diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yaml b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
index 63d24dd1..abcfae61 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - run: make
+      - run: make build  # without verify
 
   basic_test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -132,6 +132,4 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - run: make gmimage
-
-      - run: make lcimage
+      - run: make images
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f1683a7b..e30063e1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,40 +1,45 @@
 GOPATH ?= $(shell go env GOPATH)
 
-# make all builds both cloud and edge binaries
-
+# make all builds both gm and lc binaries
 BINARIES=gm lc
+SHELL=/bin/bash
 
 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
 OUT_DIR ?= _output
 OUT_BINPATH := $(OUT_DIR)/bin
 
-define ALL_HELP_INFO
-# Build code.
-#
+define BUILD_HELP_INFO
+# Build code with verifying or not.
+# target all is the "build" with verify.
 # Args:
 #   WHAT: binary names to build. support: $(BINARIES)
 #         the build will produce executable files under ./$(OUT_BINPATH)
 #         If not specified, "everything" will be built.
 #
 # Example:
-#   make
-#   make all
-#   make all HELP=y
-#   make all WHAT=gm
-#   make all WHAT=lc GOLDFLAGS="" GOGCFLAGS="-N -l"
+#   make TARGET
+#   make TARGET HELP=y
+#   make TARGET WHAT=gm
+#   make TARGET WHAT=lc GOLDFLAGS="" GOGCFLAGS="-N -l"
 #     Note: Specify GOLDFLAGS as an empty string for building unstripped binaries, specify GOGCFLAGS
 #     to "-N -l" to disable optimizations and inlining, this will be helpful when you want to
 #     use the debugging tools like delve. When GOLDFLAGS is unspecified, it defaults to "-s -w" which strips
 #     debug information, see https://golang.org/cmd/link for other flags.
 
 endef
-.PHONY: all
+
+.PHONY: build all
 ifeq ($(HELP),y)
-all:
-	@echo "$$ALL_HELP_INFO"
+build all:
+	@echo "$${BUILD_HELP_INFO//TARGET/$@}"
 else
-all: verify
+# build without verify
+# default target
+build:
 	hack/make-rules/build.sh $(WHAT)
+
+all: verify build
+
 endif
 
 
@@ -104,6 +109,7 @@ IMAGE_REPO ?= ghcr.io/edgeai-neptune/neptune
 IMAGE_TAG ?= v1alpha1
 GO_LDFLAGS ?=''
 
-.PHONY: gmimage lcimage
+.PHONY: images gmimage lcimage
+images: gmimage lcimage
 gmimage lcimage:
 	docker build --build-arg GO_LDFLAGS=${GO_LDFLAGS} -t ${IMAGE_REPO}/${@:image=}:${IMAGE_TAG} -f build/${@:image=}/Dockerfile .
diff --git a/build/gm/Dockerfile b/build/gm/Dockerfile
index 2f8f968e..6359d74b 100644
--- a/build/gm/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/gm/Dockerfile
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@ FROM golang:1.14-alpine3.11 AS builder
 
 ARG GO_LDFLAGS
 
-WORKDIR /code
+# install build tools
+RUN apk update
+RUN apk add build-base bash
 
+WORKDIR /code
 # copy source
 COPY . .
+RUN make build WHAT=gm GO_LDFLAGS=$GO_LDFLAGS OUT_DIR=_output
 
-RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o /usr/local/bin/neptune-gm -ldflags "$GO_LDFLAGS -w -s" \
-cmd/neptune-gm/neptune-gm.go
-
+# ALT: just using go build
+# RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o _output/bin/neptune-gm -ldflags "$GO_LDFLAGS -w -s" cmd/neptune-gm/neptune-gm.go
 
 FROM alpine:3.11
 
-COPY --from=builder /usr/local/bin/neptune-gm /usr/local/bin/neptune-gm
+COPY --from=builder /code/_output/bin/neptune-gm /usr/local/bin/neptune-gm
 
 COPY build/gm/gm-config.yaml /gm.yaml
 
diff --git a/build/lc/Dockerfile b/build/lc/Dockerfile
index 72df808d..4ecd1492 100644
--- a/build/lc/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/lc/Dockerfile
@@ -1,24 +1,19 @@
 FROM golang:1.14-alpine3.11 AS builder
 
-ARG PROXY
-
-COPY . /code
-WORKDIR /code
+ARG GO_LDFLAGS
 
+# install build tools
+RUN apk update
+RUN apk add build-base bash
 
-RUN if [ ! "$PROXY" = "" ]; then sed -i "s@http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org@$PROXY@g" /etc/apk/repositories ; fi
-
-RUN apk update 
-RUN apk add build-base
+WORKDIR /code
+# copy source
+COPY . .
+RUN make build WHAT=lc GO_LDFLAGS=$GO_LDFLAGS OUT_DIR=_output
 
-RUN GOOS=linux go build -o /usr/local/bin/neptune-lc  cmd/neptune-lc/neptune-lc.go
 
 FROM alpine:3.11
 
-COPY --from=builder  /usr/local/bin/neptune-lc /usr/local/bin/neptune-lc
+COPY --from=builder /code/_output/bin/neptune-lc /usr/local/bin/neptune-lc
 
 CMD ["neptune-lc"]
-
-
-
-