diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1db8fd88e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+use std::process::Command;
+
+fn main() {
+    // Re-run if web source files change
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=web/src/");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=web/index.html");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=web/package.json");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=web/vite.config.ts");
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=web/tsconfig.json");
+
+    let web_dir = std::path::Path::new("web");
+
+    // Skip if node_modules not installed
+    if !web_dir.join("node_modules").exists() {
+        let status = Command::new("npm")
+            .args(["install"])
+            .current_dir(web_dir)
+            .status();
+
+        match status {
+            Ok(s) if s.success() => {}
+            Ok(s) => {
+                eprintln!("warning: `npm install` exited with {s}; web dashboard may be stale");
+                return;
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                eprintln!("warning: could not run `npm install`: {e}; web dashboard may be stale");
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    let status = Command::new("npm")
+        .args(["run", "build"])
+        .current_dir(web_dir)
+        .status();
+
+    match status {
+        Ok(s) if s.success() => {}
+        Ok(s) => {
+            eprintln!("warning: `npm run build` exited with {s}; web dashboard may be stale");
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            eprintln!("warning: could not run `npm run build`: {e}; web dashboard may be stale");
+        }
+    }
+}