diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index a19e12f..0b3511d 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create Gitea release
         id: create
         env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
+          DEPLOY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           TAG="${{ gitea.ref_name }}"
           VERSION="${TAG#v}"
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
           ")
 
           RELEASE=$(curl -s -X POST "$BASE_URL/releases" \
-            -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+            -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
             -d "{
               \"tag_name\": \"$TAG\",
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ jobs:
           " 2>&1) || {
             echo "Create failed, fetching existing release for tag $TAG..."
             RELEASE=$(curl -s "$BASE_URL/releases/tags/$TAG" \
-              -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN")
+              -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN")
             RELEASE_ID=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['id'])")
           }
           echo "release_id=$RELEASE_ID" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
@@ -103,19 +103,45 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload assets to release
         env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
+          DEPLOY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           RELEASE_ID="${{ needs.create-release.outputs.release_id }}"
           BASE_URL="${{ gitea.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ gitea.repository }}"
 
+          upload_asset() {
+            local file="$1"
+            local name
+            name=$(basename "$file")
+
+            # Delete existing asset with the same name (idempotent re-runs)
+            EXISTING=$(curl -s "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets" \
+              -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN")
+            ASSET_ID=$(echo "$EXISTING" | python3 -c "
+          import sys, json
+          assets = json.load(sys.stdin)
+          for a in assets:
+              if a['name'] == '$name':
+                  print(a['id'])
+                  break
+          " 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+            if [ -n "$ASSET_ID" ]; then
+              echo "Replacing existing asset: $name (id=$ASSET_ID)"
+              curl -s -X DELETE "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets/$ASSET_ID" \
+                -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN"
+            fi
+
+            echo "Uploading $name..."
+            curl -s -X POST \
+              "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets?name=$name" \
+              -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN" \
+              -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
+              --data-binary "@$file"
+          }
+
           for FILE in build/MediaServer-*.zip build/MediaServer-*-setup.exe; do
             [ -f "$FILE" ] || continue
-            echo "Uploading $(basename "$FILE")..."
-            curl -s -X POST \
-              "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets?name=$(basename "$FILE")" \
-              -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
-              -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
-              --data-binary "@$FILE"
+            upload_asset "$FILE"
           done
 
   # --- Build Linux tarball ---
@@ -143,15 +169,35 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload assets to release
         env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
+          DEPLOY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           RELEASE_ID="${{ needs.create-release.outputs.release_id }}"
           BASE_URL="${{ gitea.server_url }}/api/v1/repos/${{ gitea.repository }}"
 
           FILE=$(ls build/MediaServer-*-linux-x64.tar.gz | head -1)
-          echo "Uploading $(basename "$FILE")..."
+          NAME=$(basename "$FILE")
+
+          # Delete existing asset with the same name (idempotent re-runs)
+          EXISTING=$(curl -s "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets" \
+            -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN")
+          ASSET_ID=$(echo "$EXISTING" | python3 -c "
+          import sys, json
+          assets = json.load(sys.stdin)
+          for a in assets:
+              if a['name'] == '$NAME':
+                  print(a['id'])
+                  break
+          " 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+          if [ -n "$ASSET_ID" ]; then
+            echo "Replacing existing asset: $NAME (id=$ASSET_ID)"
+            curl -s -X DELETE "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets/$ASSET_ID" \
+              -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN"
+          fi
+
+          echo "Uploading $NAME..."
           curl -s -X POST \
-            "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets?name=$(basename "$FILE")" \
-            -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+            "$BASE_URL/releases/$RELEASE_ID/assets?name=$NAME" \
+            -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
             --data-binary "@$FILE"
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index d40e20a..6372e79 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -41,10 +41,20 @@ Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName "MediaServer" -Confirm:$false
 
