diff --git a/contrib/make_nightly_build b/contrib/make_nightly_build
index 95be193..65949c5 100755
--- a/contrib/make_nightly_build
+++ b/contrib/make_nightly_build
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ for arg in "$@"; do
     --no-github) NO_GITHUB=1 ;;
     --no-codeberg) NO_CODEBERG=1 ;;
     --no-flowcontrol) NO_FLOWCONTROL=1 ;;
+    --allow-dirty) ALLOW_DIRTY=1 ;;
     esac
 done
 
@@ -33,22 +34,31 @@ fi
 
 DIFF="$(git diff --stat --patch HEAD)"
 
-if [ -n "$DIFF" ]; then
-    echo there are outstanding changes:
-    echo "$DIFF"
-    exit 1
-fi
+if [ -z "$ALLOW_DIRTY" ]; then
+    if [ -n "$DIFF" ]; then
+        echo there are outstanding changes:
+        echo "$DIFF"
+        exit 1
+    fi
 
-UNPUSHED="$(git log --pretty=oneline '@{u}...')"
+    UNPUSHED="$(git log --pretty=oneline '@{u}...')"
 
-if [ -n "$UNPUSHED" ]; then
-    echo there are unpushed commits:
-    echo "$UNPUSHED"
-    exit 1
+    if [ -n "$UNPUSHED" ]; then
+        echo there are unpushed commits:
+        echo "$UNPUSHED"
+        exit 1
+    fi
 fi
 
 # get latest version tag
-last_nightly_version=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/$repo/releases/latest" | jq -r .tag_name)
+
+if [ -z "$NO_FLOWCONTROL" ]; then
+    last_nightly_version=$(curl -s https://git.flow-control.dev/api/v1/repos/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
+elif [ -z "$NO_GITHUB" ]; then
+    last_nightly_version=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/$repo/releases/latest" | jq -r .tag_name)
+elif [ -z "$NO_CODEBERG" ]; then
+    last_nightly_version=$(curl -s https://codeberg.org/api/v1/repos/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
+fi
 [ -z "$last_nightly_version" ] && {
     echo "failed to fetch $title latest version"
     exit 1
@@ -75,9 +85,13 @@ echo building...
 
 ./zig build -Dpackage_release --prefix "$DESTDIR/build"
 
+VERSION=$(/bin/cat "$DESTDIR/build/version")
+
+git archive --format=tar.gz --output="$DESTDIR/flow-$VERSION-source.tar.gz" HEAD
+git archive --format=zip --output="$DESTDIR/flow-$VERSION-source.zip" HEAD
+
 cd "$DESTDIR/build"
 
-VERSION=$(/bin/cat version)
 TARGETS=$(/bin/ls)
 
 for target in $TARGETS; do
@@ -114,43 +128,48 @@ echo
 cd ..
 
 {
-    echo "$title" "$VERSION"
-    echo
-
-    echo "commits:"
+    echo "## commits in this build"
     echo
     git log "${last_nightly_version}..HEAD" --pretty="format:neurocyte/$APPNAME@%h %s"
     echo
     echo
 
-    echo "contributors to this release:"
+    echo "## contributors"
     git shortlog -s -n "${last_nightly_version}..HEAD" | cut -b 8-
     echo
-    echo
 
-    echo "also available at:"
-    echo "[flow-control.dev](https://git.flow-control.dev/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/tag/$VERSION)"
-    echo "[github.com](https://github.com/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/tag/$VERSION)"
-    echo "[codeberg.org](https://codeberg.org/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/tag/$VERSION)"
+    echo "## downloads"
+    echo "[flow-control.dev](https://git.flow-control.dev/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/tag/$VERSION) (source only)"
+    echo "[github.com](https://github.com/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/tag/$VERSION) (binaries & source)"
+    echo "[codeberg.org](https://codeberg.org/neurocyte/flow-nightly/releases/tag/$VERSION) (binaries & source)"
 } >"$release_notes"
 
 cat "$release_notes"
 
+ASSETS=""
+
 if [ -z "$NO_FLOWCONTROL" ]; then
+    ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $DESTDIR/flow-${VERSION}-source.tar.gz"
+    ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $DESTDIR/flow-${VERSION}-source.tar.gz.sig"
+    ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $DESTDIR/flow-${VERSION}-source.tar.gz.sha256"
+    ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $DESTDIR/flow-${VERSION}-source.zip"
+    ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $DESTDIR/flow-${VERSION}-source.zip.sig"
+    ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $DESTDIR/flow-${VERSION}-source.zip.sha256"
     echo uploading to git.flow-control.dev
-    tea releases create --login flow-control --repo "$repo" --tag "$VERSION" --title "$title $VERSION" --note-file "$release_notes"
+    tea releases create --login flow-control --repo "$repo" --tag "$VERSION" --title "$title $VERSION" --note-file "$release_notes" \
+        $ASSETS
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$NO_CODEBERG" ]; then
-    ASSETS=""
     for a in $DESTDIR/*; do
         ASSETS="$ASSETS --asset $a"
     done
     echo uploading to codeberg.org
-    tea releases create --login codeberg --repo "$repo" --tag "$VERSION" --title "$title $VERSION" --note-file "$release_notes" $ASSETS
+    tea releases create --login codeberg --repo "$repo" --tag "$VERSION" --title "$title $VERSION" --note-file "$release_notes" \
+        $ASSETS
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$NO_GITHUB" ]; then
     echo uploading to github.com
-    gh release create "$VERSION" --repo "$repo" --notes-file "$release_notes" $DESTDIR/*
+    gh release create "$VERSION" --repo "$repo" --title "$title $VERSION" --notes-file "$release_notes" $DESTDIR/*
 fi