diff --git a/.github/workflows/smoke-tests-source.yml b/.github/workflows/smoke-tests-source.yml
index ef2b82c53..4bdc62493 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/smoke-tests-source.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/smoke-tests-source.yml
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ jobs:
       run: cargo build
       env:
         TAURI_DIST_DIR: ../../test/fixture/dist
-        TAURI_DIR: ../test/fixture
+        TAURI_DIR: ../test/fixture/src-tauri
     - run: cargo install --path ./cli/tauri-cli --force
     - name: install cli deps via yarn
       run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-on-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/test-on-pr.yml
index c0fc56376..4abcbf0a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-on-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-on-pr.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
            cargo build
       env:
         TAURI_DIST_DIR: ../../test/fixture/dist
-        TAURI_DIR: ../test/fixture/
+        TAURI_DIR: ../test/fixture/src-tauri
 
   build-tauri-bundler:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform }}
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/.gitignore b/cli/tauri.js/.gitignore
index 4a9ebc4dd..9c6a313d8 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/.gitignore
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/.gitignore
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ config.json
 target
 
 
-# doing this because of how our tests currently (naively) drop the tauri.conf.js in that folder
+# doing this because of how our tests currently (naively) drop the tauri.conf.json in that folder
 # todo: needs a proper fic
-tauri.conf.js
+tauri.conf.json
 src-tauri
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/bin/tauri-init.js b/cli/tauri.js/bin/tauri-init.js
index f4f84b5f6..f514e5047 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/bin/tauri-init.js
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/bin/tauri-init.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const argv = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2), {
 if (argv.help) {
   console.log(`
   Description
-    Inits the Tauri template. If Tauri cannot find the tauri.conf.js
+    Inits the Tauri template. If Tauri cannot find the tauri.conf.json
     it will create one.
   Usage
     $ tauri init
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/api/build.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/api/build.ts
index 6a3c9570f..40e8423eb 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/api/build.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/api/build.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 import { TauriConfig } from 'types'
 import merge from 'webpack-merge'
 import * as entry from '../entry'
-import * as generator from '../generator'
 import { tauriDir } from '../helpers/app-paths'
-import getTauriConfig from '../helpers/tauri-config'
+const getTauriConfig = require('../helpers/tauri-config')
 import Runner from '../runner'
 
 module.exports = async (config: TauriConfig): Promise<void> => {
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ module.exports = async (config: TauriConfig): Promise<void> => {
     ) as TauriConfig
   )
 
-  generator.generate(tauriConfig.tauri)
   entry.generate(tauriDir, tauriConfig)
 
   return tauri.build(tauriConfig)
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/api/dev.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/api/dev.ts
index 75a85429e..968cdfa7e 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/api/dev.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/api/dev.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 import { TauriConfig } from 'types'
 import merge from 'webpack-merge'
 import * as entry from '../entry'
-import * as generator from '../generator'
 import { tauriDir } from '../helpers/app-paths'
-import getTauriConfig from '../helpers/tauri-config'
+const getTauriConfig = require('../helpers/tauri-config')
 import Runner from '../runner'
 
 module.exports = async (config: TauriConfig): Promise<void> => {
@@ -20,7 +19,6 @@ module.exports = async (config: TauriConfig): Promise<void> => {
     ) as TauriConfig
   )
 
-  generator.generate(tauriConfig.tauri)
   entry.generate(tauriDir, tauriConfig)
 
   return tauri.run(tauriConfig)
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/api/init.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/api/init.ts
index 328b5a1cf..4d7b24272 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/api/init.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/api/init.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 import { inject } from '../template'
+import { TauriConfig } from 'types'
 
 module.exports = (args: {
   directory: string
   force: false | 'conf' | 'template' | 'all'
   logging: boolean
-  tauriPath?: string
+  tauriPath?: string,
+  customConfig?: Partial<TauriConfig>
 }): boolean => {
   return inject(args.directory, 'all', {
     force: args.force,
     logging: args.logging,
     tauriPath: args.tauriPath
-  })
+  }, args.customConfig)
 }
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/generator.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/generator.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e7d2aec1..000000000
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/generator.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import { writeFileSync } from 'fs-extra'
-import path from 'path'
-import { tauriDir } from './helpers/app-paths'
-import { TauriConfig } from './types/config'
-
-export const generate = (tauriConfig: TauriConfig['tauri']): void => {
-  const { bundle, ...cfg } = tauriConfig
-  const outDir = tauriDir
-  writeFileSync(path.join(outDir, 'config.json'), JSON.stringify(cfg))
-  writeFileSync(path.join(outDir, 'bundle.json'), JSON.stringify(bundle))
-}
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/app-paths.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/app-paths.ts
index 312e45091..adfc20769 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/app-paths.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/app-paths.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ const getAppDir = (): string => {
 
