diff --git a/build.php b/build.php
index 39115f9..1b893ad 100644
--- a/build.php
+++ b/build.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ $exclude_paths = [
     "build",     // dir for build zip files
     "build/*",
     "build.*",
+    "vuemode.sh",
     "amd/src",
     "amd/src/*",
     ".git",
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index b12fd54..9f52a0a 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,30 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 SCRIPTDIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
 WD=`pwd`
+# get the current vuejs mode
+VUEMODE=`$SCRIPTDIR/vuemode.sh query`
+if [[ $? -eq 1 ]]; then
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# switch vuejs to prod mode
+$SCRIPTDIR/vuemode.sh prod
+
+# run the grunt script in the scripts working directory 
+# so we can be sure all javascript is properly built from the most recent source
+cd $SCRIPTDIR
+grunt amd
 
 # run the build php script
 php ${SCRIPTDIR}/build.php $@
 
+if [[ "$VUEMODE" == "dev" ]]; then
+  # switch vuejs vack to original mode
+  $SCRIPTDIR/vuemode.sh $VUEMODE
+
+  # re-do the grunt compiling
+  grunt amd
+fi
+
 # return to the working directory
 cd $WD
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vuemode.sh b/vuemode.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..01ecedf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vuemode.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+SCRIPTPATH="$( cd -- "$(dirname "$0")" >/dev/null 2>&1 ; pwd -P )"
+VUESRC="$SCRIPTPATH/amd/src/vue"
+VUEBUILD="$SCRIPTPATH/amd/build/vue"
+VUEPROD="$SCRIPTPATH/amd/src/vue/prod"
+VUEDEV="$SCRIPTPATH/amd/src/vue/dev"
+
+VUEJS_MD5=($(md5sum $VUESRC/vue.js))
+VUEPROD_MD5=($(md5sum $VUEPROD/vue.js))
+VUEDEV_MD5=($(md5sum $VUEDEV/vue.js))
+
+if [[ "$VUEJS_MD5" == "$VUEDEV_MD5" ]]; then
+  MODE="dev"
+elif [[ "$VUEJS_MD5" == "$VUEPROD_MD5" ]]; then
+  MODE="prod"
+elif [[ "$2" != "-f" && "$1" != "query" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: $VUELINK is not a a copy of either ../vue/vue-dev.js or ../vue/vue-prod.js" 
+  echo "Maybe you manually changed it? Use -f to force overwrite in this case"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# SINCE the production version of vue.js s already minified, we may get away with simply copying it 
+# to the build directory
+if [ "$1" == "dev" ]; then
+  cp $VUEDEV/vue.js $VUEBUILD/vue.min.js
+  cp $VUEDEV/vue.js $VUESRC/vue.js
+  rm $VUEBUILD/vue.min.js.map 2>/dev/null
+elif [ "$1" == "prod" ]; then
+  cp $VUEPROD/vue.js $VUEBUILD/vue.min.js
+  cp $VUEPROD/vue.js $VUESRC/vue.js
+  rm $VUEBUILD/vue.min.js.map 2>/dev/null
+elif [ "$1" == "query" ]; then
+  echo $MODE
+else
+  echo "Switch VueJS between development and production mode"
+  echo "Usage:"
+  echo "$SCRIPTNAME <dev|prod|query> [-f]"
+fi