diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d10a9932c..d142057e4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ docs/source/api/generated
 docs/gh-pages
 notebook/static/components
 notebook/static/style/*.min.css*
+notebook/static/*/js/main.min.js*
 node_modules
 *.py[co]
 __pycache__
diff --git a/build-main.js b/build-main.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5936b791d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-main.js
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// build main.min.js
+// spawned by gulp to allow parallelism
+
+var rjs = require('requirejs').optimize;
+
+var name = process.argv[2];
+
+var rjs_config = {
+  name: name + '/js/main',
+  out: './notebook/static/' + name + '/js/main.min.js',
+  baseUrl: 'notebook/static',
+  preserveLicenseComments: false, // license comments conflict with sourcemap generation
+  generateSourceMaps: true,
+  optimize: "uglify2",
+  paths: {
+    underscore : 'components/underscore/underscore-min',
+    backbone : 'components/backbone/backbone-min',
+    jquery: 'components/jquery/jquery.min',
+    bootstrap: 'components/bootstrap/js/bootstrap.min',
+    bootstraptour: 'components/bootstrap-tour/build/js/bootstrap-tour.min',
+    jqueryui: 'components/jquery-ui/ui/minified/jquery-ui.min',
+    moment: 'components/moment/moment',
+    codemirror: 'components/codemirror',
+    termjs: 'components/term.js/src/term',
+    contents: 'empty:'
+  },
+  shim: {
+    underscore: {
+      exports: '_'
+    },
+    backbone: {
+      deps: ["underscore", "jquery"],
+      exports: "Backbone"
+    },
+    bootstrap: {
+      deps: ["jquery"],
+      exports: "bootstrap"
+    },
+    bootstraptour: {
+      deps: ["bootstrap"],
+      exports: "Tour"
+    },
+    jqueryui: {
+      deps: ["jquery"],
+      exports: "$"
+    }
+  },
+
+  exclude: [
+    "custom/custom",
+  ]
+};
+
+rjs(rjs_config, console.log, function (err) {
+  console.log("Failed to build", name, err);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index 3bb0297be..dd3ad6fec 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
+var fork = require('child_process').fork;
+var fs = require('fs');
+var path = require('path');
+
+var through = require('through');
 var gulp = require('gulp');
 var less = require('gulp-less');
-var path = require('path');
 var minifyCSS = require('gulp-minify-css');
+var newer = require('gulp-newer');
 var rename = require('gulp-rename');
 var sourcemaps = require('gulp-sourcemaps');
 
 // now some dev nice utilities.
 var livereload = require('gulp-livereload');
- 
+
 gulp.task('css', function () {
   return gulp.src('./notebook/static/style/*.less')
     .pipe(sourcemaps.init())
@@ -23,9 +28,88 @@ gulp.task('css', function () {
     .pipe(livereload());
 });
 
+function build_main(name, callback) {
+  // build main.min.js for a given application name
+  // run in a subprocess to allow parallel builds
+  // clone requirejs config
+  var p = fork('./build-main.js', [name]);
+  p.on('exit', function (code, status) {
+    if (code) {
+      callback(new Error("Build failed"));
+    } else {
+      callback();
+    }
+  });
+  return;
+}
 
+// build notebook-js, edit-js, etc. tasks
+// which enables parallelism
+var apps = ['notebook', 'tree', 'edit', 'terminal', 'auth'];
+
+apps.map(function (name) {
+  gulp.task(name + '-js', function (finish) {
+    var s = path.join('notebook', 'static');
+    var src = path.join(s, name, 'js', 'main.js');
+    var rel_dest = path.join(name, 'js', 'main.min.js');
+    var dest = path.join(s, rel_dest);
+    
+    var sources = [
+      path.join(s, name, 'js', '*.js'),
+      path.join(s, "base", 'js', '*.js'),
+      path.join(s, "auth", 'js', '*.js'),
+      path.join(s, "services", 'config.js'),
+    ];
+    
+    // for required_components
+    if (name === 'notebook') {
+      sources.push(path.join(s, "services", '**', '*.js'));
+    }
+    
+    fs.readdirSync(path.join(s, 'components')).map(function (c) {
+      if (c !== 'MathJax') {
+        // skip MathJax because it has tons of files and makes everything super slow
+        sources.push(path.join(s, 'components', c, '**', '*.js'));
+      }
+    });
+    
+    // sources is a greedy list, containing all dependencies plus some for simplicity.
+    gulp.src(sources, {base: s})
+    .pipe(newer(dest))
+    .pipe(through(function(file) {
+      // if any dependency changed, update main.min.js
+      console.log("A dependency has changed, updating " + rel_dest);
+      // pause halts the pipeline
+      this.pause();
+      build_main(name, finish);
+      return;
+    }))
+    .on('end', function () {
+      // if we get here, no dependency is newer than the target
+      console.log(rel_dest + " up to date");
+      finish();
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+gulp.task('js', apps.map(function (name) { return name + '-js'; }));
 
