diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index b4058d2d..bcb19b9c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ COPY go.mod .
 COPY go.sum .
 RUN go mod download
 COPY . .
-RUN ./_do_gen_assets
-RUN ./_do_build_server
+RUN GOOS=linux go build -o gonic cmd/gonic/gonic.go
 
 FROM alpine:3.13.1
 RUN apk add -U --no-cache \
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ RUN apk add -U --no-cache \
   ca-certificates \
   tzdata \
   tini
+
 COPY --from=builder \
   /usr/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 \
   /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 \
diff --git a/Dockerfile.debug b/Dockerfile.debug
index c7c49950..d5f31be6 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.debug
+++ b/Dockerfile.debug
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:experimental
 
-FROM golang:1.14-alpine AS builder
+FROM golang:1.16-alpine AS builder
 RUN apk add -U --no-cache \
     build-base \
     ca-certificates \
diff --git a/Dockerfile.dev b/Dockerfile.dev
index e32230cc..0f7a6e85 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.dev
+++ b/Dockerfile.dev
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:experimental
 
-FROM golang:1.15-alpine AS builder
+FROM golang:1.16-alpine AS builder
 RUN apk add -U --no-cache \
   build-base \
   ca-certificates \
diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
deleted file mode 100644
index cc28b88e..00000000
--- a/TODO
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-- gorm v2
-  - preload joins
-	- insert or ignore
-  - bulk inserts (eg. track_genres, album_genres, playlist stuff?)
-- db package with queries encapsulated 
-- add newlines
-- scanner tests and refactor
diff --git a/_do_build_server b/_do_build_server
deleted file mode 100755
index 3cf8d07c..00000000
--- a/_do_build_server
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# using sh, is run from alpine
-
-go build -o gonic cmd/gonic/main.go
diff --git a/_do_bump_version b/_do_bump_version
deleted file mode 100755
index 4771a613..00000000
--- a/_do_bump_version
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-# safety checks
-if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
-    echo "usage: $0 <major|minor|patch>" >&2
-    exit 1
-fi
-if [[ "$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)" != 'master' ]]; then
-    echo "not on the master branch" >&2
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-# get latest and check if clean
-git pull
-if [[ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]]; then
-    echo "working directory is dirty" >&2
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-# get the current verison from last git tag into array and
-# inc the provided part
-semver_expression='s/^v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+).*$/\1 \2 \3/'
-version=( $(git describe --tags | sed -E -e "$semver_expression" ) )
-case "$1" in
-    major)
-        ((version[0]++))
-	version[1]=0
-	version[2]=0
-        ;;
-    minor)
-        ((version[1]++))
-	version[2]=0
-        ;;
-    patch)
-        ((version[2]++))
-        ;;
-    *)
-        echo 'please provide a valid version in increment' >&2
-        exit 1
-esac
-new_version="v${version[0]}.${version[1]}.${version[2]}"
-
-# write version to go
-mkdir version >/dev/null 2>&1
-cat > version/version.go  << EOL
-// generated by \`_do_bump_version\` script in project root
-// $(date)
-// DO NOT EDIT
-
-package version
-
-const NAME = "gonic"
-const NAME_UPPER = "GONIC"
-const NAME_EMBED = "gonicembed"
-const VERSION = "$new_version"
-EOL
-
-./_do_gen_handler_tests
-
-# create and tag single commit with a change to the version file
-git commit --all --file - << EOL
-bump to $new_version
-
-generated by \`_do_bump_version\` script in project root
-EOL
-git tag "$new_version"
-
-echo "commited and tagged"
-echo "remember to push tags"
diff --git a/_do_gen_assets b/_do_gen_assets
deleted file mode 100755
index b6173869..00000000
--- a/_do_gen_assets
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-# using sh, is run from alpine
-
-embed_bin_path=/tmp/gonicembed
-assets_path=server/assets
-
-# only build once for some slightly faster live page reloading
-test ! -e "$embed_bin_path" && go build \
-    -o "$embed_bin_path" \
-    cmd/gonicembed/main.go
-
-find $assets_path/ \
-    -type f \
-    ! -name '*.go' \
-    -exec "$embed_bin_path" \
-        -out-path $assets_path/assets.gen.go \
-        -package-name assets \
-        -assets-var-name Bytes \
-        -asset-path-prefix $assets_path/ \
-        {} +
diff --git a/_do_run_server b/_do_run_server
deleted file mode 100755
index c9a435d4..00000000
--- a/_do_run_server
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-./_do_gen_assets
-go run cmd/gonic/main.go $@
diff --git a/_do_run_server_live b/_do_run_server_live
deleted file mode 100755
index 728b63c0..00000000
--- a/_do_run_server_live
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-if ! command -v 'entr' > /dev/null; then
-    echo 'please install `entr`' >&2
-    echo 'http://eradman.com/entrproject/' >&2
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-find server/assets/ -not -name '*_gen.go' | entr -r ./_do_run_server $@
diff --git a/cmd/gonic/main.go b/cmd/gonic/gonic.go
similarity index 92%
rename from cmd/gonic/main.go
rename to cmd/gonic/gonic.go
index 4df174cd..97920e30 100644
--- a/cmd/gonic/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gonic/gonic.go
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/oklog/run"
 	"github.com/peterbourgon/ff"
 
