diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8624131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+source .venv/bin/activate
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bda312d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+include *.mk
+
+# add additional targets here
diff --git a/Makefile-common.mk b/Makefile-common.mk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e5bc91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile-common.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+MAKEFLAGS += --warn-undefined-variables
+SHELL = /bin/bash -o pipefail
+.DEFAULT_GOAL := help
+.PHONY: help install clean clean-env
+
+## display help message
+help:
+	@awk '/^##.*$$/,/^[~\/\.0-9a-zA-Z_-]+:/' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | awk '!(NR%2){print $$0p}{p=$$0}' | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?##"}; {printf "\033[36m%-20s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}' | sort
+
+venv ?= .venv
+pip := $(venv)/bin/pip
+
+$(pip): .python-version
+# create venv using system python even when another venv is active
+	PATH=$${PATH#$${VIRTUAL_ENV}/bin:} python3 -m venv --clear $(venv)
+	$(venv)/bin/python --version
+
+$(venv): requirements.txt $(pip)
+	$(pip) install -r requirements.txt
+	$(pip) install -e .
+	$(pip) install -U lbforaging rware
+	touch $(venv)
+
+## delete the venv
+clean-env:
+	rm -rf $(venv)
+
+## clean pycache and log files
+clean:
+	@echo "Cleaning up log files, __pycache__ folders, and .pyc files..."
+	find . -name '*.log' -type f -delete
+	find . -name '__pycache__' -type d -exec rm -r {} +
+	find . -name '*.pyc' -type f -delete
+	@echo "Cleanup complete."
+
+## create venv and install this package
+install: $(venv)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9ae4c44..662e40f 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ hydra-submitit-launcher==1.2.0
 hydra-ax-sweeper==1.1.5
 imageio==2.9.0
 munch==2.5.0
+numpy==1.19.5
+scipy==1.10.1
+matplotlib==3.6.3
+gym==0.21.0
+contourpy==1.1.1
 pandas==1.2.4
-pytorch==1.8.*
+torch==1.8.*
 pyyaml==5.4.1
 stable-baselines3[extra]>=0.11.0,<=1.1.0a3