diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 29eabff9..bfa9040c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -74,4 +74,7 @@ backend/bindings
 build-npm-package-codesign.sh
 
 npx-cli/dist
-db.sqlite
\ No newline at end of file
+backend/db.sqlite
+
+# Development ports file
+.dev-ports.json
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/src/main.rs b/backend/src/main.rs
index e915798e..85273bde 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/backend/src/main.rs
@@ -187,10 +187,11 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         .layer(Extension(app_state))
         .layer(CorsLayer::permissive());
 
-    let port: u16 = std::env::var("PORT")
+    let port: u16 = std::env::var("BACKEND_PORT")
+        .or_else(|_| std::env::var("PORT"))
         .ok()
         .and_then(|p| p.parse().ok())
-        .unwrap_or(if cfg!(debug_assertions) { 3001 } else { 0 });
+        .unwrap_or(0); // Use 0 to find free port if no specific port provided
 
     let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind(format!("0.0.0.0:{port}")).await?;
     let actual_port = listener.local_addr()?.port(); // get → 53427 (example)
diff --git a/backend/src/utils.rs b/backend/src/utils.rs
index dc3116be..c45af2a4 100644
--- a/backend/src/utils.rs
+++ b/backend/src/utils.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ use directories::ProjectDirs;
 pub mod shell;
 pub mod text;
 
+const PROJECT_ROOT: &str = env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR");
+
 /// Cache for WSL2 detection result
 static WSL2_CACHE: OnceLock<bool> = OnceLock::new();
 
@@ -31,18 +33,18 @@ pub fn is_wsl2() -> bool {
 }
 
 pub fn asset_dir() -> std::path::PathBuf {
-    let proj = if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
-        ProjectDirs::from("ai", "bloop-dev", env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME"))
-            .expect("OS didn't give us a home directory")
+    if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
+        std::path::PathBuf::from(PROJECT_ROOT).join("../dev_assets")
     } else {
         ProjectDirs::from("ai", "bloop", env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME"))
             .expect("OS didn't give us a home directory")
-    };
+            .data_dir()
+            .to_path_buf()
+    }
 
     // ✔ macOS → ~/Library/Application Support/MyApp
     // ✔ Linux → ~/.local/share/myapp   (respects XDG_DATA_HOME)
     // ✔ Windows → %APPDATA%\Example\MyApp
-    proj.data_dir().to_path_buf()
 }
 
