diff --git a/.idea/runConfigurations/Run_with_vite.xml b/.idea/runConfigurations/Run_with_vite.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7cf94b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.idea/runConfigurations/Run_with_vite.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<component name="ProjectRunConfigurationManager">
+  <configuration default="false" name="Run with vite" type="CargoCommandRunConfiguration" factoryName="Cargo Command">
+    <option name="buildProfileId" value="dev" />
+    <option name="command" value="run --package compendium --bin compendium --features vite" />
+    <option name="workingDirectory" value="file://$PROJECT_DIR$" />
+    <envs>
+      <env name="CPD_DB_HOST" value="localhost" />
+      <env name="CPD_DB_NAME" value="compendium" />
+      <env name="CPD_DB_PASSWORD" value="password" />
+      <env name="CPD_DB_USER" value="postgres" />
+    </envs>
+    <option name="emulateTerminal" value="true" />
+    <option name="channel" value="DEFAULT" />
+    <option name="requiredFeatures" value="true" />
+    <option name="allFeatures" value="false" />
+    <option name="withSudo" value="false" />
+    <option name="buildTarget" value="REMOTE" />
+    <option name="backtrace" value="SHORT" />
+    <option name="isRedirectInput" value="false" />
+    <option name="redirectInputPath" value="" />
+    <method v="2">
+      <option name="CARGO.BUILD_TASK_PROVIDER" enabled="true" />
+    </method>
+  </configuration>
+</component>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9c44718..7014a68 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 [package]
 name = "compendium"
 version = "0.1.0"
-edition = "2021"
+edition = "2024"
 
 [features]
-bundled = []
+embed = ["vite"]
+vite = []
 
 [dependencies]
 axum = { version = "0.8.1", features = ["macros"] }
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index 9c4632b..2b6833b 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -1,24 +1,27 @@
-use std::fs;
-use std::path::Path;
-
 fn main() {
-    let out_dir = std::env::var("OUT_DIR").unwrap();
-    // we only need to bundle the templates with the
-    // feature is enabled.
-    #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+    #[cfg(feature = "vite")]
     {
+        let out_dir = if cfg!(feature = "embed") {
+            std::env::var("OUT_DIR").unwrap()
+        } else {
+            format!("../../{}", std::env::var("CPD_PUBLIC_DIR").unwrap_or(String::from("public")))
+        };
+
         std::process::Command::new("bun")
             .args(&["vite", "build", "--outDir", &out_dir])
             .status()
             .unwrap();
-        minijinja_embed::embed_templates!("frontend/templates");
-    }
 
-    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+        println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=frontend/assets");
+        println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=frontend/static");
+        println!("cargo::rerun-if-env-changed=CPD_PUBLIC_DIR");
+        println!("cargo::rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_EMBED");
+    }
+    println!("cargo::rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_VITE");
+
+    #[cfg(feature = "embed")]
     {
-        // dummy file to satisfy the compiler in dev builds
-        let dest_path = Path::new(&out_dir).join(".vite/manifest.json");
-        fs::create_dir_all(dest_path.parent().unwrap()).unwrap();
-        fs::write(&dest_path, "{}").unwrap();
+        minijinja_embed::embed_templates!("frontend/templates");
+        println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=frontend/templates");
     }
 }
diff --git a/frontend/static/.gitkeep b/frontend/static/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/frontend/templates/base.html b/frontend/templates/base.html
index 358cd75..4220c6f 100644
--- a/frontend/templates/base.html
+++ b/frontend/templates/base.html
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
     {% if is_production == false %}
     <script src="{{ asset('/@vite/client') }}" type="module"></script>
     {% endif %}
-    <link href="{{ asset('assets/css/style.scss') }}" rel="stylesheet"/>
-    <script src="{{ asset('assets/js/index.ts') }}" type="module"></script>
+    <link href="{{ asset('css/style.scss') }}" rel="stylesheet"/>
+    <script src="{{ asset('js/index.ts') }}" type="module"></script>
     <title>
         {% block title %}Axum web service!{% endblock %}
     </title>
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 0f37fdc..daff0d9 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ impl DBConfig {
 pub struct Config {
     pub db: DBConfig,
     pub addr: SocketAddr,
+    pub public_dir: PathBuf,
 }
 
 impl Default for Config {
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
         Config {
             db: DBConfig::default(),
             addr: "0.0.0.0:3000".parse().unwrap(),
+            public_dir: PathBuf::from("public"),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 9ff00e5..3cc647e 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use tracing_subscriber::{layer::SubscriberExt, util::SubscriberInitExt};
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     let config = Config::new("./config.toml".into())?;
-    let assets = Assets::new();
+    let assets = Assets::new(&config)?;
 
