diff --git a/.github/workflows/aiosql-package.yml b/.github/workflows/aiosql-package.yml
index cb6f8c38..26e5557f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/aiosql-package.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/aiosql-package.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         # https://github.com/actions/python-versions (versions-manifest.json)
         # https://downloads.python.org/pypy/versions.json
+        # 3.14 KO on pydantic build dependences 2024-10-27
         python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13", "pypy3.10"]
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 80ba68d2..678034d6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -22,12 +22,11 @@ WAIT	= ./tests/wait.py
 help:
 	@echo "useful targets:"
 	echo " - help: show this help"
-	echo " - venv: generate python virtual environment directory"
-	echo " - venv.dev: make venv suitable for development"
+	echo " - dev: make environment suitable for development"
 	echo " - venv.prod: make venv suitable for production"
 	echo " - venv.last: fill venv with latests packages"
 	echo " - clean: clean up various generated files and directories"
-	echo " - clean.venv: also remove the venv directory"
+	echo " - clean.dev: also remove the development environment"
 	echo " - check.pytest: run pytest tests"
 	echo " - check.mypy: run mypy type checker"
 	echo " - check.flake8: run flake8 code style checks"
@@ -47,27 +46,33 @@ help:
 # so the result is kind of a mess, so we attempt at doing nearly nothing and
 # hope for the best, i.e. dependencies will not break the library.
 #
-.PHONY: venv.dev venv.prod venv.last
 
 venv:
 	$(PYTHON) -m venv venv
 	source venv/bin/activate
 	$(PIP) install --upgrade pip
 
-venv.dev: venv
+venv/.dev: venv
 	source venv/bin/activate
 	$(PIP) install .[dev,dev-postgres,dev-sqlite,dev-duckdb]
+	touch $@
 
-venv.dist: venv
+venv/.dist: venv
 	source venv/bin/activate
 	$(PIP) install .[dist]
+	touch $@
 
+.PHONY: venv.prod
 venv.prod: venv
 
+.PHONY: venv.last
 venv.last: venv
 	source venv/bin/activate
 	$(PIP) install $$($(PIP) freeze | cut -d= -f1 | grep -v -- '^-e') -U
 
+.PHONY: dev
+dev: venv/.dev
+
 # direct module installation for github or docker
 ifdef VENV
 PIP		= $(VENV)/bin/pip
@@ -94,6 +99,9 @@ clean:
 clean.venv: clean
 	$(RM) -r venv $(MODULE).egg-info
 
+.PHONY: clean.dev
+clean.dev: clean.venv
+
 .PHONY: clean.docker
 clean.docker: clean docker.rm
 	$(MAKE) -C docker clean
diff --git a/aiosql/queries.py b/aiosql/queries.py
index f39b1b73..3106a442 100644
--- a/aiosql/queries.py
+++ b/aiosql/queries.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import re
 import inspect
 from pathlib import Path
 from types import MethodType
@@ -6,7 +7,7 @@
 from typing import Any, Callable, List, Optional, Set, Tuple, Union, Dict, cast
 
 from .types import DriverAdapterProtocol, QueryDatum, QueryDataTree, QueryFn, SQLOperationType
-from .utils import SQLLoadException
+from .utils import SQLLoadException, log
 
 
 class Queries:
@@ -72,6 +73,10 @@ def _params(
         else:
             return args
 
+    def _look_like_a_select(self, sql: str) -> bool:
+        # skipped: VALUES, SHOW
+        return re.search(r"(?i)\b(SELECT|RETURNING|TABLE|EXECUTE)\b", sql) is not None
+
     def _query_fn(
         self,
         fn: Callable[..., Any],
@@ -93,6 +98,9 @@ def _query_fn(
         qfn.sql = sql
         qfn.operation = operation
         qfn.attributes = attributes
+        # sanity check in passing…
+        if operation == SQLOperationType.SELECT and not self._look_like_a_select(sql):
+            log.warning(f"query {fname} may not be a select, consider adding an operator, eg '!'")
         return qfn
 
     # NOTE about coverage: because __code__ is set to reflect the actual SQL file
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
index 90b2d9ed..680c546c 100644
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -213,8 +213,8 @@ using ``aiosqlite`` and ``asyncio``:
 It may seem inconvenient to provide a connection on each call.
 You may have a look at the `AnoDB <https://github.com/zx80/anodb>`__ `DB`
 class which wraps both a database connection *and* queries in one
-connection-like extended object, including managing a pool and performing
-automatic reconnection if needed.
+connection-like extended object, including performing automatic reconnection
+when needed.
 
 Why you might want to use this
 ------------------------------
diff --git a/docs/source/versions.rst b/docs/source/versions.rst
index 3c0d34e2..2765a2db 100644
--- a/docs/source/versions.rst
+++ b/docs/source/versions.rst
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ TODO
 - tests with other database and drivers?
 - rethink record classes? we just really want a row conversion function?
 - add documentation about docker runs.
+- allow tagging queries, eg whether it can be cached
+
+? on ?
+------
+
+- improve Makefile.
+- warn on probable mission operation.
+- add *psycopg2* to CI.
+- improve documentation.
 
 12.2 on 2024-10-02
 ------------------
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 390a87f9..ebc3c98e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ dev-postgres = [
     "pytest-postgresql",
     "asyncpg; python_version < '3.13' and implementation_name != 'pypy'",
     "psycopg>=3",
-    "psycopg2; python_version < '3.13' and implementation_name != 'pypy'",
+    # 2.9.10 needed for 3.13
+    "psycopg2 >= 2.9.10; implementation_name != 'pypy'",
     "pygresql",
     "pg8000"
 ]
diff --git a/tests/blogdb/sql/misc/misc.sql b/tests/blogdb/sql/misc/misc.sql
index 98add9da..c1da5edd 100644
--- a/tests/blogdb/sql/misc/misc.sql
+++ b/tests/blogdb/sql/misc/misc.sql
@@ -24,3 +24,6 @@ SELECT :numerator % :denominator AS modulo;
 
 -- name: square$
 select :val::int * :val::int as squared;
+
+-- name: not_a_select
+INSERT INTO Foo VALUES (1);