diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index 60d75cf33d..059964c447 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ general:
   branches:
     ignore:
       - ins_n_outs
+dependencies:
+  cache_directories:
+    - "~/ionic-site" # cache ionic-site
 machine:
   node:
     version: 4.1.0
diff --git a/scripts/ci/deploy.sh b/scripts/ci/deploy.sh
index 5cfa54fe25..67a7b8b1f1 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/deploy.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function run {
   fi
 
   # Install gulp globally for site deploy script.
-  npm install -g gulp
+  # npm install -g gulp
 
   if [[ "$IS_RELEASE" == "true" ]]; then
     echo "RELEASE DETECTED!"
diff --git a/scripts/docs/deploy.sh b/scripts/docs/deploy.sh
index f3ef689d28..a8c2a41fc6 100755
--- a/scripts/docs/deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/docs/deploy.sh
@@ -12,10 +12,21 @@ function init {
   cd ..
   SITE_PATH=$(readJsonProp "config.json" "sitePath")
   SITE_DIR=$IONIC_DIR/$SITE_PATH
+  DOCS_DEST=$(readJsonProp "config.json" "docsDest")
 
-  ./git/clone.sh --repository="driftyco/ionic-site" \
-    --directory="$SITE_DIR" \
-    --branch="master"
+  if [ ! -d "$SITE_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "checking out"
+    ./git/clone.sh --repository="driftyco/ionic-site" \
+      --directory="$SITE_DIR" \
+      --branch="master" \
+      --depth=1
+  else
+    echo "using existing"
+    cd $SITE_DIR
+    git reset --hard
+    git pull origin master
+    cd $IONIC_DIR/scripts
+  fi
 }
 
 function run {
@@ -23,14 +34,15 @@ function run {
   VERSION=$(readJsonProp "package.json" "version")
 
   #compile API Demos
-  gulp demos --production=true
+  ./node_modules/.bin/gulp demos --production=true
 
   # process new docs
-  gulp docs --doc-version="$VERSION_NAME"
+  rm -R $DOCS_DEST/api
+  ./node_modules/.bin/gulp docs --doc-version="$VERSION_NAME"
 
   # compile sass vars json for ionic-site docs
-  gulp docs.sass-variables
-  cp tmp/sass.json $SITE_DIR/docs/v2/theming/overriding-ionic-variables/
+  ./node_modules/.bin/gulp docs.sass-variables
+  cp tmp/sass.json $DOCS_DEST/theming/overriding-ionic-variables/
 
   # CD in to the site dir to commit updated docs
   cd $SITE_DIR