 **When restart is NOT needed:**
 
-- Static file changes (`*.html`, `*.css`, `*.js`, `*.json`) - browser refresh is enough
+- Static file changes (`*.html`, `*.css`, `*.json`) - browser refresh is enough
 - README or documentation updates
 - Changes to install/service scripts (only affects new installations)
 
+### Frontend Rebuild After JS Changes
+
+**CRITICAL:** The frontend is bundled via esbuild into `static/dist/app.bundle.js`. After modifying ANY JavaScript file in `media_server/static/js/`, you **MUST** run:
+
+```bash
+npm run build
+```
+
+Raw JS file edits have **NO effect** until the bundle is rebuilt. After rebuilding, a browser hard-refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R) is sufficient — no server restart needed.
+
 **How to restart during development:**
 
 1. Find the running server process:
@@ -124,12 +134,17 @@ To add support for a new language:
 
 ## Versioning
 
-Version is tracked in two files that must be kept in sync:
+**`pyproject.toml`** is the single source of truth for the version string.
 
-- `pyproject.toml` - `[project].version`
-- `media_server/__init__.py` - `__version__`
+At runtime, `media_server/__init__.py` reads the version via `importlib.metadata.version()` — no manual syncing needed.
 
-When releasing a new version, update both files with the same version string.
+Version flow:
+1. `git tag v0.3.0` → CI reads the tag
+2. Build scripts stamp `pyproject.toml` with the clean version via `sed`
+3. `pip install` bakes the version into package metadata
+4. `importlib.metadata.version("media-server")` reads it at runtime
+
+When bumping the version for a new release, only `pyproject.toml` needs to be updated.
 
 **Important:** After making any changes, always ask the user if the version needs to be incremented.
 
diff --git a/build-common.sh b/build-common.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30e7765
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-common.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# build-common.sh — shared functions for platform build scripts
+# Source this file, do not execute directly.
+
+# --- Version detection ---
+# Fallback chain: CLI arg → git tag → CI env var → pyproject.toml
+detect_version() {
+    local arg="${1:-}"
+    VERSION="${arg}"
+
+    if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+        VERSION=$(git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null || true)
+    fi
+
+    if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+        VERSION="${GITEA_REF_NAME:-${GITHUB_REF_NAME:-}}"
+    fi
+
+    if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+        VERSION=$(grep -oP '^version\s*=\s*"\K[^"]+' \
+          pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null || echo "0.0.0")
+    fi
+
+    VERSION_CLEAN="${VERSION#v}"
+
+    # Stamp version into pyproject.toml (single source of truth)
+    sed -i "s/^version = .*/version = \"${VERSION_CLEAN}\"/" pyproject.toml
+}
+
+# --- Clean dist/build directories ---
+clean_dist() {
+    rm -rf dist build
+    mkdir -p "$@"
+}
+
+# --- Verify frontend bundle exists ---
+verify_frontend() {
+    if [ ! -f "media_server/static/dist/app.bundle.js" ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: Frontend bundle not found. Run 'npm ci && npm run build' first."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# --- Copy application files into dist ---
+# Args: $1 = DIST_DIR
+copy_app_files() {
+    local dist_dir="$1"
+
+    echo "Copying application files..."
+    mkdir -p "${dist_dir}/app"
+    cp -r media_server "${dist_dir}/app/"
+
+    # Remove source JS (bundle is in dist/)
+    rm -rf "${dist_dir}/app/media_server/static/js"
+    # Remove source maps from release
+    rm -f "${dist_dir}/app/media_server/static/dist/"*.map
+
+    # Copy config example
+    cp config.example.yaml "${dist_dir}/"
+
+    # Write version file
+    echo "$VERSION_CLEAN" > "${dist_dir}/VERSION"
+}
+
+# --- Clean up site-packages for smaller distribution ---
+# Args: $1 = site-packages path, $2 = ext suffix (pyd|so), $3 = lib suffix (dll|so)
+# Windows: cleanup_site_packages "$SP" "pyd" "dll"
+# Linux:   cleanup_site_packages "$SP" "so"  "so"
+cleanup_site_packages() {
+    local sp_dir="$1"
+    local ext_suffix="${2:-so}"
+    local lib_suffix="${3:-so}"
+
+    echo "Optimizing size..."
+
+    # Generic cleanup
+    find "$sp_dir" -type d -name __pycache__ -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+    find "$sp_dir" -type d -name tests -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+    find "$sp_dir" -type d -name "*.dist-info" -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+    find "$sp_dir" -name "*.pyi" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -rf "$sp_dir"/{pip,setuptools,pkg_resources,_distutils_hack}* 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    # Trim numpy if present
+    for mod in polynomial linalg ma lib distutils f2py typing _pyinstaller; do
+        rm -rf "$sp_dir/numpy/$mod" 2>/dev/null || true
+    done
+
+    # Trim OpenCV if present
+    rm -f "$sp_dir"/cv2/opencv_videoio_ffmpeg*."$lib_suffix" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rm -rf "$sp_dir"/cv2/{data,gapi,misc,utils,typing_stubs,typing} 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    # Trim Pillow unused plugins if present
+    rm -rf "$sp_dir"/PIL/{FpxImagePlugin,MicImagePlugin,McIdasImagePlugin}* 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    # Trim zeroconf service DB if present
+    rm -rf "$sp_dir"/zeroconf/_services 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    # Strip debug symbols from native extensions
+    find "$sp_dir" -name "*.$ext_suffix" -exec strip --strip-debug {} \; 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    # Remove .py source files (keep .pyc only) — saves ~30-40% on pure-Python packages
+    find "$sp_dir" -name "*.py" ! -name "__init__.py" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
+}
diff --git a/build-dist-linux.sh b/build-dist-linux.sh
index d64d4f2..d65ac9b 100644
--- a/build-dist-linux.sh
+++ b/build-dist-linux.sh
@@ -4,37 +4,17 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # Build Linux distribution (self-contained venv + tarball)
 # Usage: ./build-dist-linux.sh [VERSION]
 
