diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 8e426d7..3450e6c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0  # goreleaser needs full history for tag + changelog
 
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
@@ -22,7 +24,9 @@ jobs:
       - run: npm run build
 
         # go:embed all:dist reads internal/web/dist at compile time.
-      - run: rm -rf apps/backend/internal/web/dist && cp -r apps/frontend/dist apps/backend/internal/web/dist
+        # Merge into dist/ — don't rm -rf: the tracked .keep must survive or
+        # goreleaser aborts on the dirty tree.
+      - run: cp -r apps/frontend/dist/. apps/backend/internal/web/dist/
 
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c85899f..9e2e6d5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ packages/api-client/dist/
 packages/api-client/src/schema.d.ts
 apps/backend/internal/web/dist/*
 !apps/backend/internal/web/dist/.keep
-!apps/backend/internal/web/dist/index.html
 
 # data / runtime
 data/*
diff --git a/apps/backend/internal/web/dist/index.html b/apps/backend/internal/web/dist/index.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 21b8ed0..0000000
--- a/apps/backend/internal/web/dist/index.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-<!doctype html>
-<html lang="en" data-theme="dark">
-  <head>
-    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
-    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
-    <title>Dash</title>
-    <script>
-      // Pre-paint theme: localStorage mirrors the server setting, applied
-      // before first paint so there is no flash of the wrong theme.
-      try {
-        var t = localStorage.getItem("dash.theme");
-        document.documentElement.dataset.theme = t === "light" ? "light" : "dark";
-      } catch (e) {}
-    </script>
-    <script type="module" crossorigin src="/assets/index-WK6y87Wv.js"></script>
-    <link rel="stylesheet" crossorigin href="/assets/index-CHTjdWqd.css">
-  </head>
-  <body>
-    <div id="root"></div>
-  </body>
-</html>