diff --git a/docs/contributing.md b/docs/contributing.md
index 6236d01253..f4cc8f6659 100644
--- a/docs/contributing.md
+++ b/docs/contributing.md
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ Follow these steps when submitting a PR to ensure it meets the project’s stand
 Navigate to the `frontend` folder and run the following commands:
 
 - `cd frontend`
-- `make frontend-test` - Run the test suite
-- `make frontend-lint` - Format your code to match the project
+- `npm run test` - Run the test suite
+- `npm run lint` - Format your code to match the project
 
 These steps ensure your code is functional, well-typed, and formatted consistently.
 
@@ -159,11 +159,11 @@ For linting the `backend` and `frontend`, use the following commands
 (respectively):
 
 ```bash
-make backend-lint
+npm run backend-lint
 ```
 
 ```bash
-make frontend-lint
+npm run frontend-lint
 ```
 
 The linters are also run in the CI system, so any PRs you create will be
@@ -197,13 +197,13 @@ an associated story when possible.
 For running the frontend tests, use the following command:
 
 ```bash
-make frontend-test
+npm run frontend-test
 ```
 
 The backend uses go's testing and can be run by using the following command:
 
 ```bash
-make backend-test
+npm run backend-test
 ```
 
 Tests will run as part of the CI after a Pull Request is open.
diff --git a/docs/development/backend.md b/docs/development/backend.md
index de3d268e2f..0a4a798a25 100644
--- a/docs/development/backend.md
+++ b/docs/development/backend.md
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ redirects the requests to the defined proxies.
 The backend (Headlamp's server) can be quickly built using:
 
 ```bash
-make backend
+npm run backend
 ```
 
 Once built, it can be run in development mode (insecure / don't use in production) using:
 
 ```bash
-make run-backend
+npm run run-backend
 ```
 
 ## Lint
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ make run-backend
 To lint the backend/ code.
 
 ```bash
-make backend-lint
+npm run backend-lint
 ```
 
 ## Format
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ make backend-lint
 To format the backend code.
 
 ```bash
-make backend-format
+npm run backend-format
 ```
 
 ## Test
 
 ```bash
-make backend-test
+npm run backend-test
 ```
diff --git a/docs/development/frontend.md b/docs/development/frontend.md
index e7243df389..f3477b44d6 100644
--- a/docs/development/frontend.md
+++ b/docs/development/frontend.md
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ The frontend is written in Typescript and React, as well as a few other importan
 The frontend can be quickly built using:
 
 ```bash
-make frontend
+npm run frontend
 ```
 
 Once built, it can be run in development mode (auto-refresh) using:
 
 ```bash
-make run-frontend
+npm run run-frontend
 ```
 
 This command leverages the `create-react-app`'s start script that launches
diff --git a/docs/development/index.md b/docs/development/index.md
index 1dc6a2e105..8216929916 100644
--- a/docs/development/index.md
+++ b/docs/development/index.md
@@ -16,29 +16,39 @@ These are the required dependencies to get started. Other dependencies are pulle
 
 - [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/) Latest LTS (20.11.1 at time of writing). Many of us use [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) for installing multiple versions of Node.
 - [Go](https://go.dev/doc/install), (1.22 at time of writing)
-- [Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/) (GNU). Often installed by default. On Windows this can be installed with the "chocolatey" package manager that is installed with node.
 - [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/), we suggest [minikube](https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/) as one good K8s installation for testing locally. Other k8s installations are supported (see [platforms](../platforms.md).
 
+
+## Run the app
+
+`npm start`
+
+This will run back the backend, the frontend in development mode, and the app in development mode.
+
+This is the quickest way to get started and see if everything is working. It may take a while to get going the first time as it installs things and warms up.
+
+See below for running the frontend and backend separately to work in the web browser which is more convenient than developing in the app.
+
 ## Build the code
 
 Headlamp is composed of a `backend` and a `frontend`.
 
-You can build both the `backend` and `frontend` by running.
+You can build both the `backend` and `frontend` by running:
 
 ```bash
-make
+npm run backend && npm run frontend
 ```
 
 Or individually:
 
 ```bash
-make backend
+npm run backend
 ```
 
 and
 
 ```bash
-make frontend
+npm run frontend
 ```
 
 ## Run the code
@@ -47,13 +57,13 @@ The quickest way to get the `backend` and `frontend` running for development is
 the following (respectively):
 
 ```bash
-make run-backend
+npm run run-backend
 ```
 
 and in a different terminal instance:
 
 ```bash
-make run-frontend
+npm run run-frontend
 ```
 
 ## Build the app
@@ -66,7 +76,7 @@ and the linux app on a linux box.
 First, we need to
 
 ```bash
-make backend frontend
+npm run backend && npm run frontend
 ```
 
 Then choose the relevant command.