diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index aa46825..06f2771 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"database/sql"
+	"embed"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"html/template"
 	"io"
+	"io/fs"
 	"log"
 	"math"
 	"net/http"
@@ -30,6 +32,9 @@ import (
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
+//go:embed static
+var embeddedStaticFiles embed.FS
+
 const version = "1.0.0"
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -2318,8 +2323,8 @@ async function activate(){
 			}
 		}
 
-		// License OK — serve the full dashboard template
-		tmpl, err := template.ParseFiles(filepath.Join("static", "index.html"))
+		// License OK — serve the full dashboard template from the embedded static files
+		tmpl, err := template.ParseFS(embeddedStaticFiles, "static/index.html")
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("template parse error: %v", err)
 			http.Error(w, "Internal Server Error", http.StatusInternalServerError)
@@ -2715,8 +2720,11 @@ func main() {
 
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
 
-	staticDir := http.Dir("static")
-	fileServer := http.FileServer(staticDir)
+	staticFS, err := fs.Sub(embeddedStaticFiles, "static")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("failed to prepare embedded static files: %v", err)
+	}
+	fileServer := http.FileServer(http.FS(staticFS))
 	mux.Handle("/static/", http.StripPrefix("/static/", fileServer))
 	mux.HandleFunc("/", serveUI)