diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 304a599..a13acf4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@
 
 locale/
 taur
+build/
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 947685b..ba474ae 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,14 +1,27 @@
-CXX       ?= g++
-PREFIX	  ?= /usr
-LOCALEDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/share/locale
-VARS  	  ?= -DENABLE_NLS=1
-
-VERSION    = 0.6.4
-BRANCH     = libalpm-test
-SRC 	   = $(sort $(wildcard src/*.cpp))
-OBJ 	   = $(SRC:.cpp=.o)
-LDFLAGS   := -L./src/fmt -L./src/cpr -lcpr -lalpm -lfmt -lidn2 -lssh2 -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpsl -lgssapi_krb5 -lzstd -lbrotlidec -lz
-CXXFLAGS  := -ggdb -pedantic -funroll-all-loops -march=native -isystem include -Wall -std=c++20 $(VARS) -DVERSION=\"$(VERSION)\" -DBRANCH=\"$(BRANCH)\" -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(LOCALEDIR)\"
+CXX       	?= g++
+PREFIX	  	?= /usr
+LOCALEDIR 	?= $(PREFIX)/share/locale
+VARS  	  	?= -DENABLE_NLS=1
+DEBUG 		?= 1
+
+VERSION    	 = 0.6.4
+BRANCH     	 = libalpm-test
+SRC 	   	 = $(sort $(wildcard src/*.cpp))
+OBJ 	   	 = $(SRC:.cpp=.o)
+LDFLAGS   	:= -lcpr -lalpm -lfmt -lidn2 -lssh2 -lcurl -lssl -lcrypto -lpsl -lgssapi_krb5 -lzstd -lbrotlidec -lz
+CXXFLAGS  	:= -funroll-all-loops -mtune=generic -march=native -isystem include -std=c++20 $(VARS) -DVERSION=\"$(VERSION)\" -DBRANCH=\"$(BRANCH)\" -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(LOCALEDIR)\"
+
+# https://stackoverflow.com/a/1079861
+# WAY easier way to build debug and release builds
+ifeq ($(DEBUG), 1)
+	BUILDDIR  = build/debug
+	CXXFLAGS := -ggdb -pedantic -Wall $(CXXFLAGS)
+else
+	BUILDDIR  = build/release
+	CXXFLAGS := -O3 $(CXXFLAGS)
+endif
+
+LDFLAGS  := -L./$(BUILDDIR)/fmt -L./$(BUILDDIR)/cpr $(LDFLAGS)
 
 is_cpr_installed = $(shell ldconfig -p | grep libcpr > /dev/null && echo -n yes)
 
@@ -19,37 +32,40 @@ ifneq ($(is_cpr_installed), yes)
         #git submodule init
         #git submodule update --init --recursive
         #git -C $@ checkout 3b15fa8
-	mkdir -p src/cpr
+	mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)/cpr
 	cmake -S $@ -B $@/build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCPR_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DCPR_USE_SYSTEM_CURL=OFF -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF
 	cmake --build $@/build --parallel
-	mv -f $@/build/lib/*.a src/cpr/
+	mv -f $@/build/lib/*.a $(BUILDDIR)/cpr
         # the absence of this one line didn't matter for a long time, despite it being critical, this caused toni to go mentally insane when trying to make changes to the way the project is being built.
 	mv -f $@/build/cpr_generated_includes/cpr/cprver.h include/cpr/
         #sudo cmake --install $@/build --prefix /usr
 endif
 
 fmt:
-ifeq ($(wildcard src/fmt/libfmt.a),)
-	make -C src/fmt
+ifeq ($(wildcard $(BUILDDIR)/fmt/libfmt.a),)
+	mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)/fmt
+	make -C src/fmt BUILDDIR=$(BUILDDIR)/fmt
 endif
 
 toml:
-ifeq ($(wildcard src/toml++/toml.o),)
-	make -C src/toml++
+ifeq ($(wildcard $(BUILDDIR)/toml++/toml.o),)
+	mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)/toml++
+	make -C src/toml++ BUILDDIR=$(BUILDDIR)/toml++
 endif
 
 locale:
 	scripts/make_mo.sh locale/
 
-taur: cpr fmt toml ${OBJ}
-	${CXX} $(OBJ) src/toml++/toml.o $(CPPFLAGS) -o $@ $(LDFLAGS)
+taur: cpr fmt toml $(OBJ)
+	mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)
+	$(CXX) $(OBJ) $(BUILDDIR)/toml++/toml.o -o $(BUILDDIR)/taur $(LDFLAGS)
 
 clean:
-	rm -rf taur $(OBJ) cpr/build
+	rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)/taur $(OBJ) cpr/build
 #	make -C src/fmt clean
 
 install: taur locale
-	install taur -Dm 755 -v $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/taur
+	install $(BUILDDIR)/taur -Dm 755 -v $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/taur
 	find locale -type f -exec install -Dm 755 "{}" "$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/share/{}" \;
 
 .PHONY: cpr taur clean fmt toml locale install all
diff --git a/src/fmt/Makefile b/src/fmt/Makefile
index 7e0e289..7decf23 100644
--- a/src/fmt/Makefile
+++ b/src/fmt/Makefile
@@ -14,9 +14,10 @@ fmt: format.cc os.cc
 	$(CXX) $(CXX_DEFINES) $(CXX_INCLUDES) $(CXX_FLAGS) -c os.cc -o os.cc.o
 	ar qc libfmt.a os.cc.o format.cc.o
 	ranlib libfmt.a
+	mv -f libfmt.a ../../$(BUILDDIR)/libfmt.a
 	#$(CXX) -fPIC -O3 -DNDEBUG -shared -Wl,-soname,libfmt.so.10 -o libfmt.so format.cc.o os.cc.o
 
 clean:
-	rm -f *.o *.so *.a
+	rm -f *.o *.so *.a ../../$(BUILDDIR)/fmt/.*a
 
 .PHONY: clean all fmt
diff --git a/src/toml++/Makefile b/src/toml++/Makefile
index 1e63abe..227d9a8 100644
--- a/src/toml++/Makefile
+++ b/src/toml++/Makefile
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ CPPFLAGS = -I../../include -std=c++20
 all: $(TARGET)
 
 $(TARGET):
-	${CXX} $(SRC) $(CPPFLAGS) -c -o $@
+	${CXX} $(SRC) $(CPPFLAGS) -c -o ../../$(BUILDDIR)/$@
 
 clean:
-	rm -rf $(TARGET)
+	rm -rf ../../$(BUILDDIR)/toml++/$(TARGET)
 
 .PHONY: $(TARGET) clean all