Fix production mode: resolve static/data paths relative to exe location, include static/ in release packages

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ jobs:
           RELEASE_DIR="${{ matrix.asset_name }}-${{ github.ref_name }}"
           mkdir -p "$RELEASE_DIR"
           cp "backend/target/${{ matrix.target }}/release/ironpad" "$RELEASE_DIR/"
+          cp -r backend/static "$RELEASE_DIR/static"
           cp README.md LICENSE "$RELEASE_DIR/"
           tar czf "$RELEASE_DIR.tar.gz" "$RELEASE_DIR"
           echo "ASSET=$RELEASE_DIR.tar.gz" >> $GITHUB_ENV
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ jobs:
           RELEASE_DIR="${{ matrix.asset_name }}-${{ github.ref_name }}"
           mkdir -p "$RELEASE_DIR"
           cp "backend/target/${{ matrix.target }}/release/ironpad.exe" "$RELEASE_DIR/"
+          cp -r backend/static "$RELEASE_DIR/static"
           cp README.md LICENSE "$RELEASE_DIR/"
           7z a "$RELEASE_DIR.zip" "$RELEASE_DIR"
           echo "ASSET=$RELEASE_DIR.zip" >> $GITHUB_ENV

backend/src/config.rs

@@ -5,19 +5,39 @@ use std::sync::OnceLock;
 /// Priority: IRONPAD_DATA_DIR env var > auto-detect (production vs development).
 static DATA_DIR: OnceLock<PathBuf> = OnceLock::new();
 
+/// Directory where the executable lives.
+/// Used to resolve `static/` and `data/` in production mode.
+static EXE_DIR: OnceLock<PathBuf> = OnceLock::new();
+
+/// Get the directory containing the executable.
+/// Falls back to "." if detection fails.
+pub fn exe_dir() -> &'static Path {
+    EXE_DIR.get_or_init(|| {
+        std::env::current_exe()
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|p| p.parent().map(|p| p.to_path_buf()))
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| PathBuf::from("."))
+    })
+}
+
+/// Check if we're in production mode (static/index.html exists next to the binary).
+pub fn is_production() -> bool {
+    exe_dir().join("static").join("index.html").exists()
+}
+
 /// Initialize the data directory path. Call once at startup.
 ///
 /// Resolution order:
 /// 1. `IRONPAD_DATA_DIR` environment variable (if set)
-/// 2. `./data` if `static/index.html` exists (production mode)
+/// 2. `{exe_dir}/data` if `{exe_dir}/static/index.html` exists (production mode)
 /// 3. `../data` (development mode, binary runs from backend/)
 pub fn init_data_dir() {
     let path = if let Ok(custom) = std::env::var("IRONPAD_DATA_DIR") {
         tracing::info!("Using custom data directory from IRONPAD_DATA_DIR");
         PathBuf::from(custom)
-    } else if Path::new("static/index.html").exists() {
+    } else if is_production() {
         // Production mode: data/ is next to the binary
-        PathBuf::from("data")
+        exe_dir().join("data")
     } else {
         // Development mode: binary runs from backend/, data/ is one level up
         PathBuf::from("../data")

backend/src/main.rs

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
-use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use axum::{routing::get, Router};
@@ -95,14 +94,19 @@ async fn main() {
         .layer(cors);
 
     // Check for embedded frontend (production mode)
-    let static_dir = Path::new("static");
-    let has_frontend = static_dir.join("index.html").exists();
+    // Resolve relative to the executable's directory, not the working directory
+    let has_frontend = config::is_production();
 
     if has_frontend {
-        // Production mode: serve frontend from static/ and use SPA fallback
-        info!("Production mode: serving frontend from static/");
-        let serve_dir = ServeDir::new("static")
-            .fallback(tower_http::services::ServeFile::new("static/index.html"));
+        // Production mode: serve frontend from static/ next to the exe
+        let static_path = config::exe_dir().join("static");
+        let index_path = static_path.join("index.html");
+        info!(
+            "Production mode: serving frontend from {}",
+            static_path.display()
+        );
+        let serve_dir =
+            ServeDir::new(&static_path).fallback(tower_http::services::ServeFile::new(index_path));
         app = app.fallback_service(serve_dir);
     } else {
         // Development mode: API-only