diff --git a/packages/auth/README.md b/packages/auth/README.md
index aebebbcf4d55f7e04e27a77281a4e0a462edcb7c..c373f959ee3893fd90a8d56c52321171555e69cc 100644
--- a/packages/auth/README.md
+++ b/packages/auth/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,16 @@
 ## Local development
 
 ```bash
+# get the source
+git clone git@gitlab.tugraz.at:VPU/WebComponents/Auth.git
+cd Auth
+git submodule update --init
+
+# we are creating the symbolic links to our git sub-modules
+# (there was no proper script to do this automatically before a "node install"
+npm run setup
+
+# install dependencies
 npm install
 
 # constantly builds dist/bundle.js 
diff --git a/packages/auth/package.json b/packages/auth/package.json
index 1af24ad88fd1bcd13e7c0ddba962233a771ae895..cb70eab5f27f7b3399dc605616dff5cbad86a170 100644
--- a/packages/auth/package.json
+++ b/packages/auth/package.json
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@
     "@webcomponents/webcomponentsjs": "^2.2.10",
     "i18next": "^17.0.3",
     "lit-element": "^2.1.0",
-    "vpu-common": "file:./vendor/common"
+    "vpu-common": "*"
   },
   "scripts": {
+    "setup": "cd node_modules; ln -sfn ../vendor/common vpu-common",
     "clean": "rm dist/*",
     "build": "npm run build-local",
     "build-local": "rollup -c",