diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d5efd9008..f9bcd4f83 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,36 +10,49 @@ also short for "artifact".   It has nothing to do with the
 ## What's here and what isn't.
 
 So far the code has untested or under-tested implementations of:
-    * the ntor protocol
-    * the relay crypto algorithm
-    * parsing and encoding all the cell types (except for hs-related
+
+  * the ntor protocol
+  * the relay crypto algorithm
+  * parsing and encoding all the cell types (except for hs-related
        ones)
-    * parsing and validating ed25519 certificates
-    * parsing and validating router descriptors
+  * parsing and validating ed25519 certificates
+  * parsing and validating router descriptors
 
 Before I share it, I think it needs more work on:
-    * parsing the other kinds of network documents
-    * link authentication
-    * a sensible api for cell types
-    * a toy client that builds a circuit through the network
+
+  * parsing the other kinds of network documents
+  * link authentication
+  * a sensible api for cell types
+  * a toy client that builds a circuit through the network
       and uses it to exit.
 
 There is no support yet for:
-    * Actually connecting to the network in a reasonable way
-    * choosing paths through the network in a reasonable way
-    * doing anything with the network in a reasonable way
-    * actually building circuits
-    * creating network documents
-    * v2 onion service anything
-    * v3 onion service anything
-    * the directory protocol
-    * lots of optimizations that Tor does
-    * working with no_std
+
+  * Actually connecting to the network in a reasonable way
+  * choosing paths through the network in a reasonable way
+  * doing anything with the network in a reasonable way
+  * actually building circuits
+  * creating network documents
+  * v2 onion service anything
+  * v3 onion service anything
+  * the directory protocol
+  * lots of optimizations that Tor does
+  * working with no_std
 
 I do not plan to implement full versions of any of those before I
 share this code for more comment, though I might do a little.  Who
 knows?
 
+## What can I do?
+
+You can build this all with `cargo build`.
+
+You can run the tests, such as they are, with `cargo test`.
+
+You can make documentation with `cargo doc`.  I prefer
+`cargo doc --no-deps --document-private-items`, to include documentation for
+private members but not for dependencies.
+
 ## Caveat haxxor: what to watch out for
 
 This is a work in progress.  It doesn't "do Tor" yet, and what parts
@@ -72,33 +85,26 @@ lot by the time we're done.
 
 The current crates are:
 
-caret
-: A utility for generating enumerations with helpful trait
+`caret`: A utility for generating enumerations with helpful trait
 implementations
 
-tor-llcrypto
-: Wrappers and re-imports of cryptographic code that Tor needs in
+`tor-llcrypto`: Wrappers and re-imports of cryptographic code that Tor needs in
 various ways.  Other crates should use this crate, and not actually
 use any crypto crates directly
 
-tor-bytes
-: Byte-by-byte encoder and decoder functions and traits.  We use
+`tor-bytes`: Byte-by-byte encoder and decoder functions and traits.  We use
 this to safely parse cells, certs, and other byte-oriented things.
 
-tor-cert
-: Decoding and checking signatures on Tor's ed25519 certificates.
+`tor-cert`: Decoding and checking signatures on Tor's ed25519 certificates.
 
-tor-protover
-: Minimal implementation of the Tor subprotocol verisoning system.
-Less complete than the one in Tor's current src/rust, but more
+`tor-protover`: Minimal implementation of the Tor subprotocol verisoning
+system.  Less complete than the one in Tor's current src/rust, but more
 simple.
 
-tor-netdoc
-: Parsing for Tor's network documents. Currently only handles
+`tor-netdoc`: Parsing for Tor's network documents. Currently only handles
 routerdescs.  Underdocumented and too big.  needs splitting.
 
-tor-proto
-: Functions to work with cell types, handshakes, and other aspects
+`tor-proto`: Functions to work with cell types, handshakes, and other aspects
 of the Tor protocol.  Underdocumented, too big, needs
 refactoring.