diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 694342365..5a122c180 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ trace-*.json
 **/.temp
 .DS_Store
 .cargo
+server/assets_tmp
diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index 05774d35e..9a83dfac5 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
   "eslint.packageManager": "pnpm",
   "eslint.quiet": true,
   "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
-    "source.fixAll.eslint": true,
+    "source.fixAll.eslint": "explicit"
   },
   "jest.enableInlineErrorMessages": true,
   "jest.showCoverageOnLoad": true,
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3f5d47856..c59440207 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -520,6 +520,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "clap 4.0.26",
  "colored",
  "dialoguer",
+ "dircpy",
  "directories",
  "dotenv",
  "futures",
@@ -1432,6 +1433,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "crypto-common",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dircpy"
+version = "0.3.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8466f8d28ca6da4c9dfbbef6ad4bff6f2fdd5e412d821025b0d3f0a9d74a8c1e"
+dependencies = [
+ "jwalk",
+ "log",
+ "walkdir",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "directories"
 version = "4.0.1"
@@ -2616,6 +2628,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "treediff",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "jwalk"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2735847566356cd2179a2a38264839308f7079fa96e6bd5a42d740460e003c56"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam",
+ "rayon",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "kuchiki"
 version = "0.8.1"
diff --git a/server/Cargo.toml b/server/Cargo.toml
index d260b761a..c7b88cad7 100644
--- a/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ path = "src/bin.rs"
 [build-dependencies]
 static-files = "0.2"
 walkdir = "2"
+dircpy = "0.3.15"
 
 [dependencies]
 actix = ">= 0.12, < 0.14"
diff --git a/server/build.rs b/server/build.rs
index 9b921306a..b2437e39a 100644
--- a/server/build.rs
+++ b/server/build.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ use std::time::SystemTime;
 
 use static_files::resource_dir;
 
-const JS_DIST: &str = "../browser/data-browser/dist";
+const JS_DIST_SOURCE: &str = "../browser/data-browser/dist";
 const SRC_BROWSER: &str = "../browser/data-browser/src";
 const BROWSER_ROOT: &str = "../browser/";
+const JS_DIST_TMP: &str = "./assets_tmp";
 
 macro_rules! p {
     ($($tokens: tt)*) => {
@@ -16,20 +17,26 @@ fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}", BROWSER_ROOT);
 
     if should_build() {
-        build_js()
+        build_js();
+        // copy files to server folder
+        dircpy::copy_dir(JS_DIST_SOURCE, JS_DIST_TMP)?;
     }
 
-    resource_dir(JS_DIST)
+    resource_dir(JS_DIST_TMP)
         .build()
-        .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("failed to open data browser assets from {}", JS_DIST));
+        .unwrap_or_else(|e| panic!("failed to open data browser assets from {JS_DIST_TMP}. {e}"));
 
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Check if any JS files were modified since the last build
 fn should_build() -> bool {
-    if let Ok(index_html) = std::fs::metadata(format!("{}/index.html", JS_DIST)) {
-        let dist_time = index_html
+    if !std::path::Path::new(BROWSER_ROOT).exists() {
+        p!("Could not find browser folder, assuming this is a `cargo publish` run. Skipping JS build.");
+        return false;
+    }
+    // Check if any JS files were modified since the last build
+    if let Ok(tmp_dist_index_html) = std::fs::metadata(format!("{}/index.html", JS_DIST_TMP)) {
+        let dist_time = tmp_dist_index_html
             .modified()
             .unwrap()
             .duration_since(SystemTime::UNIX_EPOCH)