-# --- Version detection ---
-VERSION="${1:-}"
+source "$(dirname "$0")/build-common.sh"
 
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-    VERSION=$(git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null || true)
-fi
-
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-    VERSION="${GITEA_REF_NAME:-${GITHUB_REF_NAME:-}}"
-fi
-
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-    VERSION=$(grep -oP '__version__\s*=\s*"\K[^"]+' \
-      media_server/__init__.py 2>/dev/null || echo "0.0.0")
-fi
-
-VERSION_CLEAN="${VERSION#v}"
+detect_version "${1:-}"
 echo "Building Media Server v${VERSION_CLEAN} for Linux"
 
 # --- Configuration ---
 DIST_DIR="dist/media-server"
 BUILD_OUTPUT="build/MediaServer-v${VERSION_CLEAN}-linux-x64"
 
-rm -rf dist build
-mkdir -p "${DIST_DIR}" build
-
-# --- Verify frontend bundle ---
-if [ ! -f "media_server/static/dist/app.bundle.js" ]; then
-    echo "ERROR: Frontend bundle not found. Run 'npm ci && npm run build' first."
-    exit 1
-fi
+clean_dist "${DIST_DIR}" build
+verify_frontend
 
 # --- Create self-contained virtualenv ---
 echo "Creating virtualenv..."
@@ -49,21 +29,11 @@ rm -rf "${DIST_DIR}"/venv/lib/python*/site-packages/media_server*.dist-info
 
 deactivate
 
-# --- Copy application ---
-echo "Copying application files..."
-mkdir -p "${DIST_DIR}/app"
-cp -r media_server "${DIST_DIR}/app/"
+# Trim venv site-packages
+LINUX_SP=$(echo "${DIST_DIR}"/venv/lib/python*/site-packages)
+cleanup_site_packages "$LINUX_SP" "so" "so"
 
