diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 6117f17..63c29a4 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -323,6 +323,10 @@ version = "0.2.183"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b5b646652bf6661599e1da8901b3b9522896f01e736bad5f723fe7a3a27f899d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libvhdl_conn"
+version = "0.1.0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "log"
 version = "0.4.29"
@@ -791,10 +795,6 @@ version = "0.9.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0b928f33d975fc6ad9f86c8f283853ad26bdd5b10b7f1542aa2fa15e2289105a"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "vhdl_ui"
-version = "0.1.0"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "wasi"
 version = "0.11.1+wasi-snapshot-preview1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5fb620f..08eb630 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 [workspace]
-members = ["conn", "relay"]
\ No newline at end of file
+members = ["libvhdl_conn", "relay"]
+resolver = "3"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/conn/.gitignore b/libvhdl_conn/.gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from conn/.gitignore
rename to libvhdl_conn/.gitignore
diff --git a/conn/Cargo.lock b/libvhdl_conn/Cargo.lock
similarity index 100%
rename from conn/Cargo.lock
rename to libvhdl_conn/Cargo.lock
diff --git a/conn/Cargo.toml b/libvhdl_conn/Cargo.toml
similarity index 84%
rename from conn/Cargo.toml
rename to libvhdl_conn/Cargo.toml
index ec1b92a..1c3739e 100644
--- a/conn/Cargo.toml
+++ b/libvhdl_conn/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [package]
-name = "vhdl_ui"
+name = "libvhdl_conn"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2024"
 
diff --git a/conn/src/lib.rs b/libvhdl_conn/src/lib.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from conn/src/lib.rs
rename to libvhdl_conn/src/lib.rs
diff --git a/relay/build.rs b/relay/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dda77d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/relay/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::process::Command;
+
+fn main() {
+    // silly hack of sorts because bindeps are unstable
+
+
+    let manifest_dir = PathBuf::from(
+        std::env::var("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")
+            .expect("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR was not set by Cargo"),
+    );
+    let workspace_root = manifest_dir
+        .parent()
+        .expect("relay crate should live under a workspace root");
+
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={}", workspace_root.join("conn").display());
+
+    let isolated_target_dir = workspace_root.join("target").join("conn-build");
+
+    let status = Command::new("cargo")
+        .arg("build")
+        .arg("--package")
+        .arg("libvhdl_conn")
+        .arg("--release")
+        .arg("--lib")
+        .arg("--target-dir")
+        .arg(&isolated_target_dir)
+        .current_dir(workspace_root)
+        .status()
+        .expect("failed to spawn cargo build for conn");
+
+    if !status.success() {
+        panic!(
+            "build script failed: `cargo build --package conn --release --lib` exited with {status}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    // Copy the built staticlib into the workspace release target path used by relay/src/build.rs.
+    let isolated_release_dir = isolated_target_dir.join("release");
+    let out_release_dir = workspace_root.join("target").join("release");
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&out_release_dir).expect("failed to create workspace target/release");
+
+    // conn currently builds as libconn.a; keep a compatibility alias for relay/src/build.rs (libvhdl_ui.a).
+    let src_lib = isolated_release_dir.join("libconn.a");
+    if !src_lib.exists() {
+        panic!(
+            "build script failed: expected static library not found at {}",
+            src_lib.display()
+        );
+    }
+
+    let dst_conn = out_release_dir.join("libvhdl_conn.a");
+    std::fs::copy(&src_lib, &dst_conn).expect("failed to copy libconn.a into workspace target/release");
+
+    let dst_compat = out_release_dir.join("libvhdl_conn.a");
+    std::fs::copy(&src_lib, &dst_compat)
+        .expect("failed to copy compatibility libvhdl_conn.a into workspace target/release");
+}
diff --git a/relay/src/build.rs b/relay/src/build.rs
index 064f434..f89c149 100644
--- a/relay/src/build.rs
+++ b/relay/src/build.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ use tokio::process::{Child, Command};
 
 use crate::HResult;
 
