diff --git a/devEnv/deploy.mjs b/devEnv/deploy.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea1bdb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/devEnv/deploy.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+import path from 'path'
+import {writeFileSync} from 'fs'
+
+/**
+ * This script publishes all packages to npm.
+ *
+ * It assigns the same version number to all packages (like lerna's fixed mode).
+ **/
+// It's written in .mjs because I kept running into issues with zx+typescript
+;(async function () {
+  // our packages will check for this env variable to make sure their
+  // prepublish script is only called from the `$ cd /path/to/monorepo; yarn run deploy`
+  process.env.THEATRE_IS_PUBLISHING = true
+
+  await $`yarn run typecheck`
+
+  syncVersionNumbers()
+
+  return
+
+  await Promise.all(
+    [
+      'theatre',
+      '@theatre/dataverse',
+      '@theatre/dataverse-react',
+      '@theatre/plugin-r3f',
+    ].map((workspace) => $`yarn workspace ${workspace} run build`),
+  )
+
+  await Promise.all(
+    [
+      '@theatre/core',
+      '@theatre/studio',
+      '@theatre/dataverse',
+      '@theatre/dataverse-react',
+      '@theatre/plugin-r3f',
+    ].map(
+      (workspace) => $`yarn workspace ${workspace} npm publish --access public`,
+    ),
+  )
+})()
+
+function syncVersionNumbers() {
+  /**
+   * All these packages will have the same version from monorepo/package.json
+   */
+  const workspaces = [
+    'theatre',
+    'theatre/core',
+    'theatre/studio',
+    'packages/dataverse',
+    'packages/dataverse-react',
+    'packages/plugin-r3f',
+  ]
+
+  const monorepoVersion = require('../package.json').version
+
+  console.log(
+    `sync-versions: Setting versions of all packages to ${monorepoVersion}`,
+  )
+
+  for (const packagePathRelativeFromRoot of workspaces) {
+    const pathToPackage = path.resolve(
+      __dirname,
+      '../',
+      packagePathRelativeFromRoot,
+      './package.json',
+    )
+
+    const original = require(pathToPackage)
+
+    if (original.version !== monorepoVersion) {
+      console.log(`Setting version of ${original.name} to ${monorepoVersion}`)
+
+      const newJson = {...original}
+      newJson.version = monorepoVersion
+      writeFileSync(
+        path.join(pathToPackage),
+        JSON.stringify(newJson, undefined, 2),
+      )
+    }
+  }
+  console.log('sync-versions: Done.')
+}
diff --git a/devEnv/ensurePublishing.js b/devEnv/ensurePublishing.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..256da9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/devEnv/ensurePublishing.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+if (process.env.THEATRE_IS_PUBLISHING !== 'true') {
+  throw Error(
+    `This script may run only when the "deploy" command in monorepo's root is running.`,
+  )
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2f4df8f..6caa45b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "theatre-monorepo",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "workspaces": [
     "packages/*",
     "theatre"
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
     "typecheck": "tsc --build ./devEnv/typecheck-all-projects/tsconfig.all.json",
     "test": "jest",
     "postinstall": "husky install",
+    "deploy": "zx devEnv/deploy.mjs",
     "lint:all": "eslint . --ext ts,tsx --ignore-path=.gitignore --rulesdir ./devEnv/eslint/rules"
   },
   "lint-staged": {
@@ -38,7 +40,8 @@
     "lerna": "^4.0.0",
     "lint-staged": "^11.0.0",
     "prettier": "^2.3.1",
-    "typescript": "^4.3.2"
+    "typescript": "^4.3.2",
+    "zx": "^2.0.0"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "node-gyp": "^8.1.0"
diff --git a/packages/dataverse-react/package.json b/packages/dataverse-react/package.json
index 8b293d1..07539b9 100644
--- a/packages/dataverse-react/package.json
+++ b/packages/dataverse-react/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@theatre/dataverse-react",
-  "version": "1.0.0-dev.2",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "author": {
     "name": "Aria Minaei",
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
     "typecheck": "yarn run build",
     "build": "run-s build:ts build:js",
     "build:ts": "tsc --build ./tsconfig.json",
-    "build:js": "node -r esbuild-register ./devEnv/build.ts"
+    "build:js": "node -r esbuild-register ./devEnv/build.ts",
+    "prepublish": "node ../../devEnv/ensurePublishing.js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/jest": "^26.0.23",
diff --git a/packages/dataverse/package.json b/packages/dataverse/package.json
index 21388e9..7cb4cdb 100644
--- a/packages/dataverse/package.json
+++ b/packages/dataverse/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@theatre/dataverse",
-  "version": "1.0.0-dev.2",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "author": {
     "name": "Aria Minaei",
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
     "typecheck": "yarn run build",
     "build": "run-s build:ts build:js",
     "build:ts": "tsc --build ./tsconfig.json",
-    "build:js": "node -r esbuild-register ./devEnv/build.ts"
+    "build:js": "node -r esbuild-register ./devEnv/build.ts",
+    "prepublish": "node ../../devEnv/ensurePublishing.js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/jest": "^26.0.23",
diff --git a/packages/plugin-r3f/package.json b/packages/plugin-r3f/package.json
index 0f62e2d..9220acf 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-r3f/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-r3f/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@theatre/plugin-r3f",
-  "version": "1.0.0-dev.1",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "authors": [
