-########## indexes
-subdirs = client methods plc server trust util
-init := geni/__init__.py $(foreach subdir, $(subdirs), geni/$(subdir)/__init__.py)
+methods_now := $(sort $(shell fgrep -v '"' sfa/methods/__init__.py 2>/dev/null))
+# what should be declared
+methods_paths := $(filter-out %/__init__.py, $(wildcard sfa/methods/*.py))
+methods_files := $(sort $(notdir $(methods_paths:.py=)))
+
+ifneq ($(methods_now),$(methods_files))
+sfa/methods/__init__.py: force
+endif
+sfa/methods/__init__.py:
+ (echo '## Please use make index to update this file' ; echo 'all = """' ; cd sfa/methods; ls -1 *.py | grep -v __init__ | sed -e 's,.py$$,,' ; echo '""".split()') > $@