diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 601f99b..4de6367 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ One command that composes a project from the templates in this organization: `in
 newproject ~/projects/my-thing
 ```
 
-Templates are read from `$TEMPLATES_DIR` (default `~/projects/templates`). Every part updates independently:
+Templates are cloned from `https://git.kotikot.com/templates` by default; set `TEMPLATES_DIR` to a directory with local checkouts to work on the templates themselves. Every part updates independently:
 
 ```sh
 copier update -a .copier-answers.backend.yml
diff --git a/newproject b/newproject
index b8cf032..a6836c5 100755
--- a/newproject
+++ b/newproject
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-TEMPLATES="${TEMPLATES_DIR:-$HOME/projects/templates}"
+TEMPLATES="${TEMPLATES_DIR:-https://git.kotikot.com/templates}"
 dest="${1:?usage: newproject <dest> [copier options]}"
 shift
 copier_args=("$@")
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ yes_no() {
   [[ "$answer" =~ ^[Yy] ]]
 }
 
+template() {
+  if [[ -d "$TEMPLATES/$1" ]]; then printf '%s' "$TEMPLATES/$1"; else printf '%s' "$TEMPLATES/$1.git"; fi
+}
+
 copy() {
   uvx copier@latest copy --trust "${copier_args[@]}" "$@"
 }
@@ -52,21 +56,21 @@ json_list() {
 }
 
 mkdir -p "$dest"
-copy -d "parts=$(json_list "${parts[@]}")" "$TEMPLATES/infra" "$dest"
+copy -d "parts=$(json_list "${parts[@]}")" "$(template infra)" "$dest"
 
 if [[ " ${parts[*]} " == *" backend "* ]]; then
   copy -d "project_name=$project_name" -d "project_slug=$project_slug" \
     -d "author_name=$author_name" -d "author_email=$author_email" \
-    -d "serve_spa=$serve_spa" "$TEMPLATES/backend-python" "$dest"
+    -d "serve_spa=$serve_spa" "$(template backend-python)" "$dest"
 fi
 
 if [[ " ${parts[*]} " == *" frontend "* ]]; then
   copy -d "project_name=$project_name" -d "project_slug=$project_slug" \
-    -d "serve=$serve" "$TEMPLATES/frontend-svelte" "$dest"
+    -d "serve=$serve" "$(template frontend-svelte)" "$dest"
 fi
 
 if $with_caddy; then
-  copy -d "project_slug=$project_slug" -d "routes=$(json_list "${routes[@]}")" "$TEMPLATES/caddy" "$dest"
+  copy -d "project_slug=$project_slug" -d "routes=$(json_list "${routes[@]}")" "$(template caddy)" "$dest"
 fi
 
 (cd "$dest" && make env)