diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint-test.yml b/.github/workflows/lint-test.yml
index 8dbf4e9..b2162b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint-test.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ jobs:
         run: invoke benchmark
 
       - name: sphinx build 🐪
-        run: invoke doc
+        run: invoke docbuild
 
       - name: check-manifest 📰
         run: check-manifest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 7d3054a..2155667 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ jobs:
           pip install .[dev] build twine
 
       - name: Build documentation with Sphinx 🐪
-        run: invoke doc
+        run: invoke docbuild
 
       - name: Deploy documentation 🚀
         uses: JamesIves/github-pages-deploy-action@4.1.5
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index c573ae6..5f126e6 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -79,10 +79,14 @@ The relevant files are in `docs/`:
 - `index.md`: Landing documentation page. It includes the `README.md`.
 - `reference.md`: Generates API documentation for `content` and `encoders` modules using [sphinx.ext.autodoc](https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/extensions/autodoc.html).
 
-The documentation can be build locally using
+To build the documentation in development, with live reload at http://127.0.0.1:8000/, run:
 
 ```
 invoke doc
 ```
 
-The HTML pages will be generated in `_build`.
+To build the documentation once into the `_build` folder, run:
+
+```
+invoke docbuild
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index c2cc8ce..7d4d8d6 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ install_requires =
 	orjson
 	h5py >= 3
 	tifffile
+	typing-extensions
 
 [options.extras_require]
 fastapi = 
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ dev =
 	pytest-tornado
 	sphinx
 	sphinx-argparse
+	sphinx-autobuild
 	h5grove[tornado]
 	types-contextvars
 	types-dataclasses
diff --git a/tasks.py b/tasks.py
index 47e5714..8e851e7 100644
--- a/tasks.py
+++ b/tasks.py
@@ -43,8 +43,16 @@ def test(c, verbose=False, keyword="", cov_lines=False):
 
 
 @task
-def doc(c):
+def docbuild(c):
     """Sphinx build"""
     result = c.run(f"{sys.executable} -m sphinx -W -b html docs _build")
     if result.exited != 0:
         raise SystemExit(result.exited)
+
+
+@task
+def doc(c):
+    """Sphinx autobuild"""
+    result = c.run(f"{sys.executable} -m sphinx_autobuild -W -b html docs _build")
+    if result.exited != 0:
+        raise SystemExit(result.exited)