+	"go.senan.xyz/gonic"
 	"go.senan.xyz/gonic/server"
 	"go.senan.xyz/gonic/server/db"
-	"go.senan.xyz/gonic/version"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	set := flag.NewFlagSet(version.NAME, flag.ExitOnError)
+	set := flag.NewFlagSet(gonic.Version, flag.ExitOnError)
 	confListenAddr := set.String("listen-addr", "0.0.0.0:4747", "listen address (optional)")
 	confMusicPath := set.String("music-path", "", "path to music")
 	confPodcastPath := set.String("podcast-path", "", "path to podcasts")
@@ -44,17 +44,17 @@ func main() {
 	if err := ff.Parse(set, os.Args[1:],
 		ff.WithConfigFileFlag("config-path"),
 		ff.WithConfigFileParser(ff.PlainParser),
-		ff.WithEnvVarPrefix(version.NAME_UPPER),
+		ff.WithEnvVarPrefix(gonic.NameUpper),
 	); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("error parsing args: %v\n", err)
 	}
 
 	if *confShowVersion {
-		fmt.Println(version.VERSION)
+		fmt.Println(gonic.Version)
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 
-	log.Printf("starting gonic %s\n", version.VERSION)
+	log.Printf("starting gonic %s\n", gonic.Version)
 	log.Printf("provided config\n")
 	set.VisitAll(func(f *flag.Flag) {
 		log.Printf("    %-15s %s\n", f.Name, f.Value)
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	proxyPrefixExpr := regexp.MustCompile(`^\/*(.*?)\/*$`)
 	*confProxyPrefix = proxyPrefixExpr.ReplaceAllString(*confProxyPrefix, `/$1`)
-	server := server.New(server.Options{
+	server, err := server.New(server.Options{
 		DB:             db,
 		MusicPath:      *confMusicPath,
 		CachePath:      cacheDirAudio,
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ func main() {
 		HTTPLog:        *confHTTPLog,
 		JukeboxEnabled: *confJukeboxEnabled,
 	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error creating server: %v\n", err)
+	}
 
