diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 0fedc155..28820956 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ plugins {
     id 'maven-publish'
     id 'signing'
 
+    // close and release on sonatype
+    id 'io.codearte.nexus-staging' version '0.11.0'
+
     id "com.dorkbox.CrossCompile" version "1.0.1"
     id "com.dorkbox.VersionUpdate" version "1.2"
 }
@@ -49,6 +52,7 @@ plugins {
 // this is the only way to also get the source code for IDE auto-complete
 apply plugin: "com.dorkbox.Licensing"
 
+// give us access to api/implementation differences for building java libraries
 apply plugin: 'java-library'