-# Remove source JS (bundle is in dist/)
-rm -rf "${DIST_DIR}/app/media_server/static/js"
-# Remove source maps from release
-rm -f "${DIST_DIR}/app/media_server/static/dist/"*.map
-
-# Copy config example
-cp config.example.yaml "${DIST_DIR}/"
-
-# --- Write version ---
-echo "$VERSION_CLEAN" > "${DIST_DIR}/VERSION"
+copy_app_files "$DIST_DIR"
 
 # --- Create launcher ---
 cat > "${DIST_DIR}/media-server.sh" << 'LAUNCHER'
diff --git a/build-dist-windows.sh b/build-dist-windows.sh
index b96d0ee..a05d4de 100644
--- a/build-dist-windows.sh
+++ b/build-dist-windows.sh
@@ -4,23 +4,9 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # Cross-build Windows distribution on Linux
 # Usage: ./build-dist-windows.sh [VERSION]
 
-# --- Version detection ---
-VERSION="${1:-}"
+source "$(dirname "$0")/build-common.sh"
 
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-    VERSION=$(git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null || true)
-fi
-
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-    VERSION="${GITEA_REF_NAME:-${GITHUB_REF_NAME:-}}"
-fi
-
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-    VERSION=$(grep -oP '__version__\s*=\s*"\K[^"]+' \
-      media_server/__init__.py 2>/dev/null || echo "0.0.0")
-fi
-
-VERSION_CLEAN="${VERSION#v}"
+detect_version "${1:-}"
 echo "Building Media Server v${VERSION_CLEAN} for Windows"
 
 # --- Configuration ---
@@ -31,8 +17,7 @@ WHEEL_DIR="build/win-wheels"
 SITE_PACKAGES="${DIST_DIR}/python/Lib/site-packages"
 BUILD_OUTPUT="build/MediaServer-v${VERSION_CLEAN}-win-x64"
 
-rm -rf dist build
-mkdir -p "${DIST_DIR}" "${WHEEL_DIR}" "${SITE_PACKAGES}"
+clean_dist "${DIST_DIR}" "${WHEEL_DIR}" "${SITE_PACKAGES}"
 
 # --- Download embedded Python ---
 echo "Downloading embedded Python ${PYTHON_VERSION}..."
@@ -58,6 +43,7 @@ CORE_DEPS=(
     "pyyaml>=6.0"
     "mutagen>=1.47.0"
     "pillow>=10.0.0"
+    "packaging>=23.0"
 )
 
 # Windows-specific dependencies
@@ -100,43 +86,14 @@ for whl in "$WHEEL_DIR"/*.whl; do
     unzip -qo "$whl" -d "$SITE_PACKAGES"
 done
 
-# --- Size optimization ---
-echo "Optimizing size..."
-find "$SITE_PACKAGES" -type d -name __pycache__ -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
-find "$SITE_PACKAGES" -type d -name tests -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
-find "$SITE_PACKAGES" -type d -name "*.dist-info" -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
-find "$SITE_PACKAGES" -name "*.pyi" -delete 2>/dev/null || true
-rm -rf "$SITE_PACKAGES"/{pip,setuptools,pkg_resources}* 2>/dev/null || true
-
-# Trim numpy if present
-rm -rf "$SITE_PACKAGES"/numpy/{tests,f2py,typing} 2>/dev/null || true
-
-# --- Verify frontend bundle ---
-if [ ! -f "media_server/static/dist/app.bundle.js" ]; then
-    echo "ERROR: Frontend bundle not found. Run 'npm ci && npm run build' first."
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-# --- Copy application ---
-echo "Copying application files..."
-mkdir -p "${DIST_DIR}/app"
-cp -r media_server "${DIST_DIR}/app/"
-
-# Remove source JS (bundle is in dist/)
-rm -rf "${DIST_DIR}/app/media_server/static/js"
-# Remove source maps from release
-rm -f "${DIST_DIR}/app/media_server/static/dist/"*.map
-
-# Copy config example
-cp config.example.yaml "${DIST_DIR}/"
+cleanup_site_packages "$SITE_PACKAGES" "pyd" "dll"
+verify_frontend
+copy_app_files "$DIST_DIR"
 
