diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b7704c61..59d9940e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -127,3 +127,6 @@ fabric.properties
 .idea/caches/build_file_checksums.ser
 
 # END JetBrains -> BEGIN JetBrains
+
+samples/*
+!samples/README.md
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a4265cb4..a54e5b77 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
     "snapshot": "npm run pretest && vitest run -u --silent",
     "repl": "npm run prestart && cd website && npm run dev",
     "start": "npm run prestart && cd website && npm run dev",
-    "dev": "npm run prestart && cd website && npm run dev",
+    "dev": "npm run prestart && cd website && npm run dev & npm run sampler",
     "build": "npm run prebuild && cd website && npm run build",
-    "preview": "cd website && npm run preview",
+    "preview": "cd website && npm run preview & npm run sampler",
     "osc": "cd packages/osc && npm run server",
     "jsdoc": "jsdoc packages/ -c jsdoc/jsdoc.config.json",
     "jsdoc-json": "jsdoc packages/ --template ./node_modules/jsdoc-json --destination doc.json -c jsdoc/jsdoc.config.json",
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     "format-check": "prettier --check .",
     "report-undocumented": "npm run jsdoc-json && node jsdoc/undocumented.mjs > undocumented.json",
     "check": "npm run format-check && npm run lint && npm run test",
-    "sampler": "cd packages/sampler && node sample-server.mjs",
+    "sampler": "cd samples && node ../packages/sampler/sample-server.mjs",
     "iclc": "cd paper && pandoc --template=pandoc/iclc.html --citeproc  --number-sections iclc2023.md -o iclc2023.html && pandoc --template=pandoc/iclc.latex --citeproc --number-sections iclc2023.md -o iclc2023.pdf"
   },
   "repository": {
diff --git a/packages/sampler/.gitignore b/packages/sampler/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index e8cbbaa2..00000000
--- a/packages/sampler/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-samples/*
-!samples/README.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/sampler/samples/README.md b/packages/sampler/samples/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index d20e1753..00000000
--- a/packages/sampler/samples/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# samples folder
-
-1. copy any samples to this folder
-2. run `npm run sampler`
-3. add `samples('local:')` to your code
diff --git a/samples/README.md b/samples/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96ad8af2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# samples folder
+
+1. copy any samples to this folder
+2. either run strudel locally (`pnpm dev` or `pnpm build && pnpm preview`), or run `npx @strudel/sampler` from this folder
+3. add `samples('local:')` to your code