diff --git a/docs/contributing.rst b/docs/contributing.rst
--- a/docs/contributing.rst
+++ b/docs/contributing.rst
@@ -37,10 +37,9 @@ To get started with Kallithea developmen
         pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
         pip install --upgrade -e .
         pip install --upgrade -r dev_requirements.txt
-        npm install     # install dependencies - both tools and data
-        npm run less    # for generating css from less
         kallithea-cli config-create my.ini
         kallithea-cli db-create -c my.ini --user=user --email=user@example.com --password=password --repos=/tmp
+        kallithea-cli front-end-build
         gearbox serve -c my.ini --reload &
         firefox http://127.0.0.1:5000/
 
diff --git a/docs/overview.rst b/docs/overview.rst
--- a/docs/overview.rst
+++ b/docs/overview.rst
@@ -69,11 +69,9 @@ installed.
   (``pip install kallithea`` from a source tree will do pretty much the same
   but build the Kallithea package itself locally instead of downloading it.)
 
-.. note:: The front-end code is built with Node. Currently, it must be built
-          locally after installing Kallithea. Assuming Node and the Node
-          Package Manager is available, other tools and source code will be
-          downloaded and installed. The front-end code can then be built from
-          source locally.
+.. note:: Kallithea includes front-end code that needs to be processed first.
+The tool npm_ is used to download external dependencies and orchestrate the
+processing. The ``npm`` binary must thus be available.
 
 
 Web server
@@ -144,3 +142,4 @@ continuous hammering from the internet.
 .. _WSGI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Server_Gateway_Interface
 .. _HAProxy: http://www.haproxy.org/
 .. _Varnish: https://www.varnish-cache.org/
+.. _npm: https://www.npmjs.com/
diff --git a/docs/setup.rst b/docs/setup.rst
--- a/docs/setup.rst
+++ b/docs/setup.rst
@@ -5,22 +5,6 @@ Setup
 =====
 
 
-Preparing front-end
--------------------
-
-Temporarily, in the current Kallithea version, some extra steps are required to
-build front-end files:
-
-Find the right ``kallithea/public/less`` path with::
-
-    python -c "import os, kallithea; print os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(kallithea.__file__)), 'public', 'less')"
-
-Then run::
-
-    npm install
-    npm run less
-
-
 Setting up Kallithea
 --------------------
 
@@ -70,6 +54,10 @@ path to the root).
           but when trying to do a push it will fail with permission
           denied errors unless it has write access.
 
+Finally, prepare the front-end by running::
+
+    kallithea-cli front-end-build
+
 You are now ready to use Kallithea. To run it simply execute::
 
     gearbox serve -c my.ini
diff --git a/docs/upgrade.rst b/docs/upgrade.rst
--- a/docs/upgrade.rst
+++ b/docs/upgrade.rst
@@ -86,18 +86,7 @@ If you originally installed from version
     cd my-kallithea-clone
     hg pull -u
     pip install --upgrade -e .
-
-Temporarily, in the current version, an extra step is required to build
-front-end files:
-
-Find the right ``kallithea/public/less`` path with::
-
-    python -c "import os, kallithea; print os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(kallithea.__file__)), 'public', 'less')"
-
-Then run::
-
-    npm install
-    npm run less
+    kallithea-cli front-end-build
 
 
 5. Upgrade your configuration
diff --git a/docs/usage/customization.rst b/docs/usage/customization.rst
--- a/docs/usage/customization.rst
+++ b/docs/usage/customization.rst
@@ -28,13 +28,10 @@ directory, you can use this file to over
 you can use this to override ``@kallithea-theme-main-color``,
 ``@kallithea-logo-url`` or other `Bootstrap variables`_.
 
-After creating the ``theme.less`` file, you need to regenerate the CSS files.
-Install npm for your platform and run::
+After creating the ``theme.less`` file, you need to regenerate the CSS files, by
+running::
 
-    npm install
-    npm run less
-
-in the Kallithea root directory.
+    kallithea-cli front-end-build --no-install-deps
 
 .. _bootstrap 3: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/3.3/
 .. _bootstrap variables: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/3.3/customize/#less-variables
diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py
--- a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_celer
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_config
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_db
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_extensions
+import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_front_end
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_iis
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_index
 import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_ishell
diff --git a/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_front_end.py b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_front_end.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kallithea/bin/kallithea_cli_front_end.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import click
+import kallithea.bin.kallithea_cli_base as cli_base
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+
+import kallithea
+
+@cli_base.register_command()
+@click.option('--install-deps/--no-install-deps', default=True,
+        help='Skip installation of dependencies, via "npm".')
+@click.option('--generate/--no-generate', default=True,
+        help='Skip generation of front-end files.')
+def front_end_build(install_deps, generate):
+    """Build the front-end.
+
+    Install required dependencies for the front-end and generate the necessary
+    files.  This step is complementary to any 'pip install' step which only
+    covers Python dependencies.
+
+    The installation of front-end dependencies happens via the tool 'npm' which
+    is expected to be installed already.
+    """
+    rootdir = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(kallithea.__file__)))
+
+    if install_deps:
+        click.echo("Running 'npm install' to install front-end dependencies from package.json")
+        subprocess.check_call(['npm', 'install'], cwd=rootdir)
+
+    if generate:
+        click.echo("Generating CSS")
+        lesscpath = os.path.join(rootdir, 'node_modules', '.bin', 'lessc')
+        lesspath = os.path.join(rootdir, 'kallithea', 'public', 'less', 'main.less')
+        csspath = os.path.join(rootdir, 'kallithea', 'public', 'css', 'style.css')
+        subprocess.check_call([lesscpath, '--relative-urls', '--source-map',
+                '--source-map-less-inline', lesspath, csspath])
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -7,8 +7,5 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "less": "~2.7",
     "less-plugin-clean-css": "~1.5"
-  },
-  "scripts": {
-    "less": "lessc --relative-urls --source-map --source-map-less-inline kallithea/public/less/main.less kallithea/public/css/style.css"
   }
 }