diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yml b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
index b88cb898d..6245dbf6f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       # Check out source.
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0  # This ensures the entire history is fetched so we can switch branches
 
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v1
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Get version + subdirectory
         run: |
           VERSION=$(python -c "import toml; print(toml.load('pyproject.toml')['project']['version'])")
+          echo "VERSION=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           echo "DOCS_SUBDIR=versions/$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       # Get version from pyproject.toml.
@@ -59,4 +62,19 @@ jobs:
           destination_dir: ${{ env.DOCS_SUBDIR }}
           keep_files: false  # This will only erase the destination subdirectory.
           cname: viser.studio
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request
+
+      - name: Update versions index.txt
+        run: |
+          git checkout gh-pages
+          FILE="versions/index.txt"  # Replace with your file path
+          if ! grep -qx "$VERSION" "$FILE"; then
+            echo "$VERSION" >> "$FILE"
+            git add path/to/versions.txt
+            git commit -m "Update versions.txt with new version $VERSION"
+            git push origin gh-pages
+          fi
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          VERSION: ${{ env.VERSION }}
+        if: github.event_name == 'push' # TODO: should be release.
diff --git a/docs/source/_static/css/custom.css b/docs/source/_static/css/custom.css
index e0cb38f85..45a20238f 100644
--- a/docs/source/_static/css/custom.css
+++ b/docs/source/_static/css/custom.css
@@ -2,8 +2,3 @@ img.sidebar-logo {
   width: 5em;
   margin: 1em 0 0 0;
 }
-.sidebar-brand-text {
-  font-size: 1rem;
-  font-weight: 600;
-  font-style: italic;
-}
diff --git a/docs/source/_templates/sidebar/brand.html b/docs/source/_templates/sidebar/brand.html
index cc5b72478..a50ed4b9d 100644
--- a/docs/source/_templates/sidebar/brand.html
+++ b/docs/source/_templates/sidebar/brand.html
@@ -9,11 +9,47 @@
         <img class="sidebar-logo only-dark" src="{{ pathto('_static/' + theme_dark_logo, 1) }}" alt="logo" />
     </div>
     {%- endif %}
-    <span class="sidebar-brand-text">{{ version }}</span>
+    <!-- <span class="sidebar-brand-text">{{ project }}</span> -->
 
-    <!-- Dropdown for different versions of the viser docs. Slightly hacky -->
+    {% endblock brand_content %}
+</div>
+
+<!-- Dropdown for different versions of the viser docs. Slightly hacky. -->
+<div style="padding: 0 1em;">
     <script>
       var viserDocsVersionsPopulated = false;
+
+      function viserMemoizeHelper(fn) {
+        const cacheKey = fn.name || 'memoizedFunction';
+        const ttl = 3 * 60 * 1000; // 3 minutes in milliseconds.
+
+        return async function(...args) {
+            const now = Date.now();
+            const cache = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(cacheKey)) || {};
+            if (cache.timestamp && (now - cache.timestamp < ttl)) {
+                console.log("Using cached value");
+                return cache.value;
+            }
+            const value = await fn(...args);
+            if (value === null) {
+              console.log("Using cached value (failed to recompute)");
+              return cache.value
+            }
+            localStorage.setItem(cacheKey, JSON.stringify({ value, timestamp: now }));
+            return value;
+        };
+      }
+      async function getVersionListViaGithubApi() {
+        console.log("Polling GitHub REST API");
+        const response = await fetch(
+          "https://api.github.com/repos/nerfstudio-project/viser/contents/versions?ref=gh-pages",
+        );
+        if (await response.status === 403) {
+            console.error(await response.json());
+            return null;
+        }
+        return await response.json();
+      }
       async function viserDocsPopulateVersionDropDown () {
         // Load the version list lazily... reduces likelihood of running into GitHub API rate limits.
         if (viserDocsVersionsPopulated) {
@@ -23,10 +59,7 @@
 
         // Populate the version list by polling the GitHub REST API.
         console.log("Populating docs version list!")
-        const response = await fetch(
-          "https://api.github.com/repos/nerfstudio-project/viser/contents/versions?ref=gh-pages",
-        );
-        const data = await response.json();
+        const data = viserMemoizeHelper(getVersionListViaGithubApi)();
         let htmlString = "<ul style='margin: 0.5rem 0 0 0'>";
         htmlString += `<li><a href="https://viser.studio/latest">latest</a></li>`;
         for (let file of data) {
@@ -42,11 +75,10 @@
         style="padding: 0.5rem; background: var(--color-background-primary); border-radius: 0.5rem; border: 1px solid var(--color-sidebar-background-border);"
         ontoggle="viserDocsPopulateVersionDropDown()"
     >
-      <summary style="cursor: pointer;">Versions</summary>
+    <summary style="cursor: pointer;"><strong>Version:</strong> <em>{{ version }}</em></summary>
       <div id="version-dropdown"></div>
     </details>
     <!-- End dropdown -->
-    {% endblock brand_content %}
 </div>
 
 <div style="text-align: left; padding: 1em">