diff --git a/cmd/backrest/backrest.go b/cmd/backrest/backrest.go
index 3a5d7b6a..8ff696d7 100644
--- a/cmd/backrest/backrest.go
+++ b/cmd/backrest/backrest.go
@@ -158,9 +158,23 @@ func main() {
 	mux.Handle("/metrics", auth.RequireAuthentication(metric.GetRegistry().Handler(), authenticator))
 
 	// Serve the HTTP gateway
+	var handler http.Handler = mux
+	if version == "unknown" { // dev build, enable CORS for local development
+		handler = http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
+			w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS")
+			w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Content-Type, Connect-Protocol-Version, Connect-Timeout-Ms, Authorization")
+			if r.Method == "OPTIONS" {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+				return
+			}
+			mux.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+		})
+	}
+
 	server := &http.Server{
 		Addr:    env.BindAddress(),
-		Handler: h2c.NewHandler(mux, &http2.Server{}), // h2c is HTTP/2 without TLS for grpc-connect support.
+		Handler: h2c.NewHandler(handler, &http2.Server{}), // h2c is HTTP/2 without TLS for grpc-connect support.
 	}
 
 	zap.S().Infof("starting web server %v", server.Addr)
diff --git a/webui/src/api.ts b/webui/src/api.ts
index 7f24dfcc..06666042 100644
--- a/webui/src/api.ts
+++ b/webui/src/api.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { createConnectTransport } from "@connectrpc/connect-web";
 import { createClient } from "@connectrpc/connect";
 import { Authentication } from "../gen/ts/v1/authentication_pb";
 import { Backrest } from "../gen/ts/v1/service_pb";
+import { backendUrl } from "./state/buildcfg";
 
 const tokenKey = "backrest-ui-authToken";
 
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ const fetch = (
 };
 
 const transport = createConnectTransport({
-  baseUrl: "./",
+  baseUrl: backendUrl,
   useBinaryFormat: true,
   fetch: fetch as typeof globalThis.fetch,
 });
diff --git a/webui/src/state/buildcfg.ts b/webui/src/state/buildcfg.ts
index e754efe7..51a21a70 100644
--- a/webui/src/state/buildcfg.ts
+++ b/webui/src/state/buildcfg.ts
@@ -4,4 +4,6 @@ export const uiBuildVersion = (
   process.env.BACKREST_BUILD_VERSION || "dev-snapshot-build"
 ).trim();
 export const isDevBuild = uiBuildVersion === "dev-snapshot-build";
-export const pathSeparator = isWindows ? "\\" : "/";
\ No newline at end of file
+export const pathSeparator = isWindows ? "\\" : "/";
+export const backendUrl = process.env.UI_BACKEND_URL || "./";
+console.log(`UI OS: ${uios}, Build Version: ${uiBuildVersion}, Backend URL: ${backendUrl}`);
\ No newline at end of file