diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a12e980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# phase-memory development and install targets
+ROOT := $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+
+.DEFAULT_GOAL := help
+
+.PHONY: help install install-editable check test
+
+help:
+	@echo "phase-memory make targets"
+	@echo ""
+	@echo "  make install          # pip install this package (user/site)"
+	@echo "  make install-editable # editable install for local development"
+	@echo "  make check            # verify import and print version"
+	@echo "  make test             # run pytest"
+	@echo ""
+	@echo "For ops-warden integration, prefer: cd ../ops-warden && make install-all"
+
+install-editable:
+	uv pip install -e "$(ROOT)"
+
+install: install-editable
+
+check:
+	@PYTHONPATH="$(ROOT)src" python3 -c "import phase_memory; print('phase-memory', phase_memory.__version__, 'ok')"
+
+test:
+	PYTHONPATH="$(ROOT)src" python3 -m pytest
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7322f9d..22b8047 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,7 +30,14 @@ Adjacent repositories own nearby but separate concerns:
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```bash
-python3 -m pytest
+make test
+```
+
+Install for local development or ops-warden integration:
+
+```bash
+make install-editable
+# or from ops-warden: make install-all
 ```
 
 The default test suite uses only deterministic local fixtures.