diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/Makefile
rename to docs/Makefile
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf8f73d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# NDSL docs
+
+This folder contains the NDSL documentation. For now, it is not automatically published. To build and view documentation locally,
+
+```bash
+make html
+```
+
+Then point your browser to the local html files in `_build/html` as mentioned in the build output.
+
+Be sure to include the `docs` extras when installing `NDSL`. The extra packages for docs are automatically included in the `develop` flavor.
diff --git a/docs/builddocs.sh b/docs/builddocs.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 3abe626a..00000000
--- a/docs/builddocs.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# exit immediately on error
-set -e
-
-# To avoid issues when calling the script from different directories
-# sets the directory to the location of the script
-cd $(dirname $0)
-
-# This short script builds both the doxygen and sphinx documentation
-
-# Define pretty colors
-YEL='\033[0;33m'
-GRN='\033[1;32m'
-NC='\033[0m'
-
-# Build sphinx documents
-cd sphinx_doc/
-make clean          # fixes occasional unexpected behavior
-make html
-
-echo ""
-echo -e "-- ${GRN}Building Docs Complete${NC} --"
-echo -e "See ${YEL}sphinx_doc/_build/html/${NC} for sphinx html files"
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/conf.py
rename to docs/conf.py
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/dace.rst b/docs/dace.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/dace.rst
rename to docs/dace.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/developer_guide.rst b/docs/developer_guide.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/developer_guide.rst
rename to docs/developer_guide.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/docker.rst b/docs/docker.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/docker.rst
rename to docs/docker.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/fortran_porting.rst b/docs/fortran_porting.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/fortran_porting.rst
rename to docs/fortran_porting.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/gt4py.rst b/docs/gt4py.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/gt4py.rst
rename to docs/gt4py.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/index.rst b/docs/index.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/index.rst
rename to docs/index.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/make.bat b/docs/make.bat
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/make.bat
rename to docs/make.bat
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/overview.rst b/docs/overview.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/overview.rst
rename to docs/overview.rst
diff --git a/docs/requirement_docs.txt b/docs/requirement_docs.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 02306dcc..00000000
--- a/docs/requirement_docs.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-recommonmark
-sphinx>=1.4
-sphinx-argparse
-sphinx_rtd_theme
-sphinx-gallery
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/static/ndsl_flow.png b/docs/static/ndsl_flow.png
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/static/ndsl_flow.png
rename to docs/static/ndsl_flow.png
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/static/ndsl_orchestration.png b/docs/static/ndsl_orchestration.png
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/static/ndsl_orchestration.png
rename to docs/static/ndsl_orchestration.png
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/test.rst b/docs/test.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/test.rst
rename to docs/test.rst
diff --git a/docs/sphinx_doc/users_guide.rst b/docs/users_guide.rst
similarity index 100%
rename from docs/sphinx_doc/users_guide.rst
rename to docs/users_guide.rst
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0b19d38e..746d23ce 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,15 +10,17 @@ def local_pkg(name: str, relative_path: str) -> str:
     path = f"{name} @ file://{Path(os.path.abspath(__file__)).parent / relative_path}"
     return path
 
-
-test_requirements = ["pytest", "pytest-subtests", "coverage"]
-develop_requirements = test_requirements + ["pre-commit"]
 demos_requirements = ["ipython", "ipykernel"]
+docs_requirements = ["recommonmark", "sphinx>=1.4", "sphinx-argparse", "sphinx_rtd_theme", "sphinx-gallery"]
+test_requirements = ["pytest", "pytest-subtests", "coverage"]
+
+develop_requirements = test_requirements + docs_requirements + ["pre-commit"]
 
 extras_requires = {
-    "test": test_requirements,
-    "develop": develop_requirements,
     "demos": demos_requirements,
+    "develop": develop_requirements,
+    "docs": docs_requirements,
+    "test": test_requirements,
 }
 
 requirements: List[str] = [