diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py
index f1742d8c6..e8396549b 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/app.py
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 from fastapi import FastAPI
-from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
 from fastapi.routing import APIRoute
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 
 from .assets import asset_path
-from .config import settings
 from .routers import health, machines, root
 
 
@@ -14,17 +12,7 @@ def setup_app() -> FastAPI:
     app.include_router(machines.router)
     app.include_router(root.router)
 
-    if settings.env.is_development():
-        # TODO make this configurable
-        app.add_middleware(
-            CORSMiddleware,
-            allow_origins="http://${settings.dev_host}:${settings.dev_port}",
-            allow_credentials=True,
-            allow_methods=["*"],
-            allow_headers=["*"],
-        )
-    else:
-        app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory=asset_path()), name="static")
+    app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory=asset_path()), name="static")
 
     for route in app.routes:
         if isinstance(route, APIRoute):
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/config.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/config.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d64c23b38..000000000
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/config.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-# config.py
-import logging
-import os
-from enum import Enum
-
-from pydantic import BaseSettings
-
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
-
-class EnvType(Enum):
-    production = "production"
-    development = "development"
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def from_environment() -> "EnvType":
-        t = os.environ.get("CLAN_WEBUI_ENV", "production")
-        try:
-            return EnvType[t]
-        except KeyError:
-            logger.warning(f"Invalid environment type: {t}, fallback to production")
-            return EnvType.production
-
-    def is_production(self) -> bool:
-        return self == EnvType.production
-
-    def is_development(self) -> bool:
-        return self == EnvType.development
-
-
-class Settings(BaseSettings):
-    env: EnvType = EnvType.from_environment()
-    dev_port: int = int(os.environ.get("CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_PORT", 3000))
-    dev_host: str = os.environ.get("CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_HOST", "localhost")
-
-
-# global instance
-settings = Settings()
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py
index e594ed3a3..7d915a743 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/server.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import argparse
 import logging
-import os
 import subprocess
 import time
 import urllib.request
@@ -27,11 +26,23 @@ def defer_open_browser(base_url: str) -> None:
 
 
 @contextmanager
-def spawn_node_dev_server() -> Iterator[None]:
+def spawn_node_dev_server(host: str, port: int) -> Iterator[None]:
     logger.info("Starting node dev server...")
     path = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.parent / "ui"
     with subprocess.Popen(
-        ["direnv", "exec", path, "npm", "run", "dev"],
+        [
+            "direnv",
+            "exec",
+            path,
+            "npm",
+            "run",
+            "dev",
+            "--",
+            "--hostname",
+            host,
+            "--port",
+            str(port),
+        ],
         cwd=path,
     ) as proc:
         try:
@@ -42,16 +53,21 @@ def spawn_node_dev_server() -> Iterator[None]:
 
 def start_server(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
     with ExitStack() as stack:
+        headers: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
         if args.dev:
-            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_ENV"] = "development"
-            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_PORT"] = str(args.dev_port)
-            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_DEV_HOST"] = args.dev_host
-
-            stack.enter_context(spawn_node_dev_server())
+            stack.enter_context(spawn_node_dev_server(args.dev_host, args.dev_port))
 
             open_url = f"http://{args.dev_host}:{args.dev_port}"
+            host = args.dev_host
+            if ":" in host:
+                host = f"[{host}]"
+            headers = [
+                (
+                    "Access-Control-Allow-Origin",
+                    f"http://{host}:{args.dev_port}",
+                )
+            ]
         else:
-            os.environ["CLAN_WEBUI_ENV"] = "production"
             open_url = f"http://[{args.host}]:{args.port}"
 
         if not args.no_open:
@@ -63,5 +79,5 @@ def start_server(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
             port=args.port,
             log_level=args.log_level,
             reload=args.reload,
-            headers=[("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")],
+            headers=headers,
         )