diff --git a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-web-server.mjs b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-web-server.mjs
index 6a1630d4..cdc580da 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-web-server.mjs
+++ b/packages/desktop/scripts/dev-web-server.mjs
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ const sidecarName = process.platform === 'win32'
 
 const sidecarPath = path.join(tauriDir, 'sidecars', sidecarName);
 const distDir = path.join(tauriDir, 'resources', 'web-dist');
+const webDir = path.join(repoRoot, 'packages', 'web');
 
 const run = (cmd, args, cwd) => {
   const result = spawnSync(cmd, args, { cwd, stdio: 'inherit' });
@@ -47,9 +48,9 @@ const run = (cmd, args, cwd) => {
 console.log('[desktop] ensuring sidecar + web-dist...');
 run('node', ['./scripts/build-sidecar.mjs'], desktopDir);
 
-console.log('[desktop] starting dev server on http://127.0.0.1:3001 ...');
+console.log('[desktop] starting API server on http://127.0.0.1:3001 ...');
 
-const child = spawn(sidecarPath, ['--port', '3001'], {
+const apiChild = spawn(sidecarPath, ['--port', '3001'], {
   cwd: repoRoot,
   stdio: 'inherit',
   env: {
@@ -61,14 +62,62 @@ const child = spawn(sidecarPath, ['--port', '3001'], {
   },
 });
 
+console.log('[desktop] starting Vite HMR server on http://127.0.0.1:5173 ...');
+
+const webChild = spawn('bun', ['x', 'vite', '--host', '127.0.0.1', '--port', '5173', '--strictPort'], {
+  cwd: webDir,
+  stdio: 'inherit',
+  env: {
+    ...process.env,
+    OPENCHAMBER_PORT: process.env.OPENCHAMBER_PORT || '3001',
+    NO_PROXY: process.env.NO_PROXY || 'localhost,127.0.0.1',
+    no_proxy: process.env.no_proxy || 'localhost,127.0.0.1',
+  },
+});
+
+let shuttingDown = false;
+
 const shutdown = () => {
+  if (shuttingDown) return;
+  shuttingDown = true;
+
   try {
-    child.kill('SIGTERM');
-  } catch {
-    // ignore
-  }
+    apiChild.kill('SIGTERM');
+  } catch {}
+
+  try {
+    webChild.kill('SIGTERM');
+  } catch {}
 };
 
+const handleExit = (label) => (code, signal) => {
+  if (shuttingDown) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (code !== 0 || signal) {
+    console.error(`[desktop] ${label} exited unexpectedly (code=${code ?? 'null'} signal=${signal ?? 'none'})`);
+  }
+
+  shutdown();
+  process.exit(typeof code === 'number' ? code : 1);
+};
+
+apiChild.on('exit', handleExit('API server'));
+webChild.on('exit', handleExit('Vite server'));
+
+const handleError = (label) => (error) => {
+  if (shuttingDown) {
+    return;
+  }
+  console.error(`[desktop] failed to start ${label}:`, error);
+  shutdown();
+  process.exit(1);
+};
+
+apiChild.on('error', handleError('API server'));
+webChild.on('error', handleError('Vite server'));
+
 process.on('SIGINT', shutdown);
 process.on('SIGTERM', shutdown);
 process.on('exit', shutdown);
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/packages/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index bc00c4aa..998e7e86 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/packages/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -1504,7 +1504,6 @@ fn main() {
         .setup(|app| {
             let handle = app.handle().clone();
             tauri::async_runtime::spawn(async move {
-                // Always ensure local server is running for escape hatch.
                 let local_url = if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
                     let dev_url = "http://127.0.0.1:3001";
                     if wait_for_health(dev_url).await {
@@ -1528,29 +1527,41 @@ fn main() {
                     }
                 };
 
+                let local_ui_url = if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
+                    let vite_url = "http://127.0.0.1:5173";
+                    if wait_for_health(vite_url).await {
+                        vite_url.to_string()
+                    } else {
+                        log::warn!("[desktop] Vite dev server not ready, using local API UI at {local_url}");
+                        local_url.clone()
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    local_url.clone()
+                };
+
                 // Ensure local URL is always available to desktop commands,
                 // even when we are using the Vite dev server (no sidecar child).
                 if let Some(state) = handle.try_state::<SidecarState>() {
                     *state.url.lock().expect("sidecar url mutex") = Some(local_url.clone());
                 }
 
-                let local_origin = url::Url::parse(&local_url)
+                let local_origin = url::Url::parse(&local_ui_url)
                     .ok()
                     .map(|u| u.origin().ascii_serialization())
-                    .unwrap_or_else(|| local_url.clone());
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|| local_ui_url.clone());
 
                 // Selected host: env override first, then desktop default host, else local.
                 let env_target = std::env::var("OPENCHAMBER_SERVER_URL")
                     .ok()
                     .and_then(|raw| normalize_server_url(&raw));
 
-                let mut initial_url = env_target.unwrap_or_else(|| local_url.clone());
+                let mut initial_url = env_target.unwrap_or_else(|| local_ui_url.clone());
 
-                if initial_url == local_url {
+                if initial_url == local_ui_url {
                     let cfg = read_desktop_hosts_config_from_disk();
                     if let Some(default_id) = cfg.default_host_id {
                         if default_id == LOCAL_HOST_ID {
-                            initial_url = local_url.clone();
+                            initial_url = local_ui_url.clone();
                         } else if let Some(host) = cfg.hosts.into_iter().find(|h| h.id == default_id) {
                             initial_url = host.url;
                         }
diff --git a/packages/web/vite.config.ts b/packages/web/vite.config.ts
index a08fe2bb..a821879f 100644
--- a/packages/web/vite.config.ts
+++ b/packages/web/vite.config.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@ export default defineConfig({
   server: {
     port: 5173,
     proxy: {
+      '/auth': {
+        target: `http://127.0.0.1:${process.env.OPENCHAMBER_PORT || 3001}`,
+        changeOrigin: true,
+      },
+      '/health': {
+        target: `http://127.0.0.1:${process.env.OPENCHAMBER_PORT || 3001}`,
+        changeOrigin: true,
+      },
       '/api': {
         target: `http://127.0.0.1:${process.env.OPENCHAMBER_PORT || 3001}`,
         changeOrigin: true,