     {
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@
   "scripts": {
     "prepack": "yarn run build",
     "typecheck": "yarn run build",
-    "build": "tsc --build ./tsconfig.json"
+    "build": "tsc --build ./tsconfig.json",
+    "prepublish": "node ../../devEnv/ensurePublishing.js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/jest": "^26.0.23",
diff --git a/theatre/core/package.json b/theatre/core/package.json
index 3e8f08e..7d82565 100644
--- a/theatre/core/package.json
+++ b/theatre/core/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@theatre/core",
-  "version": "0.4.0-dev.3",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "description": "Motion design editor for the web",
   "repository": {
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     "dist/index.d.ts"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "prepublish": "cd .. && yarn run ensure-publishing"
+    "prepublish": "node ../../devEnv/ensurePublishing.js"
   },
   "sideEffects": true,
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/theatre/devEnv/ensurePublishing.js b/theatre/devEnv/ensurePublishing.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 55983cf..0000000
--- a/theatre/devEnv/ensurePublishing.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-if (process.env.THEATRE_IS_PUBLISHING !== 'true') {
-  throw Error(
-    `This script may run only when the "deploy" command in root/theatre is running.`,
-  )
-}
diff --git a/theatre/package.json b/theatre/package.json
index aada9e9..fdbf1d9 100644
--- a/theatre/package.json
+++ b/theatre/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "theatre",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "0.4.0-dev.3",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "workspaces": [
     "./shared",
     "./core",
@@ -13,13 +13,7 @@
     "build:js:watch": "node -r esbuild-register devEnv/watch.ts",
     "build:dts": "run-s typecheck build:dts:bundle",
     "build:dts:bundle": "rollup -c devEnv/declarations-bundler/rollup.config.js",
-    "build": "run-p build:dts build:js",
-    "deploy": "cross-env-shell THEATRE_IS_PUBLISHING=true \"yarn run _deploy:steps\"",
-    "_deploy:steps": "run-s ensure-publishing update-versions build _deploy:core _deploy:studio",
-    "_deploy:core": "yarn workspace @theatre/core npm publish --access public",
-    "_deploy:studio": "yarn workspace @theatre/studio npm publish --access public",
-    "ensure-publishing": "node ./devEnv/ensurePublishing.js",
-    "update-versions": "node -r esbuild-register devEnv/updateVersions.ts"
+    "build": "run-p build:dts build:js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@babel/cli": "^7.14.3",
diff --git a/theatre/studio/package.json b/theatre/studio/package.json
index 41b947c..4c49883 100644
--- a/theatre/studio/package.json
+++ b/theatre/studio/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@theatre/studio",
-  "version": "0.4.0-dev.3",
+  "version": "0.4.0-dev.4",
   "license": "AGPL-3.0-only",
   "description": "Motion design editor for the web",
   "repository": {
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     "dist/index.d.ts"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "prepublish": "cd .. && yarn run ensure-publishing"
+    "prepublish": "node ../../devEnv/ensurePublishing.js"
   },
   "sideEffects": true,
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index b5f7a76..f35a5e5 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3957,6 +3957,23 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
+"@types/minimist@npm:^1.2.1":
+  version: 1.2.2
+  resolution: "@types/minimist@npm:1.2.2"
+  checksum: 8dd59cefa7be641b961ccfe65f6ff16aaa6735412f47d5c993543d4e92590465a0d728abc0dad36e4957d105a44357379adadbca4baaa2926427d4eb66d74d0d
+  languageName: node
+  linkType: hard
+
+"@types/node-fetch@npm:^2.5.10":
+  version: 2.5.12
+  resolution: "@types/node-fetch@npm:2.5.12"
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/node": "*"
+    form-data: ^3.0.0
+  checksum: f648728116a24b9b5abc117e08788ed859283548ed65d374dba333d4604a7e8d22934cb4dbe7d64498c5c7f04885d84a2dc11c9a4115d426c242e74fb2f2a6a6
+  languageName: node
+  linkType: hard
+
 "@types/node@npm:*":
   version: 14.14.37
   resolution: "@types/node@npm:14.14.37"
@@ -3978,6 +3995,13 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
+"@types/node@npm:^16.0":
+  version: 16.4.12
+  resolution: "@types/node@npm:16.4.12"
+  checksum: 4bac961fa0bfe72c4303ca7574c8a824d159f0e01c19671be649d97e54f26959f7545ed9693a18a5d19839c8c3b85019e41c6614ee11a1e59d7265ffa26050fc
+  languageName: node
+  linkType: hard
+
 "@types/normalize-package-data@npm:^2.4.0":
   version: 2.4.0
   resolution: "@types/normalize-package-data@npm:2.4.0"
@@ -16377,6 +16401,7 @@ fsevents@^1.2.7:
     node-gyp: ^8.1.0
     prettier: ^2.3.1
     typescript: ^4.3.2
+    zx: ^2.0.0
   languageName: unknown
   linkType: soft
 
@@ -17776,3 +17801,22 @@ fsevents@^1.2.7:
   checksum: fdd1e6caaecbb0c3b7e869064752ace7113a16eabca56ab2f8cae6b1a0588ead08662289b7b7dde6a550d9ddf30881af370292406ca0b37d6d5d78a93e7db2b2
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
+
+"zx@npm:^2.0.0":
+  version: 2.0.0
+  resolution: "zx@npm:2.0.0"
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/fs-extra": ^9.0.11
+    "@types/minimist": ^1.2.1
+    "@types/node": ^16.0
+    "@types/node-fetch": ^2.5.10
+    chalk: ^4.1.1
+    fs-extra: ^10.0.0
+    minimist: ^1.2.5
+    node-fetch: ^2.6.1
+    which: ^2.0.2
+  bin:
+    zx: zx.mjs
+  checksum: 5859c0c4326350f52fbb750fdd35264ed4983158fa06e6628103314ec6424d8536f9ec9fbf2fda981bb7187781af7c068998e9daf7cd5fa1440a1fe56a568c1a
+  languageName: node
+  linkType: hard