diff --git a/build/Rakefile b/build/Rakefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7132a453
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/Rakefile
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+require 'rubygems'
+
+HEADER = /((^\s*\/\/.*\n)+)/
+
+desc "rebuild the spectrum.js files for distribution"
+task :build do
+  begin
+    require 'closure-compiler'
+  rescue LoadError
+    puts "closure-compiler not found.\nInstall it by running 'gem install closure-compiler"
+    exit
+  end
+  source = File.read 'spectrum.js'
+  header = source.match(HEADER)
+  File.open('spectrum-min.js', 'w+') do |file|
+    file.write header[1].squeeze(' ') + Closure::Compiler.new.compress(source)
+  end
+end