diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh b/dashcaddy-api/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh
index 048e919..4413434 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/scripts/dashcaddy-update.sh
@@ -87,12 +87,18 @@ main() {
 
   # Parse trigger.json (uses python3 which is available on all supported distros)
   local action version from_version staging_dir api_source_dir commit
+  local frontend_staging_dir frontend_target_dir
   action=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['action'])")
   version=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['version'])")
   from_version=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['fromVersion'])")
   staging_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['stagingDir'])")
   api_source_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}'))['apiSourceDir'])")
   commit=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}')).get('commit') or '')")
+  # Frontend paths — optional (older self-updaters don't write these). When
+  # present, this script also syncs the dashboard files (Caddy serves them
+  # directly from the host; the container path /app/dashboard isn't mounted).
+  frontend_staging_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}')).get('frontendStagingDir') or '')")
+  frontend_target_dir=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('${TRIGGER_FILE}')).get('frontendTargetDir') or '')")
 
   log "=== ${action^^}: v${from_version} -> v${version} ==="
   log "Staging: ${staging_dir}"
@@ -147,6 +153,39 @@ main() {
     echo "$commit" > "$api_source_dir/VERSION"
   fi
 
+  # 4b. Sync frontend. Caddy serves the dashboard directly from the host
+  # filesystem; the container-side copy in older self-updater.js builds wrote
+  # to /app/dashboard which isn't always mounted, so the real sync happens
+  # here. Trigger fields take precedence; if absent (older self-updater),
+  # fall back to: staging dir's sibling status/ + first existing known target.
+  if [[ -z "$frontend_staging_dir" ]]; then
+    parent_staging=$(dirname "$staging_dir")
+    [[ -d "$parent_staging/status" ]] && frontend_staging_dir="$parent_staging/status"
+  fi
+  if [[ -z "$frontend_target_dir" ]]; then
+    for candidate in /var/www/dashcaddy-status /etc/dashcaddy/sites/status; do
+      [[ -d "$candidate" ]] && frontend_target_dir="$candidate" && break
+    done
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "$frontend_staging_dir" && -n "$frontend_target_dir" && -d "$frontend_staging_dir" ]]; then
+    log "Syncing frontend: $frontend_staging_dir -> $frontend_target_dir"
+    mkdir -p "$frontend_target_dir"
+    [[ -f "$frontend_staging_dir/index.html" ]] && cp -f "$frontend_staging_dir/index.html" "$frontend_target_dir/index.html"
+    [[ -f "$frontend_staging_dir/sw.js" ]] && cp -f "$frontend_staging_dir/sw.js" "$frontend_target_dir/sw.js"
+    for sub in dist css vendor js; do
+      if [[ -d "$frontend_staging_dir/$sub" ]]; then
+        mkdir -p "$frontend_target_dir/$sub"
+        cp -rf "$frontend_staging_dir/$sub"/* "$frontend_target_dir/$sub/" 2>/dev/null || true
+      fi
+    done
+    # assets/ is mounted into the container; usually already in sync via bind
+    # mount, but if a release ships new assets we want them on disk too.
+    if [[ -d "$frontend_staging_dir/assets" ]]; then
+      mkdir -p "$frontend_target_dir/assets"
+      cp -rf "$frontend_staging_dir/assets"/* "$frontend_target_dir/assets/" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+  fi
+
   # 5. Rebuild container
   log "Rebuilding container..."
   cd "$api_source_dir"
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/self-updater.js b/dashcaddy-api/self-updater.js
index 8b7251a..2873e38 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/self-updater.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/self-updater.js
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ class SelfUpdater extends EventEmitter {
       hostUpdatesDir: options.hostUpdatesDir || (platformPaths.isWindows ? options.updatesDir || DEFAULTS.UPDATES_DIR : '/opt/dashcaddy/updates'),
       apiSourceDir: options.apiSourceDir || DEFAULTS.API_SOURCE_DIR,
       frontendDir: options.frontendDir || DEFAULTS.FRONTEND_DIR,
+      // hostFrontendDir is the path on the HOST where Caddy serves the dashboard
+      // from. The in-container `frontendDir` is often a path that isn't mounted
+      // (e.g. /app/dashboard with no bind mount), so writing there is silently
+      // useless. When this is set, we pass it to the host-side updater script
+      // and skip the in-container copy entirely.
+      hostFrontendDir: options.hostFrontendDir
+        || process.env.DASHCADDY_HOST_FRONTEND_DIR
+        || (platformPaths.isWindows ? null : '/var/www/dashcaddy-status'),
       maxBackups: parseInt(options.maxBackups || DEFAULTS.MAX_BACKUPS, 10),
       channel: options.channel || process.env.DASHCADDY_UPDATE_CHANNEL || DEFAULTS.CHANNEL,
       instanceIdFile: options.instanceIdFile || process.env.DASHCADDY_INSTANCE_ID_FILE || DEFAULTS.INSTANCE_ID_FILE,
@@ -241,11 +249,20 @@ class SelfUpdater extends EventEmitter {
       await this._cleanDir(stagingDir);
       await this._extractTarball(tarballPath, stagingDir);
 
-      // 4. Apply frontend files directly (zero-downtime)
+      // 4. Locate frontend source. The actual deploy is done either here (if no
+      // hostFrontendDir is configured, e.g. Windows or unusual setups) or by
+      // the host-side updater script via trigger.json (preferred path on Linux,
+      // where Caddy serves from /var/www/... outside the container's filesystem).
       const frontendSrc = this._findDir(stagingDir, 'status');
-      if (frontendSrc) {
+      let hostFrontendStagingPath = null;
+      if (frontendSrc && this.config.hostFrontendDir) {
+        // Defer the copy to the host-side script. Just compute the host path
+        // for staging so it can find the files.
+        hostFrontendStagingPath = frontendSrc.replace(this.config.updatesDir, this.config.hostUpdatesDir);
+      } else if (frontendSrc) {
+        // No host path configured — copy in-container (legacy / Windows path).
         await this._copyDir(frontendSrc, this.config.frontendDir, [
-          'dist', 'css', 'assets', 'vendor', 'index.html', 'sw.js'
+          'dist', 'css', 'assets', 'vendor', 'js', 'index.html', 'sw.js'
         ]);
         this.emit('update-progress', { step: 'frontend-updated', version: remoteInfo.version });
       }
@@ -265,6 +282,8 @@ class SelfUpdater extends EventEmitter {
           fromVersion: local.version,
           stagingDir: hostApiSrc,
           apiSourceDir: this.config.apiSourceDir,
+          frontendStagingDir: hostFrontendStagingPath,
+          frontendTargetDir: this.config.hostFrontendDir || null,
           timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
           channel: this.config.channel,
           instanceId: this.instanceId,