diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d349f2e..c8f7ec2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@ build_rev := "main"
 ifneq ($(wildcard .git),)
 	build_rev := $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 endif
-
-build_date := $(shell date -u '+%Y%m%d')
-version := $(build_date):$(build_rev)
+build_date := $(shell date -u '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S')
 
 setup:
 	@go mod download
@@ -24,7 +22,7 @@ test:
 
 
 build:
-	@go build -ldflags "-X main.Version=$(version)" -o build/codapi -v cmd/main.go
+	@go build -ldflags "-X main.commit=$(build_rev) -X main.date=$(build_date)" -o build/codapi -v cmd/main.go
 
 run:
 	@./build/codapi
diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 3ea8457..b5964b5 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -13,11 +13,16 @@ import (
 	"github.com/nalgeon/codapi/internal/server"
 )
 
-var Version string = "main"
+// set by the build process
+var (
+	version = "main"
+	commit  = "none"
+	date    = "unknown"
+)
 
 // startServer starts the HTTP API sandbox server.
 func startServer(port int) *server.Server {
-	logx.Log("codapi %s", Version)
+	logx.Log("codapi %s, commit %s, built at %s", version, commit, date)
 	logx.Log("listening on port %d...", port)
 	router := server.NewRouter()
 	srv := server.NewServer(port, router)