 gulp.task('watch', function() {
   livereload.listen();
   gulp.watch('notebook/static/**/*.less', ['css']);
+  
+  var s = path.join('notebook', 'static');
+  
+  function alljs(name) {
+    return path.join(s, name, '**', '*.js');
+  }
+  var common_js = ['components', 'base', 'auth', 'services'].map(alljs);
+  
+  gulp.watch(common_js, ['js']);
+  apps.map(function (name) {
+    gulp.watch([
+      alljs(name),
+      '!' + path.join(s, name, 'js', 'main.min.js'),
+    ], [name + '-js']);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/notebook/static/auth/js/loginmain.js b/notebook/static/auth/js/loginmain.js
index 44a2bf31d..1e312ee69 100644
--- a/notebook/static/auth/js/loginmain.js
+++ b/notebook/static/auth/js/loginmain.js
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 // Copyright (c) Jupyter Development Team.
 // Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
-var ipython = ipython || {};
-require(['base/js/page'], function(page) {
-    var page_instance = new page.Page();
-    $('button#login_submit').addClass("btn btn-default");
-    page_instance.show();
-    $('input#password_input').focus();
+define(['base/js/namespace', 'base/js/page'], function(IPython, page) {
+    function login_main() {
+      var page_instance = new page.Page();
+      $('button#login_submit').addClass("btn btn-default");
+      page_instance.show();
+      $('input#password_input').focus();
     
-    ipython.page = page_instance;
+      IPython.page = page_instance;
+    }
+    return login_main;
 });
diff --git a/notebook/static/auth/js/logoutmain.js b/notebook/static/auth/js/logoutmain.js
index b91b0fc4b..7b3f6b4da 100644
--- a/notebook/static/auth/js/logoutmain.js
+++ b/notebook/static/auth/js/logoutmain.js
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 // Copyright (c) Jupyter Development Team.
 // Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
-var ipython = ipython || {};
-require(['base/js/page'], function(page) {
-    var page_instance = new page.Page();
-    page_instance.show();
+define(['base/js/namespace', 'base/js/page'], function(IPython, page) {
+    function logout_main() {
+        var page_instance = new page.Page();
+        page_instance.show();
 
-    ipython.page = page_instance;
+        IPython.page = page_instance;
+    }
+    return logout_main;
 });
diff --git a/notebook/static/auth/js/main.js b/notebook/static/auth/js/main.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7be82388e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notebook/static/auth/js/main.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+// Copyright (c) Jupyter Development Team.
+// Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
+
+define(['./loginmain', './logoutmain'], function (login_main, logout_main) {
+    return {
+        login_main: login_main,
+        logout_main: logout_main
+    };
+});
diff --git a/notebook/templates/edit.html b/notebook/templates/edit.html
index 72d748169..1c543fc2f 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/edit.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/edit.html
@@ -95,5 +95,5 @@ data-file-path="{{file_path}}"
 
     {{super()}}
 
-<script src="{{ static_url("edit/js/main.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+<script src="{{ static_url("edit/js/main.min.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/notebook/templates/login.html b/notebook/templates/login.html
index 54223360d..78a5d6645 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/login.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/login.html
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@
 {% block script %}
 {{super()}}
 
-<script src="{{static_url("auth/js/loginmain.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript">
+  require(["auth/js/main"], function (auth) {
+    auth.login_main();
+  });
+</script>
 
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/notebook/templates/logout.html b/notebook/templates/logout.html
index 91595aacb..81c3c9118 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/logout.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/logout.html
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@
 {% block script %}
 {{super()}}
 
-<script src="{{static_url("auth/js/logoutmain.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+<script type="text/javascript">
+  require(["auth/js/main"], function (auth) {
+    auth.logout_main();
+  });
+</script>
 
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/notebook/templates/notebook.html b/notebook/templates/notebook.html
index c065d8cb4..9661fe272 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/notebook.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/notebook.html
@@ -324,6 +324,6 @@ data-notebook-path="{{notebook_path}}"
 
 <script src="{{ static_url("components/text-encoding/lib/encoding.js") }}" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
-<script src="{{ static_url("notebook/js/main.js") }}" charset="utf-8"></script>
+<script src="{{ static_url("notebook/js/main.min.js") }}" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/notebook/templates/page.html b/notebook/templates/page.html
index 3baea5910..6b1939dff 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/page.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/page.html
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
           {% endif %}
           baseUrl: '{{static_url("", include_version=False)}}',
           paths: {
+            'auth/js/main': 'auth/js/main.min',
             custom : '{{ base_url }}custom',
             nbextensions : '{{ base_url }}nbextensions',
             widgets : '{{ base_url }}deprecatedwidgets',
diff --git a/notebook/templates/terminal.html b/notebook/templates/terminal.html
index ca14f4619..e174b55e4 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/terminal.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/terminal.html
@@ -60,5 +60,5 @@ data-ws-path="{{ws_path}}"
 
     {{super()}}
 
-<script src="{{ static_url("terminal/js/main.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+<script src="{{ static_url("terminal/js/main.min.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/notebook/templates/tree.html b/notebook/templates/tree.html
index d2b9f8686..cd15f702b 100644
--- a/notebook/templates/tree.html
+++ b/notebook/templates/tree.html
@@ -183,5 +183,5 @@ data-terminals-available="{{terminals_available}}"
 {% block script %}
     {{super()}}
 
-<script src="{{ static_url("tree/js/main.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
+<script src="{{ static_url("tree/js/main.min.js") }}" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 93f03877d..d5cf1ac7e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,9 +14,12 @@
     "gulp-less": "^3.0.2",
     "gulp-livereload": "^3.8.0",
     "gulp-minify-css": "^1.0.0",
+    "gulp-newer": "^0.5.0",
     "gulp-rename": "^1.2.2",
     "gulp-sourcemaps": "^1.5.1",
     "less": "~2",
-    "source-map": "^0.4.2"
+    "requirejs": "^2.1.17",
+    "source-map": "^0.4.2",
+    "through": "^2.3.7"
   }
 }
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a10b30976..f1310f3d6 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ from setupbase import (
     find_package_data,
     check_package_data_first,
     CompileCSS,
+    CompileJS,
     Bower,
     JavascriptVersion,
     css_js_prerelease,
@@ -107,9 +108,10 @@ from distutils.command.sdist import sdist
 setup_args['cmdclass'] = {
     'build_py': css_js_prerelease(
             check_package_data_first(build_py)),
-    'sdist' : css_js_prerelease(sdist),
+    'sdist' : css_js_prerelease(sdist, strict=True),
     'css' : CompileCSS,
-    'js' : Bower,
+    'js' : CompileJS,
+    'jsdeps' : Bower,
     'jsversion' : JavascriptVersion,
 }
 
diff --git a/setupbase.py b/setupbase.py
index b42944cea..f349900be 100644
--- a/setupbase.py
+++ b/setupbase.py
@@ -107,7 +107,12 @@ def find_package_data():
             continue
         for f in files:
             static_data.append(pjoin(parent, f))
-
+    
+    # for verification purposes, explicitly add main.min.js
+    # so that installation will fail if they are missing
+    for app in ['auth', 'edit', 'notebook', 'terminal', 'tree']:
+        static_data.append(pjoin('static', app, 'js', 'main.min.js'))
+    
     components = pjoin("static", "components")
     # select the components we actually need to install
     # (there are lots of resources we bundle for sdist-reasons that we don't actually use)
@@ -361,14 +366,41 @@ class CompileCSS(Command):
         pass
 
     def run(self):
-        
-        self.run_command('js')
+        self.run_command('jsdeps')
         env = os.environ.copy()
         env['PATH'] = npm_path
         try:
             check_call(['gulp','css'], cwd=repo_root, env=env)
         except OSError as e:
-            print("Failed to run gulp: %s" % e, file=sys.stderr)
+            print("Failed to run gulp css: %s" % e, file=sys.stderr)
+            print("You can install js dependencies with `npm install`", file=sys.stderr)
+            raise
+        # update package data in case this created new files
+        update_package_data(self.distribution)
+
+
+class CompileJS(Command):
+    """Rebuild minified Notebook Javascript
+    
+    Calls `gulp js`
+    """
+    description = "Rebuild Notebook Javascript"
+    user_options = []
+
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def finalize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def run(self):
+        self.run_command('jsdeps')
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env['PATH'] = npm_path
+        try:
+            check_call(['gulp','js'], cwd=repo_root, env=env)
+        except OSError as e:
+            print("Failed to run gulp js: %s" % e, file=sys.stderr)
             print("You can install js dependencies with `npm install`", file=sys.stderr)
             raise
         # update package data in case this created new files
@@ -401,19 +433,26 @@ class JavascriptVersion(Command):
                 raise RuntimeError("Didn't find IPython.version line in %s" % nsfile)
 
 
-def css_js_prerelease(command):
-    """decorator for building js/minified css prior to another command"""
+def css_js_prerelease(command, strict=False):
+    """decorator for building minified js/css prior to another command"""
     class DecoratedCommand(command):
         def run(self):
             self.distribution.run_command('jsversion')
+            jsdeps = self.distribution.get_command_obj('jsdeps')
+            jsdeps.force = True
             js = self.distribution.get_command_obj('js')
             js.force = True
             css = self.distribution.get_command_obj('css')
             css.force = True
             try:
                 self.distribution.run_command('css')
+                self.distribution.run_command('js')
             except Exception as e:
-                log.warn("rebuilding css and sourcemaps failed (not a problem)")
-                log.warn(str(e))
+                if strict:
+                    log.warn("rebuilding js and css failed")
+                    raise e
+                else:
+                    log.warn("rebuilding js and css failed (not a problem)")
+                    log.warn(str(e))
             command.run(self)
     return DecoratedCommand