 pub fn config_path() -> std::path::PathBuf {
diff --git a/dev_assets/config.json b/dev_assets/config.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..87dfb145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev_assets/config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{
+  "theme": "light",
+  "executor": {
+    "type": "claude"
+  },
+  "disclaimer_acknowledged": true,
+  "onboarding_acknowledged": true,
+  "sound_alerts": true,
+  "sound_file": "abstract-sound4",
+  "push_notifications": true,
+  "editor": {
+    "editor_type": "vscode",
+    "custom_command": null
+  },
+  "github": {
+    "token": "",
+    "default_pr_base": "main"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/dev_assets/db.sqlite b/dev_assets/db.sqlite
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fcc02fb9
Binary files /dev/null and b/dev_assets/db.sqlite differ
diff --git a/frontend/vite.config.ts b/frontend/vite.config.ts
index 708e52b7..a28b6dd9 100644
--- a/frontend/vite.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/vite.config.ts
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ export default defineConfig({
     },
   },
   server: {
-    port: 3000,
+    port: parseInt(process.env.FRONTEND_PORT || '3000'),
     proxy: {
       '/api': {
-        target: 'http://localhost:3001',
+        target: `http://localhost:${process.env.BACKEND_PORT || '3001'}`,
         changeOrigin: true,
       },
     },
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4cd5f9e0..55c2eb00 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -3,19 +3,20 @@
   "version": "0.0.32",
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
-    "dev": "concurrently \"cargo watch -w backend -x 'run --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml'\" \"npm run frontend:dev\"",
+    "dev": "export FRONTEND_PORT=$(node scripts/manage-dev-ports.js frontend) && export BACKEND_PORT=$(node scripts/manage-dev-ports.js backend) && concurrently \"cargo watch -w backend -x 'run --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml'\" \"npm run frontend:dev\"",
     "build": "npm run frontend:build && cargo build --release --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml && cargo build --release --bin mcp_task_server --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml",
     "build:single": "npm run frontend:build && cargo build --release --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml",
     "build:npm": "./build-npm-package.sh",
     "test:npm": "./test-npm-package.sh",
-    "frontend:dev": "cd frontend && npm run dev",
+    "frontend:dev": "cd frontend && npm run dev -- --port ${FRONTEND_PORT:-3000} --open",
     "frontend:build": "cd frontend && npm run build",
-    "backend:dev": "cargo watch -w backend -x 'run --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml'",
+    "backend:dev": "BACKEND_PORT=$(node scripts/manage-dev-ports.js backend) cargo watch -w backend -x 'run --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml'",
     "backend:build": "cargo build --release --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml",
     "backend:run": "cargo run --manifest-path backend/Cargo.toml",
     "backend:test": "cargo test --lib",
     "generate-types": "cd backend && cargo run --bin generate_types",
-    "prepare-db": "node scripts/prepare-db.js"
+    "prepare-db": "node scripts/prepare-db.js",
+    "dev:clear-ports": "node scripts/manage-dev-ports.js clear"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "concurrently": "^8.2.2",
diff --git a/scripts/manage-dev-ports.js b/scripts/manage-dev-ports.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f4775ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/manage-dev-ports.js
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+const fs = require("fs");
+const path = require("path");
+const net = require("net");
+
+const PORTS_FILE = path.join(__dirname, "..", ".dev-ports.json");
+
+/**
+ * Check if a port is available
+ */
+function isPortAvailable(port) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const sock = net.createConnection({ port, host: "localhost" });
+    sock.on("connect", () => {
+      sock.destroy();
+      resolve(false);
+    });
+    sock.on("error", () => resolve(true));
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Find a free port starting from a given port
+ */
+async function findFreePort(startPort = 3000) {
+  let port = startPort;
+  while (!(await isPortAvailable(port))) {
+    port++;
+    if (port > 65535) {
+      throw new Error("No available ports found");
+    }
+  }
+  return port;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Load existing ports from file
+ */
+function loadPorts() {
+  try {
+    if (fs.existsSync(PORTS_FILE)) {
+      const data = fs.readFileSync(PORTS_FILE, "utf8");
+      return JSON.parse(data);
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.warn("Failed to load existing ports:", error.message);
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Save ports to file
+ */
+function savePorts(ports) {
+  try {
+    fs.writeFileSync(PORTS_FILE, JSON.stringify(ports, null, 2));
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Failed to save ports:", error.message);
+    throw error;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Verify that saved ports are still available
+ */
+async function verifyPorts(ports) {
+  const frontendAvailable = await isPortAvailable(ports.frontend);
+  const backendAvailable = await isPortAvailable(ports.backend);
+
+  if (process.argv[2] === "get" && (!frontendAvailable || !backendAvailable)) {
+    console.log(
+      `Port availability check failed: frontend:${ports.frontend}=${frontendAvailable}, backend:${ports.backend}=${backendAvailable}`
+    );
+  }
+
+  return frontendAvailable && backendAvailable;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Allocate ports for development
+ */
+async function allocatePorts() {
+  // Try to load existing ports first
+  const existingPorts = loadPorts();
+
+  if (existingPorts) {
+    // Verify existing ports are still available
+    if (await verifyPorts(existingPorts)) {
+      if (process.argv[2] === "get") {
+        console.log("Reusing existing dev ports:");
+        console.log(`Frontend: ${existingPorts.frontend}`);
+        console.log(`Backend: ${existingPorts.backend}`);
+      }
+      return existingPorts;
+    } else {
+      if (process.argv[2] === "get") {
+        console.log(
+          "Existing ports are no longer available, finding new ones..."
+        );
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Find new free ports
+  const frontendPort = await findFreePort(3000);
+  const backendPort = await findFreePort(frontendPort + 1);
+
+  const ports = {
+    frontend: frontendPort,
+    backend: backendPort,
+    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+  };
+
+  savePorts(ports);
+
+  if (process.argv[2] === "get") {
+    console.log("Allocated new dev ports:");
+    console.log(`Frontend: ${ports.frontend}`);
+    console.log(`Backend: ${ports.backend}`);
+  }
+
+  return ports;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get ports (allocate if needed)
+ */
+async function getPorts() {
+  const ports = await allocatePorts();
+  return ports;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Clear saved ports
+ */
+function clearPorts() {
+  try {
+    if (fs.existsSync(PORTS_FILE)) {
+      fs.unlinkSync(PORTS_FILE);
+      console.log("Cleared saved dev ports");
+    } else {
+      console.log("No saved ports to clear");
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Failed to clear ports:", error.message);
+  }
+}
+
+// CLI interface
+if (require.main === module) {
+  const command = process.argv[2];
+
+  switch (command) {
+    case "get":
+      getPorts()
+        .then((ports) => {
+          console.log(JSON.stringify(ports));
+        })
+        .catch(console.error);
+      break;
+
+    case "clear":
+      clearPorts();
+      break;
+
+    case "frontend":
+      getPorts()
+        .then((ports) => {
+          console.log(ports.frontend);
+        })
+        .catch(console.error);
+      break;
+
+    case "backend":
+      getPorts()
+        .then((ports) => {
+          console.log(ports.backend);
+        })
+        .catch(console.error);
+      break;
+
+    default:
+      console.log("Usage:");
+      console.log(
+        "  node manage-dev-ports.js get     - Get all ports (allocate if needed)"
+      );
+      console.log(
+        "  node manage-dev-ports.js frontend - Get frontend port only"
+      );
+      console.log(
+        "  node manage-dev-ports.js backend  - Get backend port only"
+      );
+      console.log("  node manage-dev-ports.js clear    - Clear saved ports");
+      break;
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = { getPorts, clearPorts, findFreePort };