diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 91893285..7650c958 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 .direnv
 result*
 pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/nixpkgs
+pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/assets
 
 # python
 __pycache__
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/__init__.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/__init__.py
index 013468bc..fc1d8ca5 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/__init__.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/__init__.py
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ def register_parser(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> None:
     parser.add_argument(
         "--no-open", action="store_true", help="Don't open the browser", default=False
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--dev", action="store_true", help="Run in development mode", default=False
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--dev-port",
+        type=int,
+        default=3000,
+        help="Port to listen on for the dev server",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--dev-host", type=str, default="localhost", help="Host to listen on"
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--reload", action="store_true", help="Don't reload on changes", default=False
     )
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py
index 57f4e105..f1742d8c 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
 from fastapi.routing import APIRoute
+from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 
+from .assets import asset_path
+from .config import settings
 from .routers import health, machines, root
 
 
@@ -10,14 +13,18 @@ def setup_app() -> FastAPI:
     app.include_router(health.router)
     app.include_router(machines.router)
     app.include_router(root.router)
-    # TODO make this configurable
-    app.add_middleware(
-        CORSMiddleware,
-        allow_origins="http://localhost:3000",
-        allow_credentials=True,
-        allow_methods=["*"],
-        allow_headers=["*"],
-    )
+
+    if settings.env.is_development():
+        # TODO make this configurable
+        app.add_middleware(
+            CORSMiddleware,
+            allow_origins="http://${settings.dev_host}:${settings.dev_port}",
+            allow_credentials=True,
+            allow_methods=["*"],
+            allow_headers=["*"],
+        )
+    else:
+        app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory=asset_path()), name="static")
 
     for route in app.routes:
         if isinstance(route, APIRoute):
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/assets.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/assets.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b6a027c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/assets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import functools
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+@functools.cache
+def asset_path() -> Path:
+    return Path(__file__).parent / "assets"
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/config.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d64c23b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# config.py
+import logging
+import os
+from enum import Enum
+
+from pydantic import BaseSettings
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class EnvType(Enum):
+    production = "production"
+    development = "development"
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_environment() -> "EnvType":
+        t = os.environ.get("CLAN_WEBUI_ENV", "production")
+        try:
+            return EnvType[t]
+        except KeyError:
+            logger.warning(f"Invalid environment type: {t}, fallback to production")
+            return EnvType.production
+
+    def is_production(self) -> bool:
+        return self == EnvType.production
+
+    def is_development(self) -> bool:
+        return self == EnvType.development
+
+
+class Settings(BaseSettings):
+    env: EnvType = EnvType.from_environment()
+    dev_port: int = int(os.environ.get("CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_PORT", 3000))
+    dev_host: str = os.environ.get("CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_HOST", "localhost")
+
+
+# global instance
+settings = Settings()
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/routers/root.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/routers/root.py
index 752b6e72..60a83590 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/routers/root.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/routers/root.py
@@ -1,9 +1,28 @@
+import os
+from mimetypes import guess_type
+from pathlib import Path
+
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Response
 
+from ..assets import asset_path
+
 router = APIRouter()
 
 
-@router.get("/")
-async def root() -> Response:
-    body = "<html><body><h1>Welcome</h1></body></html>"
-    return Response(content=body, media_type="text/html")
+@router.get("/{path_name:path}")
+async def root(path_name: str) -> Response:
+    if path_name == "":
+        path_name = "index.html"
+    filename = Path(os.path.normpath((asset_path() / path_name)))
+
+    if not filename.is_relative_to(asset_path()):
+        # prevent directory traversal
+        return Response(status_code=403)
+
+    if not filename.is_file():
+        print(filename)
+        print(asset_path())
+        return Response(status_code=404)
+
+    content_type, _ = guess_type(filename)
+    return Response(filename.read_bytes(), media_type=content_type)
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py
index cbea5a21..1e1881fa 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 import argparse
+import logging
+import os
+import subprocess
 import time
 import urllib.request
 import webbrowser
+from contextlib import ExitStack, contextmanager
+from pathlib import Path
 from threading import Thread
+from typing import Iterator
 
