diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 8b89ab9..c19f3b1 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
+# these are the requirements for building the jupyter book
 jupyter-book>=0.7.0b
 sphinx-book-theme<1.0.0
-matplotlib
-devbio-napari
-napari
-numpy