diff --git a/Gruntfile.coffee b/Gruntfile.coffee
index 76917006b..d1987641f 100644
--- a/Gruntfile.coffee
+++ b/Gruntfile.coffee
@@ -1,9 +1,59 @@
+fs = require 'fs'
+path = require 'path'
+rm = require('rimraf').sync
+mkdir = require('wrench').mkdirSyncRecursive
+cp = require('wrench').copyDirSyncRecursive
+_ = require 'underscore'
+CSON = require 'season'
+
 BUILD_DIR = '/tmp/atom-build'
+APP_DIR = path.join(BUILD_DIR, 'Atom.app', 'Contents', 'Resources', 'app')
 
 module.exports = (grunt) ->
   grunt.initConfig
     pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json')
 
+    coffee:
+      options:
+        sourceMap: true
+
+      glob_to_multiple:
+        expand: true
+        src: [
+          'src/**/*.coffee'
+          'static/**/*.coffee'
+          'vendor/**/*.coffee'
+        ]
+        dest: APP_DIR
+        ext: '.js'
+
+    less:
+      options:
+        paths: [
+          'static'
+          'vendor'
+        ]
+      glob_to_multiple:
+        expand: true
+        src: [
+          'src/**/*.less'
+          'static/**/*.less'
+          'themes/**/*.less'
+        ]
+        dest: APP_DIR
+        ext: '.css'
+
+    cson:
+      glob_to_multiple:
+        expand: true
+        src: [
+          'src/**/*.cson'
+          'static/**/*.cson'
+          'themes/**/*.cson'
+        ]
+        dest: APP_DIR
+        ext: '.json'
+
     coffeelint:
       options:
         max_line_length:
@@ -24,9 +74,26 @@ module.exports = (grunt) ->
 
   grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-coffeelint')
   grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-csslint')
+  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-coffee')
+  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-less')
+
+  grunt.registerMultiTask 'cson', 'Compile CSON files to JSON', ->
+    for mapping in @files
+      source = mapping.src[0]
+      destination = mapping.dest
+      try
+        object = CSON.readFileSync(source)
+        if !_.isObject(object) or _.isArray(object)
+          grunt.log.error("#{source} does not contain a root object")
+          return false
+        mkdir path.dirname(destination)
+        CSON.writeFileSync(destination, object)
+        grunt.log.writeln("File #{destination.cyan} created.")
+      catch e
+        grunt.log.error("Parsing #{source} failed: #{e.message}")
+        return false
 
   grunt.registerTask 'clean', 'Delete all build files', ->
-    rm = require('rimraf').sync
     rm BUILD_DIR
     rm '/tmp/atom-coffee-cache'
     rm '/tmp/atom-cached-atom-shells'
@@ -36,5 +103,12 @@ module.exports = (grunt) ->
     rm 'node'
     rm 'prebuilt-cef'
 
+  grunt.registerTask 'build', 'Build the application', ->
+    rm BUILD_DIR
+    mkdir BUILD_DIR
+    cp 'atom-shell', path.join(BUILD_DIR, 'atom-shell')
+    grunt.task.run('compile')
+
+  grunt.registerTask('compile', ['coffee', 'less', 'cson'])
   grunt.registerTask('lint', ['coffeelint', 'csslint'])
-  grunt.registerTask('default', 'lint')
+  grunt.registerTask('default', ['lint', 'build'])
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e8f29d446..f19cb255c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@
     "grunt-cli": "~0.1.9",
     "grunt-coffeelint": "0.0.6",
     "grunt-contrib-csslint": "~0.1.2",
-    "rimraf": "~2.1.4"
+    "rimraf": "~2.1.4",
+    "wrench": "~1.5.1",
+    "grunt-contrib-coffee": "~0.7.0",
+    "grunt-contrib-less": "~0.5.2"
   },
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {