diff --git a/Dockerfile.hot.dev b/Dockerfile.hot.dev
deleted file mode 100644
index d01d205..0000000
--- a/Dockerfile.hot.dev
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-FROM golang:1.22
-RUN go install github.com/air-verse/air@latest
-WORKDIR /app
-EXPOSE 3001
-CMD ["air", "-c", ".air.conf"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1148c1f..e353743 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,26 +2,51 @@ SHELL := /bin/bash
 
 # go source files, ignore vendor directory
 SRC = $(shell find . -type f -name '*.go' -not -path "./vendor/*")
+.PHONY: run test integration-test build ci-run fmt
 
-.PHONY: fmt run
+# Dev Commands
 
-fmt:
-	@gofmt -l -w $(SRC)
-
-run:
+## Runs the api service in a way that depends on the database from the askdarcel-api project
+run: docker-exists
 	docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml build && docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up
 
-hot-run:
-	env CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ./tmp/sheltertech-go-hot ./cmd/sheltertech-go && DOCKER_DEFAULT_PLATFORM="linux/amd64" docker compose -f docker-compose.hot.dev.yml build && docker compose -f docker-compose.hot.dev.yml up
+## Runs the api service in a way that brings up its own database and does not require anything from askdarcel-api running
+run-standalone: docker-exists
+	docker compose -f docker-compose.ci.yml build && docker compose -f docker-compose.ci.yml up
 
-ci-run:
-	docker compose -f docker-compose.ci.yml build && docker compose -f docker-compose.ci.yml up -d
+# Test Commands
+
+## Unit tests which require no other dependencies
+test: go-exists
+	go test -v ./...
+
+## Expects a server running on localhost:3001 from the dev flow
+integration-test: go-exists
+	go test -v -tags=integration ./...
+
+# CI Commands
 
-build:
+## Used in CI to do a quick compile check
+build: go-exists
 	go build -v ./...
 
-test:
-	go test -v ./...
+## Used in CI to start a database in the background along with the api service
+## Running this yourself allows you to create what happens in CI
+ci-run: docker-exists
+	docker compose -f docker-compose.ci.yml build && docker compose -f docker-compose.ci.yml up -d
+
+# Utility
+
+## Format go files in repo
+fmt: go-exists
+	@gofmt -l -w $(SRC)
+
+go-exists:
+ifeq (, $(shell which go))
+    $(error golang is not installed on this machine, you may use `brew install go` to install it.)
+endif
 
-integration-test:
-	go test -v -tags=integration ./...
\ No newline at end of file
+docker-exists:
+ifeq (, $(shell which docker))
+    $(error docker is not installed on this machine, you will need to install docker.)
+endif
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.hot.dev.yml b/docker-compose.hot.dev.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e59d7f2..0000000
--- a/docker-compose.hot.dev.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-version: "3.5"
-
-services:
-  sheltertech-go:
-    build:
-      context: ./
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile.hot.dev
-    environment:
-      DB_HOST: db
-      DB_PORT: 5432
-      DB_NAME: askdarcel_development
-      DB_USER: postgres
-      AUTH0_DOMAIN: "dev-nykixf8szsm220fi.us.auth0.com"
-    networks:
-      - askdarcel
-    volumes:
-      - ./:/app
-    ports:
-      - "3001:3001"
-      - "3002:3002"
-
-networks:
-  # Used to connect to askdarcel in a different docker-compose instance
-  askdarcel:
-    name: askdarcel
\ No newline at end of file