 # XXX: can we dynamically load this using nix develop?
 from uvicorn import run
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 def defer_open_browser(base_url: str) -> None:
     for i in range(5):
@@ -18,15 +26,41 @@ def defer_open_browser(base_url: str) -> None:
     webbrowser.open(base_url)
 
 
+@contextmanager
+def spawn_node_dev_server() -> Iterator[None]:
+    logger.info("Starting node dev server...")
+    path = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.parent / "ui"
+    with subprocess.Popen(
+        ["direnv", "exec", path, "npm", "run", "dev"],
+        cwd=path,
+    ) as proc:
+        try:
+            yield
+        finally:
+            proc.terminate()
+
+
 def start_server(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
-    if not args.no_open:
-        Thread(
-            target=defer_open_browser, args=(f"http://[{args.host}]:{args.port}",)
-        ).start()
-    run(
-        "clan_cli.webui.app:app",
-        host=args.host,
-        port=args.port,
-        log_level=args.log_level,
-        reload=args.reload,
-    )
+    with ExitStack() as stack:
+        if args.dev:
+            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_ENV"] = "development"
+            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_PORT"] = str(args.dev_port)
+            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_HOST"] = args.dev_host
+
+            stack.enter_context(spawn_node_dev_server())
+
+            open_url = f"http://{args.dev_host}:{args.dev_port}"
+        else:
+            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_ENV"] = "production"
+            open_url = f"http://[{args.host}]:{args.port}"
+
+        if not args.no_open:
+            Thread(target=defer_open_browser, args=(open_url,)).start()
+
+        run(
+            "clan_cli.webui.app:app",
+            host=args.host,
+            port=args.port,
+            log_level=args.log_level,
+            reload=args.reload,
+        )
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix
index 7636b15c..feee2d82 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/default.nix
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 , zerotierone
 , rsync
 , pkgs
+, ui-assets
 }:
 let
   # This provides dummy options for testing clan config and prevents it from
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ let
     rm $out/clan_cli/config/jsonschema
     cp -r ${self + /lib/jsonschema} $out/clan_cli/config/jsonschema
     ln -s ${nixpkgs} $out/clan_cli/nixpkgs
+    ln -s ${ui-assets} $out/clan_cli/webui/assets
   '';
   nixpkgs = runCommand "nixpkgs" { } ''
     mkdir -p $out/unfree
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix
index 2ffba47d..921b7778 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/flake-module.nix
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
   perSystem = { self', pkgs, ... }: {
     devShells.clan-cli = pkgs.callPackage ./shell.nix {
       inherit self;
-      inherit (self'.packages) clan-cli;
+      inherit (self'.packages) clan-cli ui-assets;
     };
     packages = {
       clan-cli = pkgs.python3.pkgs.callPackage ./default.nix {
         inherit self;
-        zerotierone = self'.packages.zerotierone;
+        inherit (self'.packages) ui-assets zerotierone;
       };
       clan-openapi = self'.packages.clan-cli.clan-openapi;
       default = self'.packages.clan-cli;
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/pyproject.toml b/pkgs/clan-cli/pyproject.toml
index 95b8ea32..1892ad69 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ scripts = { clan = "clan_cli:main" }
 exclude = ["clan_cli.nixpkgs*"]
 
 [tool.setuptools.package-data]
-clan_cli = ["config/jsonschema/*"]
+clan_cli = [ "config/jsonschema/*", "webui/assets/**/*"]
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 addopts = "--cov . --cov-report term --cov-report html:.reports/html --no-cov-on-fail"
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/shell.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/shell.nix
index 2ba4b73d..600f5a34 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/shell.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/shell.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ self, clan-cli, pkgs }:
+{ self, clan-cli, pkgs, ui-assets }:
 let
   pythonWithDeps = pkgs.python3.withPackages (
     ps:
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ pkgs.mkShell {
   shellHook = ''
     tmp_path=$(realpath ./.direnv)
                                       
-    rm -f clan_cli/nixpkgs
+    rm -f clan_cli/nixpkgs clan_cli/assets
     ln -sf ${clan-cli.nixpkgs} clan_cli/nixpkgs
+    ln -sf ${ui-assets} clan_cli/webui/assets
     
     export PATH="$tmp_path/bin:${checkScript}/bin:$PATH"
     export PYTHONPATH="$PYTHONPATH:$(pwd)"