diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4c9d994..72acac9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 build/
 out/
 
+compile_commands.json
+
 # this is created when using Conan
 CMakeUserPresets.json
 
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 13b575d..1f46feb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
 endif ()
 
 set(TOWNENGINE_TARGET townengine CACHE INTERNAL "")
-set(TOWNENGINE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 
 option(TOWNENGINE_HOT_RELOAD "Enable hot reloading support" TRUE)
 add_compile_options($<$<BOOL:${TOWNENGINE_HOT_RELOAD}>:-fPIC>)
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ set(TOWNENGINE_SOURCE_FILES
 
         ${SYSTEM_SOURCE_FILES})
 
-list(TRANSFORM TOWNENGINE_SOURCE_FILES PREPEND ${TOWNENGINE_DIR}/)
+list(TRANSFORM TOWNENGINE_SOURCE_FILES PREPEND ${TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR}/)
 
 # base engine code, reused for games and tools
 if (TOWNENGINE_HOT_RELOAD)
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ if (TOWNENGINE_HOT_RELOAD)
 else ()
         add_library(${TOWNENGINE_TARGET} STATIC ${TOWNENGINE_SOURCE_FILES})
 endif ()
-source_group(TREE ${TOWNENGINE_DIR} FILES ${TOWNENGINE_SOURCE_FILES})
+source_group(TREE ${TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR} FILES ${TOWNENGINE_SOURCE_FILES})
 
 set_target_properties(${TOWNENGINE_TARGET} PROPERTIES
                                            C_STANDARD 11
@@ -176,11 +176,11 @@ function(include_deps target)
                 third-party/stb
                 third-party/x-watcher)
 
-        list(TRANSFORM THIRD_PARTY_INCLUDES PREPEND ${TOWNENGINE_DIR}/)
+        list(TRANSFORM THIRD_PARTY_INCLUDES PREPEND ${TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR}/)
         target_include_directories(${target} SYSTEM PRIVATE ${THIRD_PARTY_INCLUDES})
 
         # allow access to headers from any point in source tree
-        target_include_directories(${target} PRIVATE ${TOWNENGINE_DIR})
+        target_include_directories(${target} PRIVATE ${TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR})
 endfunction()
 
 
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ function(use_townengine target sources output_directory data_dir)
                 target_link_libraries(${target}_game PUBLIC SDL2::SDL2)
 
                 # launcher binary, loads game and engine shared library
-                add_executable(${target}_app ${TOWNENGINE_DIR}/townengine/null.c)
+                add_executable(${target}_app ${TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR}/townengine/null.c)
                 set_target_properties(${target}_app PROPERTIES
                                                     OUTPUT_NAME launcher
                                                     LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${output_directory})
@@ -230,13 +230,13 @@ function(use_townengine target sources output_directory data_dir)
         link_deps(${target}_app)
         target_link_libraries(${target}_app PUBLIC ${TOWNENGINE_TARGET})
         set_target_properties(${target}_app PROPERTIES
-                                        RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${output_directory})
+                                            RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${output_directory})
 
         # copy dlls for baby windows
         add_custom_command(TARGET ${target}_app POST_BUILD
-                COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy -t $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${target}_app>
-                                                    $<TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS:${target}_app>
-                COMMAND_EXPAND_LISTS)
+                           COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy -t $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${target}_app>
+                                                               $<TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS:${target}_app>
+                           COMMAND_EXPAND_LISTS)
 
         if (UNIX)
                 # create a bootstrapping script
@@ -261,6 +261,11 @@ if (${CMAKE_PROJECT_NAME} MATCHES townengine)
         add_subdirectory(apps/testgame)
 endif ()
 
+# move compie_commands.json into root directory so that it plays nicer with editors
+add_custom_command(TARGET ${TOWNENGINE_TARGET} POST_BUILD
+                   COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/compile_commands.json
+                                                                 ${TOWNENGINE_ROOT_DIR})
+
 # zip up assets
 # currently, you must run cmake from the project root dir for this to work correctly
 #file(ARCHIVE_CREATE OUTPUT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/data.${PACKAGE_EXTENSION}