diff --git a/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml b/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml
index b467a0ef05a9..de2bfc326ae1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/benchmark.yml
@@ -36,10 +36,9 @@ jobs:
           python-version: '3.11'
 
       - name: Create virtual environment
-        working-directory: py-polars
         run: |
           python -m venv .venv
-          echo "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/py-polars/.venv/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+          echo "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/.venv/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
 
       - name: Install Python dependencies
         working-directory: py-polars
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-bytecode-parser.yml b/.github/workflows/test-bytecode-parser.yml
index dacbc209b62a..dc8e6c09ce9e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-bytecode-parser.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-bytecode-parser.yml
@@ -5,21 +5,11 @@ on:
     paths:
       - py-polars/**
       - .github/workflows/test-bytecode-parser.yml
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
-    paths:
-      - py-polars/**
-      - .github/workflows/test-bytecode-parser.yml
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
-defaults:
-  run:
-    working-directory: py-polars
-
 jobs:
   ubuntu:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -36,14 +26,9 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
 
-      - name: Create virtual environment
-        run: |
-          python -m venv .venv
-          echo "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/py-polars/.venv/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
-
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: pip install ipython numpy pytest
 
       - name: Run tests
-        if: github.ref_name != 'main'
+        working-directory: py-polars
         run: PYTHONPATH=polars/utils pytest tests/test_udfs.py
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 4a94b18b89c1..315ac4c8acd8 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ make test
 
 This will do a number of things:
 
-- Use Python to create a virtual environment in the `py-polars/.venv` folder.
+- Use Python to create a virtual environment in the `.venv` folder.
 - Use [pip](https://pip.pypa.io/) to install all Python dependencies for development, linting, and building documentation.
 - Use Rust to compile and install Polars in your virtual environment.
 - Use [pytest](https://docs.pytest.org/) to run the Python unittests in your virtual environment
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..532342913f97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+.DEFAULT_GOAL := help
+
+PYTHONPATH=
+SHELL=/bin/bash
+VENV=.venv
+
+ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
+	VENV_BIN=$(VENV)/Scripts
+else
+	VENV_BIN=$(VENV)/bin
+endif
+
+.venv:  ## Set up Python virtual environment and install requirements
+	python3 -m venv $(VENV)
+	$(MAKE) requirements
+
+.PHONY: requirements
+requirements: .venv  ## Install/refresh Python project requirements
+	$(VENV_BIN)/python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+	$(VENV_BIN)/pip install --upgrade -r py-polars/requirements-dev.txt
+	$(VENV_BIN)/pip install --upgrade -r py-polars/requirements-lint.txt
+	$(VENV_BIN)/pip install --upgrade -r py-polars/docs/requirements-docs.txt
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:  ## Clean up caches and build artifacts
+	@rm -rf .venv/
+	@rm -rf target/
+	@rm -f Cargo.lock
+	@cargo clean
+	@$(MAKE) -s -C py-polars/ $@
+
+.PHONY: help
+help:  ## Display this help screen
+	@echo -e "\033[1mAvailable commands:\033[0m"
+	@grep -E '^[a-z.A-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "  \033[36m%-18s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}' | sort
diff --git a/dprint.json b/dprint.json
index 60290669328c..8e9d0d92e909 100644
--- a/dprint.json
+++ b/dprint.json
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 {
-  "includes": [
-    "**/*.{md,toml}"
-  ],
-  "excludes": [
-    "**/target",
-    "py-polars/.pytest_cache",
-    "py-polars/.venv"
-  ],
-  "plugins": [
-    "https://plugins.dprint.dev/markdown-0.15.2.wasm",
-    "https://plugins.dprint.dev/toml-0.5.4.wasm"
-  ]
+    "includes": [
+        "**/*.{md,toml}"
+    ],
+    "excludes": [
+        ".venv/",
+        "**/target/",
+        "py-polars/.hypothesis/",
+        "py-polars/.mypy_cache/",
+        "py-polars/.pytest_cache/",
+        "py-polars/.ruff_cache/"
+    ],
+    "plugins": [
+        "https://plugins.dprint.dev/markdown-0.16.0.wasm",
+        "https://plugins.dprint.dev/toml-0.5.4.wasm"
+    ]
 }
diff --git a/py-polars/Makefile b/py-polars/Makefile
index e0fcee1b83a5..f5fd7c4404cd 100644
--- a/py-polars/Makefile
+++ b/py-polars/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 PYTHONPATH=
 SHELL=/bin/bash
-VENV = .venv
+VENV=../.venv
 
 ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
 	VENV_BIN=$(VENV)/Scripts
@@ -10,16 +10,13 @@ else
 	VENV_BIN=$(VENV)/bin
 endif
 
+.PHONY: .venv
 .venv:  ## Set up virtual environment and install requirements
-	python3 -m venv $(VENV)
-	$(MAKE) requirements
+	@$(MAKE) -s -C .. $@
 
 .PHONY: requirements
 requirements: .venv  ## Install/refresh all project requirements
-	$(VENV_BIN)/python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-	$(VENV_BIN)/pip install --upgrade -r requirements-dev.txt
-	$(VENV_BIN)/pip install --upgrade -r requirements-lint.txt
-	$(VENV_BIN)/pip install --upgrade -r docs/requirements-docs.txt
+	@$(MAKE) -s -C .. $@
 
 .PHONY: build
 build: .venv  ## Compile and install Polars for development
@@ -91,7 +88,6 @@ coverage: .venv build  ## Run tests and report coverage
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean:  ## Clean up caches and build artifacts
-	@rm -rf .venv/
 	@rm -rf target/
 	@rm -rf docs/build/
 	@rm -rf docs/source/reference/api/