diff --git a/template/prepare.sh b/template/prepare.sh
index 8411ac7..8f3988c 100644
--- a/template/prepare.sh
+++ b/template/prepare.sh
@@ -40,3 +40,7 @@ if ! command_exists extism-py; then
   sleep 2
   exit 1
 fi
+
+# Download extism interface file for IDE intellisense
+# Ideally we'd have extism-py generate or output this to keep it in-sync
+curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/extism/python-pdk/refs/heads/main/extism.pyi
diff --git a/template/xtp.toml.ejs b/template/xtp.toml.ejs
index 5b6ed23..1da38a8 100644
--- a/template/xtp.toml.ejs
+++ b/template/xtp.toml.ejs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ name = "<%= project.name %>"
 
 [scripts]
 # xtp plugin build runs this script to generate the wasm file
-build = "PYTHONPATH=./plugin:./.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages extism-py -o plugin.wasm plugin/__init__.py"
+build = "uv sync && PYTHONPATH=./plugin:./.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages extism-py -o plugin.wasm plugin/__init__.py"
 
 # xtp plugin init runs this script to format the code
 format = "uv run ruff format plugin/*.py"