diff --git a/publish.py b/publish.py
index cdc313843..968577805 100755
--- a/publish.py
+++ b/publish.py
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@
 if ap is not None:
     appname = ap.group(1)
 
-ALL_ACTIONS = 'man html build tag sdist upload website'.split()
-NIGHTLY_ACTIONS = 'man html build sdist upload_nightly'.split()
+ALL_ACTIONS = 'local_build man html build tag sdist upload website'.split()
+NIGHTLY_ACTIONS = 'local_build man html build sdist upload_nightly'.split()
 
 
 def echo_cmd(cmd: Iterable[str]) -> None:
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ def call(*cmd: str, cwd: Optional[str] = None, echo: bool = False) -> None:
         raise SystemExit(ret)
 
 
+def run_local_build(args: Any) -> None:
+    call('make debug')
+
+
 def run_build(args: Any) -> None:
     import runpy