     // Logs
     tracing_subscriber::registry()
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
     let (tx_state, tx_layer) = Tx::setup(pool);
 
-    let app = router::new()
+    let app = router::new(&config)
         .layer(TraceLayer::new_for_http().on_request(()))
         .layer(tx_layer)
         .layer(AutoVaryLayer)
diff --git a/src/router.rs b/src/router.rs
index 09946f2..b3c8e3d 100644
--- a/src/router.rs
+++ b/src/router.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+use crate::config::Config;
+use crate::{AppState, ResultTemplate, Tx};
 use axum::{
-    extract::{Path, State},
-    http::{header, HeaderMap, HeaderValue},
+    extract::State
+    ,
     routing::get,
     Router,
 };
@@ -9,34 +11,38 @@ use chrono::Utc;
 use minijinja::context;
 use serde::Serialize;
 use sqlx::prelude::FromRow;
+use tower_http::services::ServeDir;
 
-use crate::static_assets::{ViteManifest, VITE_MANIFEST_STR};
-use crate::{AppState, Result, ResultTemplate, Tx};
-
-pub fn new() -> Router<AppState> {
-    Router::new()
+pub fn new(config: &Config) -> Router<AppState> {
+    let router = Router::new()
         .route("/", get(handler_home))
-        .route("/assets/{*asset}", get(handle_assets))
+        .nest("/public", load_asset_router(config));
+
+    router
 }
 
-async fn handle_assets(
-    State(state): State<AppState>,
-    Path(asset_path): Path<String>,
-) -> Result<(HeaderMap, String)> {
-    let mut headers = HeaderMap::new();
+#[cfg(feature = "embed")]
+fn load_asset_router(config: &Config) -> Router<AppState> {
+    Router::new()
+        .fallback_service(
+            ServeDir::new(&config.public_dir),
+        )
+        .nest_service(
+            "/assets",
+            ServeDir::new(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/assets")),
+        )
+}
 
-    let manifest: ViteManifest = serde_json::from_str(VITE_MANIFEST_STR)?;
-
-    headers.insert(
-        header::CONTENT_TYPE,
-        HeaderValue::from_str("text/plain").unwrap(),
-    );
-
-    println!("{}, {:?}", asset_path, manifest);
-    let asset = manifest
-        .get(format!("frontend/assets/{}", asset_path).as_str())
-        .unwrap();
-    Ok((headers, asset.file.clone()))
+#[cfg(not(feature = "embed"))]
+fn load_asset_router(config: &Config) -> Result<(ViteManifest, String)> {
+    Router::new()
+        .fallback_service(
+            ServeDir::new(&config.public_dir),
+        )
+        .nest_service(
+            "/assets",
+            ServeDir::new(&config.public_dir.join("assets")),
+        )
 }
 
 #[derive(FromRow, Debug, Serialize)]
diff --git a/src/static_assets.rs b/src/static_assets.rs
index d06825a..2deaaa4 100644
--- a/src/static_assets.rs
+++ b/src/static_assets.rs
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 mod template_functions;
 
+use crate::config::Config;
 use crate::static_assets::template_functions::load_functions;
-use crate::ResultTemplate;
+use crate::{Result, ResultTemplate};
 use axum::response::Html;
 use minijinja::{path_loader, Environment};
 use minijinja_autoreload::AutoReloader;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
-pub const VITE_MANIFEST_STR: &str = include_str!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/.vite/manifest.json"));
-
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+#[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct ViteAsset {
     pub file: String,
     pub src: String,
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ pub type ViteManifest = HashMap<String, ViteAsset>;
 
 pub struct Assets {
     templates: Environment<'static>,
+    manifest: ViteManifest,
     _reloader: Option<AutoReloader>,
 }
 