 # Copy scripts needed for auto-start
 mkdir -p "${DIST_DIR}/scripts"
 cp scripts/start-hidden.vbs "${DIST_DIR}/scripts/"
 
-# --- Write version ---
-echo "$VERSION_CLEAN" > "${DIST_DIR}/VERSION"
-
 # --- Create launcher ---
 cat > "${DIST_DIR}/media-server.bat" << 'LAUNCHER'
 @echo off
diff --git a/media_server/__init__.py b/media_server/__init__.py
index fc29ea0..8069df0 100644
--- a/media_server/__init__.py
+++ b/media_server/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,23 @@
 """Media Server - REST API for controlling system media playback."""
 
-__version__ = "1.0.1"
+from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError, version
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def _detect_version() -> str:
+    # 1. Package metadata (works when pip-installed in dev)
+    try:
+        return version("media-server")
+    except PackageNotFoundError:
+        pass
+
+    # 2. VERSION file written by build scripts (production builds)
+    # Located at install root, two levels up from this package
+    version_file = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent / "VERSION"
+    if version_file.is_file():
+        return version_file.read_text().strip()
+
+    return "0.0.0-dev"
+
+
+__version__ = _detect_version()
diff --git a/media_server/services/update_checker.py b/media_server/services/update_checker.py
index 5fa7111..a242cf6 100644
--- a/media_server/services/update_checker.py
+++ b/media_server/services/update_checker.py
@@ -2,30 +2,36 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import logging
+import re
 from typing import Any, Optional
 
+from packaging.version import Version
+
 from .release_provider import ReleaseProvider
 from .websocket_manager import ws_manager
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+_PRE_PATTERN = re.compile(
+    r"^(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)[-.]?(alpha|beta|rc)[.-]?(\d+)$", re.IGNORECASE
+)
+_PRE_MAP = {"alpha": "a", "beta": "b", "rc": "rc"}
 
-def _parse_version(version: str) -> tuple[int, ...]:
-    """Parse a version string into a comparable tuple.
 
-    Handles versions like "1.0.0", "1.2.3", ignoring non-numeric suffixes.
+def _parse_version(raw: str) -> Version:
+    """Normalize a version tag to PEP 440 for correct comparison.
+
+    Examples:
+        v0.3.0-alpha.1 → 0.3.0a1  (pre-release, sorts below 0.3.0)
+        v0.3.0-rc.3    → 0.3.0rc3
+        v1.0.0         → 1.0.0
     """
-    parts: list[int] = []
-    for part in version.split("."):
-        digits = ""
-        for ch in part:
-            if ch.isdigit():
-                digits += ch
-            else:
-                break
-        if digits:
-            parts.append(int(digits))
-    return tuple(parts)
+    cleaned = raw.lstrip("v").strip()
+    m = _PRE_PATTERN.match(cleaned)
+    if m:
+        base, pre_label, pre_num = m.group(1), m.group(2).lower(), m.group(3)
+        cleaned = f"{base}{_PRE_MAP[pre_label]}{pre_num}"
+    return Version(cleaned)
 
 
 class UpdateChecker:
diff --git a/media_server/static/css/styles.css b/media_server/static/css/styles.css
index f21a2f3..2829f30 100644
--- a/media_server/static/css/styles.css
+++ b/media_server/static/css/styles.css
@@ -3537,6 +3537,8 @@ footer .separator {
     opacity: 0.7;
     cursor: pointer;
     line-height: 1;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
 }
 
 .update-banner-close:hover {
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 23aa485..76d6c42 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "pyyaml>=6.0",
     "mutagen>=1.47.0",
     "pillow>=10.0.0",
+    "packaging>=23.0",
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]