 	var g run.Group
 	g.Add(server.StartHTTP(*confListenAddr))
diff --git a/cmd/gonicembed/main.go b/cmd/gonicembed/main.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 440371b4..00000000
--- a/cmd/gonicembed/main.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,156 +0,0 @@
-package main
-
-import (
-	"flag"
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"log"
-	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
-
-	"github.com/peterbourgon/ff"
-
-	"go.senan.xyz/gonic/version"
-)
-
-type errWriter struct {
-	w   io.Writer
-	err error
-}
-
-func (ew *errWriter) write(buf []byte) {
-	if ew.err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	_, ew.err = ew.w.Write(buf)
-}
-
-func (ew *errWriter) printf(format string, a ...interface{}) {
-	if ew.err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	_, ew.err = fmt.Fprintf(ew.w, format, a...)
-}
-
-func (ew *errWriter) println(a ...interface{}) {
-	if ew.err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	_, ew.err = fmt.Fprintln(ew.w, a...)
-}
-
-// once i had this written with ~100% text/template but it was very
-// slow. now this thing is not nice on the eyes or easy to change
-// but it's pretty fast. which i needed it to for live reloading stuff
-
-const (
-	byteCols = 24
-	// ** begin file template
-	fileHeader = `// file generated with embed tool; DO NOT EDIT.
-// %s
-package %s
-import "time"
-type EmbeddedAsset struct {
-	ModTime time.Time
-	Bytes []byte
-}
-var %s = map[string]*EmbeddedAsset{`
-	fileFooter = `
-}`
-	// ** begin asset template
-	assetHeader = `
-%q: &EmbeddedAsset{
-	ModTime: time.Unix(%d, 0),
-	Bytes: []byte{
-`
-	assetFooter = `}},`
-)
-
-type config struct {
-	packageName     string
-	outPath         string
-	tagList         string
-	assetsVarName   string
-	assetPathPrefix string
-}
-
-func processAsset(c *config, ew *errWriter, path string) error {
-	info, err := os.Stat(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("stating asset: %w", err)
-	}
-	if info.IsDir() {
-		return nil
-	}
-	data, err := os.Open(filepath.Clean(path))
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("opening asset: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer data.Close()
-	ew.write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(assetHeader,
-		strings.TrimPrefix(path, c.assetPathPrefix),
-		info.ModTime().Unix(),
-	)))
-	buffer := make([]byte, byteCols)
-	for {
-		read, err := data.Read(buffer)
-		for i := 0; i < read; i++ {
-			ew.printf("0x%02x,", buffer[i])
-		}
-		if err != nil {
-			break
-		}
-		ew.println()
-	}
-	ew.write([]byte(assetFooter))
-	return ew.err
-}
-
-func processAssets(c *config, files []string) error {
-	out, err := os.Create(c.outPath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("creating out path: %w", err)
-	}
-	ew := &errWriter{w: out}
-	if c.tagList != "" {
-		c.tagList = fmt.Sprintf("+build %s", c.tagList)
-	}
-	ew.write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(fileHeader,
-		c.tagList,
-		c.packageName,
-		c.assetsVarName,
-	)))
-	defer ew.write([]byte(fileFooter))
-	for _, path := range files {
-		if err := processAsset(c, ew, path); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("processing asset: %w", err)
-		}
-	}
-	return ew.err
-}
-
-func main() {
-	set := flag.NewFlagSet(version.NAME_EMBED, flag.ExitOnError)
-	outPath := set.String("out-path", "", "generated file's path (required)")
-	pkgName := set.String("package-name", "assets", "generated file's package name")
-	tagList := set.String("tag-list", "", "generated file's build tag list")
-	assetsVarName := set.String("assets-var-name", "Assets", "generated assets var name")
-	assetPathPrefix := set.String("asset-path-prefix", "", "generated assets map key prefix")
-	if err := ff.Parse(set, os.Args[1:]); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("error parsing args: %v\n", err)
-	}
-	if *outPath == "" {
-		log.Fatalln("invalid arguments. see -h")
-	}
-	c := &config{
-		packageName:     *pkgName,
-		outPath:         *outPath,
-		tagList:         *tagList,
-		assetsVarName:   *assetsVarName,
-		assetPathPrefix: *assetPathPrefix,
-	}
-	if err := processAssets(c, set.Args()); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("error processing files: %v\n", err)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/_do_gen_handler_tests b/gen_handler_tests
similarity index 99%
rename from _do_gen_handler_tests
rename to gen_handler_tests
index 8b8c6e5d..a2951383 100755
--- a/_do_gen_handler_tests
+++ b/gen_handler_tests
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ test_cache_path="$(mktemp -d)"
 
 mkdir "$test_music_path" 2>/dev/null
 echo "waiting for server to start"
-./_do_run_server \
+go run cmd/gonic/gonic.go \
     -music-path "$test_music_path" \
     -podcast-path "$test_podcast_path" \
     -cache-path "$test_cache_path" \
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9427ea5e..f336c448 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 module go.senan.xyz/gonic
 
+go 1.16
+
 require (
 	github.com/Masterminds/goutils v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/Masterminds/semver v1.5.0 // indirect
@@ -39,5 +41,3 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20180628173108-788fd7840127 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/gormigrate.v1 v1.6.0
 )
-
-go 1.15
diff --git a/version.go b/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..423f8b18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals,golint,stylecheck
+package gonic
+
+import (
+	_ "embed"
+)
+
+//go:embed version.txt
+var Version string
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26acbf08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.12.2
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 3556eee5..00000000
--- a/version/version.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-// generated by `_do_bump_version` script in project root
-// Tue 20 Apr 2021 23:16:59 IST
-// DO NOT EDIT
-
-package version
-
-const NAME = "gonic"
-const NAME_UPPER = "GONIC"
-const NAME_EMBED = "gonicembed"
-const VERSION = "v0.12.3"