diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 564ab81..316a9c7 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 export(accountInfo)
 export(accounts)
+export(appDependencies)
 export(applications)
 export(deployApp)
 export(removeAccount)
diff --git a/R/dependencies.R b/R/dependencies.R
index e39b602..dd7b20c 100644
--- a/R/dependencies.R
+++ b/R/dependencies.R
@@ -1,7 +1,38 @@
 
-# detect all package dependencies for an application (recursively discovers
-# dependencies for all .R files in the app directory)
-appDependencies <- function(appDir) {
+
+#' Detect Application Dependencies
+#' 
+#' Recursively detect all package dependencies for an application. This function
+#' parses all .R files in the applicaition directory to determine what packages 
+#' the application depends on; and for each of those packages what other 
+#' packages they depend on.
+#' @param appDir Directory containing application. Defaults to current working 
+#'   directory.
+#' @return Chracter vector with a list of recursive package dependencies for the
+#'   application.
+#' @details
+#' Dependencies are determined by parsing application source code and looking
+#' for calls to \code{library}, \code{require}, \code{::}, and \code{:::}.
+#' 
+#' If your application has a package dependency that is not detected you can
+#' ensure that it is detected by inserting a call to \code{library} or 
+#' \code{require} with the appropriate package(s).
+#' 
+#' Recursive dependencies are detected by examining the \code{Depends}, 
+#' \code{Imports}, \code{LinkingTo}, and \code{Suggests} fields of the 
+#' packages immediately dependend on by the application.
+#' @examples
+#' \dontrun{
+#' 
+#' # dependencies for the app in the current working dir
+#' appDependencies()
+#' 
+#' # dependencies for an app in another directory
+#' appDependencies("~/projects/shiny/app1")
+#' }
+#' @seealso \link[shinyapps:shinyappsPackages]{Using Packages with ShinyApps}
+#' @export
+appDependencies <- function(appDir = getwd()) {
   
   # first get the packages referred to in source code
   pkgs <- character()
diff --git a/R/deployApp.R b/R/deployApp.R
index e54801a..4df720e 100644
--- a/R/deployApp.R
+++ b/R/deployApp.R
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 #'   
 #'   For details on options that affect the behavior of \code{deployApp} see the
 #'   article on \link[shinyapps:shinyappsOptions]{package options}.
-#' @param appDir Directory containing application source code. Defaults to 
+#' @param appDir Directory containing application. Defaults to 
 #'   current working directory.
 #' @param appName Name of application (names must be unique with ShinyApps 
 #'   accounts). Defaults to the base name of the specified \code{appDir}.
diff --git a/man/appDependencies.Rd b/man/appDependencies.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10c37e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/appDependencies.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+\name{appDependencies}
+\alias{appDependencies}
+\title{Detect Application Dependencies}
+\usage{
+  appDependencies(appDir = getwd())
+}
+\arguments{
+  \item{appDir}{Directory containing application. Defaults
+  to current working directory.}
+}
+\value{
+  Chracter vector with a list of recursive package
+  dependencies for the application.
+}
+\description{
+  Recursively detect all package dependencies for an
+  application. This function parses all .R files in the
+  applicaition directory to determine what packages the
+  application depends on; and for each of those packages
+  what other packages they depend on.
+}
+\details{
+  Dependencies are determined by parsing application source
+  code and looking for calls to \code{library},
+  \code{require}, \code{::}, and \code{:::}.
+
+  If your application has a package dependency that is not
+  detected you can ensure that it is detected by inserting
+  a call to \code{library} or \code{require} with the
+  appropriate package(s).
+
+  Recursive dependencies are detected by examining the
+  \code{Depends}, \code{Imports}, \code{LinkingTo}, and
+  \code{Suggests} fields of the packages immediately
+  dependend on by the application.
+}
+\examples{
+\dontrun{
+
+# dependencies for the app in the current working dir
+appDependencies()
+
+# dependencies for an app in another directory
+appDependencies("~/projects/shiny/app1")
+}
+}
+\seealso{
+  \link[shinyapps:shinyappsPackages]{Using Packages with
+  ShinyApps}
+}
+
diff --git a/man/deployApp.Rd b/man/deployApp.Rd
index 44af865..340f212 100644
--- a/man/deployApp.Rd
+++ b/man/deployApp.Rd
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
     quiet = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
-  \item{appDir}{Directory containing application source
-  code. Defaults to current working directory.}
+  \item{appDir}{Directory containing application. Defaults
+  to current working directory.}
 
   \item{appName}{Name of application (names must be unique
   with ShinyApps accounts). Defaults to the base name of
diff --git a/man/packages.Rd b/man/packages.Rd
index 58859c6..f3bbd07 100644
--- a/man/packages.Rd
+++ b/man/packages.Rd
@@ -4,17 +4,30 @@
 \title{Using Packages with ShinyApps}
 
 \description{
-description
+Applications deployed to ShinyApps can depend on any package available on \href{http://cran.rstudio.com/}{CRAN} as well as any package hosted in a public \href{https://www.github.com}{GitHub} repository.
+
+When an application is \link[shinyapps:deployApp]{deployed} it's source code is scanned for dependencies using the \code{\link{appDependencies}} function. The list of dependencies is sent to the ShinyApps service along with the application source code and these dependencies are then installed alongside the application.
 }
 
-\details{
-details
+\section{CRAN Packages}{
+When sastisfying CRAN package dependencies, the ShinyApps service will build the exact versions of packages that were installed on the system from which the application is deployed.
+
+If a locally installed package was not obtained from CRAN (e.g. was installed from R-Forge) and as a result doesn't have a version that matches a version previously published to CRAN then an error will occur. It's therefore important that you run against packages installed directly from CRAN in your local configuration.
 }
 
-\examples{
-\dontrun{
+\section{GitHub Packages}{
+It's also possible to depend on packages hosted in public GitHub repositories, so long as they are installed via the \link[devtools:install_github]{install_github} function from the \pkg{devtools} package. 
+
+This works because \code{install_github} records the exact Github commit that was installed locally, making it possible to download and install the same source code on the ShinyApps service. 
 
-library(plyr)
+Note that in order for this to work correctly you need to install the very latest version of \code{devtools} from Github. You can do this as follows:
+
+\preformatted{
+library(devtools)
+install_github("devtools", "hadley")
 }
 }
 
+\seealso{
+\code{\link{appDependencies}}
+}