.4.0",
-    "passport-local": "^1.0.0"
+    "passport-local": "^1.0.0",
+    "til-shared": "file:./other/shared"
+  },
+  "now": {
+    "name": "til",
+    "alias": "til.now.sh"
   },
   "babel": {
     "presets": [
@@ -46,7 +54,6 @@
     "babel-plugin-transform-object-rest-spread": "^6.26.0",
     "babel-preset-env": "^1.6.1",
     "babel-register": "^6.26.0",
-    "faker": "^4.1.0",
     "nodemon": "^1.14.11"
   }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/auth.js b/server/src/auth.js
index 5c1209a8..31365a27 100644
--- a/server/src/auth.js
+++ b/server/src/auth.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {
   isPasswordValid,
   secret,
   getUserToken,
-} from '../../shared/auth'
+} from 'til-shared/auth'
 import db from './db'
 
 const authMiddleware = {
diff --git a/server/src/db.js b/server/src/db.js
index 81c51fcf..b8f53e5f 100644
--- a/server/src/db.js
+++ b/server/src/db.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import faker from 'faker'
+import * as generate from 'til-shared/generate'
 
 const db = {
   users: [],
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ const db = {
 async function insertUser(user) {
   const newUser = {
     ...user,
-    id: faker.random.uuid(),
+    id: generate.id(),
   }
   db.users.push(newUser)
   return newUser
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ async function deleteUser(id) {
 async function insertPost(post) {
   const newPost = {
     ...post,
-    id: faker.random.uuid(),
+    id: generate.id(),
   }
   db.posts.push(newPost)
   return newPost
diff --git a/server/test/server-test-utils.js b/server/test/server-test-utils.js
index 4703b088..5ed8cc83 100644
--- a/server/test/server-test-utils.js
+++ b/server/test/server-test-utils.js
@@ -1,20 +1,19 @@
-import faker from 'faker'
+import * as generate from 'til-shared/generate'
 import db from '../src/db'
-import * as generate from '../../other/generate'
 
 function initDb() {
   const users = Array.from({length: 10}, () =>
-    generate.userData({id: faker.random.uuid()}),
+    generate.userData({id: generate.id()}),
   )
 
   const posts = users.map(u =>
-    generate.postData({authorId: u.id, id: faker.random.uuid()}),
+    generate.postData({authorId: u.id, id: generate.id()}),
   )
   db.users = users
   db.posts = posts
 
   const testUser = generate.userData({
-    id: faker.random.uuid(),
+    id: generate.id(),
     username: 'til',
     password: 'til',
   })
@@ -23,10 +22,10 @@ function initDb() {
 
 async function resetDb({testUser} = {}) {
   const users = Array.from({length: 10}, () =>
-    generate.userData({id: faker.random.uuid()}),
+    generate.userData({id: generate.id()}),
   )
   const posts = users.map(u =>
-    generate.postData({authorId: u.id, id: faker.random.uuid()}),
+    generate.postData({authorId: u.id, id: generate.id()}),
   )
   db.users = users
   db.posts = posts
diff --git a/other/generate.js b/shared/generate.js
similarity index 87%
rename from other/generate.js
rename to shared/generate.js
index 82f47142..9c79485e 100644
--- a/other/generate.js
+++ b/shared/generate.js
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
-// this file is not transpiled
-// we could probably make it work
-// but meh... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-
 const omit = require('lodash.omit')
 const faker = require('faker')
-const {getSaltAndHash, getUserToken} = require('../shared/auth')
+const {getSaltAndHash, getUserToken} = require('./auth')
 
 function userData(overrides = {}) {
   const password = overrides.password || faker.internet.password()
diff --git a/shared/index.js b/shared/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0ecf573
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shared/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+module.exports = {
+  auth: require('./auth'),
+  generate: require('./generate'),
+}
diff --git a/shared/package.json b/shared/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..325d3417
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shared/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "name": "til-shared",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "private": true,
+  "main": "./index",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "faker": "^4.1.0",
+    "jsonwebtoken": "^8.1.1",
+    "lodash.omit": "^4.5.0"
+  }
+}