+const EMBEDDED_VHDL_UI_LIB: &[u8] =
+    include_bytes!(concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/../target/release/libvhdl_conn.a"));
+
 async fn ensure_ok(child: Child) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> {
     let result = child.wait_with_output().await?;
     if !result.status.success() {
@@ -73,6 +76,8 @@ pub async fn copy_and_build(
 
 pub async fn build(path: &Path, src: &Path) -> HResult<()>{
     std::fs::create_dir_all(path)?;
+    let embedded_lib_path = path.join("libvhdl_conn.a");
+    std::fs::write(&embedded_lib_path, EMBEDDED_VHDL_UI_LIB)?;
 
         let mut cmd = Command::new("ghdl");
     cmd.kill_on_drop(true);
@@ -102,7 +107,7 @@ pub async fn build(path: &Path, src: &Path) -> HResult<()>{
     cmd.args(["-m", "--std=08"]);
     cmd.arg(format!(
         "-Wl,{}",
-        std::fs::canonicalize("../target/release/libvhdl_ui.a")?.display()
+        embedded_lib_path.display()
     ));
     cmd.arg("tb");
     cmd.current_dir(path);
@@ -112,4 +117,4 @@ pub async fn build(path: &Path, src: &Path) -> HResult<()>{
     ensure_ok(cmd.spawn()?).await?;
     
     Ok(())
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/relay/src/local.rs b/relay/src/local.rs
index db7576f..5311190 100644
--- a/relay/src/local.rs
+++ b/relay/src/local.rs
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ struct Handler {
     build_dir: PathBuf,
     src_dir: PathBuf,
 
-    program: Option<PathBuf>,
     process: Option<Process>,
 
     refresh_time: Duration,
@@ -45,7 +44,6 @@ impl Handler {
             receiver,
             build_dir: build,
             src_dir: src,
-            program: None,
             process: None,
             refresh_time: Duration::from_millis(30),
         }
@@ -186,10 +184,7 @@ impl Handler {
         match build::build(&self.build_dir, &self.src_dir).await {
             Ok(_) => {},
             Err(err) => {
-                _ = self
-                    .sender
-                    .send(Message::Text(format!("Failed to build: {err}").into()))
-                    .await;
+                _ = self.eprint(format!("Failed to build: {err}")).await;
                 return;
             }
         };
diff --git a/relay/src/main.rs b/relay/src/main.rs
index 263e6a2..6173288 100644
--- a/relay/src/main.rs
+++ b/relay/src/main.rs
@@ -1,29 +1,60 @@
 use axum::{
     Router,
     extract::ws::WebSocketUpgrade,
+    http::{StatusCode, header},
+    response::{Html, IntoResponse},
     routing::get,
 };
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
-use tower_http::services::ServeDir;
 
 pub mod build;
 pub mod run;
 pub mod local;
 pub mod remote;
 
+const UI_INDEX_HTML: &str = include_str!("../ui/index.html");
+const UI_STYLES_CSS: &str = include_str!("../ui/styles.css");
+const UI_APP_JS: &str = include_str!("../ui/app.js");
+
+async fn serve_index() -> impl IntoResponse {
+    Html(UI_INDEX_HTML)
+}
+
+async fn serve_styles() -> impl IntoResponse {
+    (
+        [(header::CONTENT_TYPE, "text/css; charset=utf-8")],
+        UI_STYLES_CSS,
+    )
+}
+
+async fn serve_app_js() -> impl IntoResponse {
+    (
+        [(header::CONTENT_TYPE, "application/javascript; charset=utf-8")],
+        UI_APP_JS,
+    )
+}
+
+async fn not_found() -> impl IntoResponse {
+    (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "not found")
+}
+
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() {
     let app = Router::new()
-        .route(
-            "/ws/local",
-            get(|ws: WebSocketUpgrade| async move { ws.on_upgrade(remote::ws_handler) }),
-        )
+        .route("/", get(serve_index))
+        .route("/index.html", get(serve_index))
+        .route("/styles.css", get(serve_styles))
+        .route("/app.js", get(serve_app_js))
         .route(
             "/ws/remote",
             get(|ws: WebSocketUpgrade| async move { ws.on_upgrade(local::ws_handler) }),
         )
-        .fallback_service(ServeDir::new("ui"));
+        .route(
+            "/ws/local",
+            get(|ws: WebSocketUpgrade| async move { ws.on_upgrade(remote::ws_handler) }),
+        )
+        .fallback(get(not_found));
 
     let addr = SocketAddr::from(([127, 0, 0, 1], 8080));
     println!("Open UI: http://{}/", addr);
diff --git a/run_relay.sh b/run_relay.sh
index 3d19296..6fceba8 100755
--- a/run_relay.sh
+++ b/run_relay.sh
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-pushd conn >/dev/null
-cargo build --release
-popd >/dev/null
-
 
 pushd relay >/dev/null
 cargo run --release -- "$@"