diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ef0579d..d9ed03e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # matrix-alertmanager-receiver
 
-TODO: synopsis, existing matrix-alermanager
+Simple daemon forwarding
+[prometheus-alertmanager](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=prometheus+alertmanagaer&ia=software)
+events to matrix room. While there already is a
+[matrix-alertmanager](https://git.feneas.org/jaywink/matrix-alertmanager)
+project out there, use of the JavaScript ecosystem (and lack of logging) made
+it rather painful to use from my point of view.
 
-See `matrix-alermanager-receiver.scd` for usage.
+See `matrix-alermanager-receiver.scd` for usage. [Go](http://golang.org/) is
+required to build the `matrix-alertmanager-receiver` binary, `make` and `scdoc`
+(manpage generation) are optional but convenient.