@@ -29,14 +30,19 @@ impl Clone for Assets {
     fn clone(&self) -> Self {
         Self {
             templates: self.templates.clone(),
+            manifest: self.manifest.clone(),
             _reloader: None,
         }
     }
 }
 
 impl Assets {
-    pub fn new() -> Self {
+    pub fn new(config: &Config) -> Result<Self> {
+        let (manifest, manifest_str) = Self::load_vite_manifest(config)?;
+
         let mut templates = Environment::new();
+        templates.add_global("vite_manifest", manifest_str);
+
         load_functions(&mut templates);
         templates.set_loader(path_loader("frontend/templates"));
         let mut _reloader = None;
@@ -60,10 +66,27 @@ impl Assets {
             minijinja_embed::load_templates!(&mut templates);
         }
 
-        Self {
+        Ok(Self {
             templates,
+            manifest,
             _reloader,
-        }
+        })
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(feature = "embed")]
+    fn load_vite_manifest(_config: &Config) -> Result<(ViteManifest, String)> {
+        let file = include_str!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/.vite/manifest.json"));
+        Ok((serde_json::from_str(file)?, file.to_string()))
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "embed"))]
+    fn load_vite_manifest(config: &Config) -> Result<(ViteManifest, String)> {
+        let file = std::fs::read_to_string(config.public_dir.join(".vite/manifest.json"))?;
+        Ok((serde_json::from_str(file.as_str())?, file))
+    }
+
+    pub fn get_vite_asset(&self, asset: &str) -> Option<&ViteAsset> {
+        self.manifest.get(asset)
     }
 
     pub fn render_template<S: Serialize>(&self, path: &str, ctx: S) -> ResultTemplate {
diff --git a/src/static_assets/template_functions.rs b/src/static_assets/template_functions.rs
index 5f00075..aabe5fd 100644
--- a/src/static_assets/template_functions.rs
+++ b/src/static_assets/template_functions.rs
@@ -1,27 +1,24 @@
-use minijinja::{Environment, Error, ErrorKind};
+use crate::static_assets::ViteManifest;
+use minijinja::{Environment, Error, ErrorKind, State};
+use serde_json::from_str;
 
-fn load_asset(asset: String) -> Result<String, Error> {
-    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
-    {
-        let url =
-            url::Url::parse("http://localhost:3001/frontend/").map_err(|_| ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?;
 
-        return Ok(url
-            .join(asset.as_str())
-            .map_err(|_| ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?
-            .to_string());
-    }
+fn load_asset(state: &State, asset: String) -> Result<String, Error> {
+    let manifest: ViteManifest = from_str(
+        state.lookup("vite_manifest")
+            .ok_or(ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?
+            .as_str()
+            .ok_or(ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?
+    ).map_err(|_| ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?;
 
-    #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
-    {
-        let url = url::Url::parse("http://localhost:3001").map_err(|_| ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?;
+    let local_asset = manifest.get(asset.as_str());
 
-        return Ok(url
-            .join(asset.as_str())
-            .map_err(|_| ErrorKind::EvalBlock)?
-            .path()
-            .to_string());
-    }
+    Ok(match local_asset {
+        None => asset,
+        Some(asset) => {
+            format!("/public/{}", asset.file.clone())
+        }
+    })
 }
 
 pub(super) fn load_functions(env: &mut Environment) {
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index b39451b..95bb5f5 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import {defineConfig} from "vite";
 
 export default defineConfig({
+    root: "frontend/assets",
+    publicDir: "frontend/static",
+    base: "/public/assets",
     plugins: [],
     server: {
         port: 3001,
@@ -8,6 +11,9 @@ export default defineConfig({
         cors: true,
     },
     build: {
+        outDir: "../../public", // outDir is relative to the root config
+        assetsDir: "assets",
+        emptyOutDir: true,
         manifest: true,
         rollupOptions: {
             input: [