   // only go up three folders max
   while (dir.length > 0 && dir.endsWith(sep) && count <= 2) {
-    if (existsSync(join(dir, 'tauri.conf.js'))) {
+    if (existsSync(join(dir, 'tauri.conf.json'))) {
       return dir
     }
     count++
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/tauri-config.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/tauri-config.ts
index e9b0b1fd8..5e0521155 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/tauri-config.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/helpers/tauri-config.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { existsSync } from 'fs-extra'
+import { resolve } from 'path'
 import { TauriConfig } from 'types'
 import merge from 'webpack-merge'
 import logger from '../helpers/logger'
@@ -6,20 +7,20 @@ import * as appPaths from './app-paths'
 
 const error = logger('ERROR:', 'red')
 
-export default (cfg: Partial<TauriConfig>): TauriConfig => {
+module.exports = (cfg: Partial<TauriConfig>): TauriConfig => {
   const pkgPath = appPaths.resolve.app('package.json')
-  const tauriConfPath = appPaths.resolve.app('tauri.conf.js')
+  const tauriConfPath = appPaths.resolve.tauri('tauri.conf.json')
   if (!existsSync(pkgPath)) {
     error("Could not find a package.json in your app's directory.")
     process.exit(1)
   }
   if (!existsSync(tauriConfPath)) {
     error(
-      "Could not find a tauri config (tauri.conf.js) in your app's directory."
+      "Could not find a tauri config (tauri.conf.json) in your app's directory."
     )
     process.exit(1)
   }
-  const tauriConf = __non_webpack_require__(tauriConfPath)(cfg.ctx)
+  const tauriConf = __non_webpack_require__(tauriConfPath)
   const pkg = __non_webpack_require__(pkgPath)
 
   const config = merge(
@@ -52,6 +53,14 @@ export default (cfg: Partial<TauriConfig>): TauriConfig => {
     cfg as any
   ) as TauriConfig
 
+  const runningDevServer = config.build.devPath && config.build.devPath.startsWith('http')
+  if (!runningDevServer) {
+    config.build.devPath = resolve(appPaths.tauriDir, config.build.devPath)
+  }
+  if (config.build.distDir) {
+    config.build.distDir = resolve(appPaths.tauriDir, config.build.distDir)
+  }
+
   process.env.TAURI_DIST_DIR = appPaths.resolve.app(config.build.distDir)
   process.env.TAURI_DIR = appPaths.tauriDir
 
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/runner.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/runner.ts
index 2f3df7dbd..b11160ba8 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/runner.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/runner.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,16 @@
 import Inliner from '@tauri-apps/tauri-inliner'
 import toml from '@tauri-apps/toml'
 import chokidar, { FSWatcher } from 'chokidar'
-import { existsSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs-extra'
+import { existsSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync, mkdirSync } from 'fs-extra'
 import { JSDOM } from 'jsdom'
 import debounce from 'lodash.debounce'
 import path from 'path'
 import * as entry from './entry'
-import * as generator from './generator'
 import { appDir, tauriDir } from './helpers/app-paths'
 import logger from './helpers/logger'
 import onShutdown from './helpers/on-shutdown'
 import { spawn } from './helpers/spawn'
-import getTauriConfig from './helpers/tauri-config'
+const getTauriConfig = require('./helpers/tauri-config')
 import { TauriConfig } from './types/config'
 
 const log = logger('app:tauri', 'green')
@@ -52,14 +51,11 @@ class Runner {
     let inlinedAssets: string[] = []
 
     if (!runningDevServer) {
-      inlinedAssets = await this.__parseHtml(cfg, path.resolve(appDir, devPath))
+      inlinedAssets = await this.__parseHtml(cfg, devPath)
     }
 
-    generator.generate({
-      devPath: runningDevServer ? devPath : path.resolve(appDir, devPath),
-      inlinedAssets,
-      ...cfg.tauri
-    })
+    process.env.TAURI_INLINED_ASSSTS = inlinedAssets.join('|')
+
     entry.generate(tauriDir, cfg)
 
     this.devPath = devPath
@@ -127,10 +123,8 @@ class Runner {
 
     const inlinedAssets = await this.__parseHtml(cfg, cfg.build.distDir)
 
-    generator.generate({
-      inlinedAssets,
-      ...cfg.tauri
-    })
+    process.env.TAURI_INLINED_ASSSTS = inlinedAssets.join('|')
+  
     entry.generate(tauriDir, cfg)
 
     const features = [
@@ -163,6 +157,7 @@ class Runner {
 
   async __parseHtml(cfg: TauriConfig, indexDir: string): Promise<string[]> {
     const inlinedAssets: string[] = []
+    const distDir = cfg.build.distDir
 
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       const distIndexPath = path.join(indexDir, 'index.html')
@@ -184,8 +179,6 @@ class Runner {
           })
 
           const tauriScript = document.createElement('script')
-          // TODO: should this be read as a buffer or a utf8 string?
-          // TODO: is text the write attribute to set?
           // @ts-ignore
           tauriScript.text = readFileSync(path.join(tauriDir, 'tauri.js'))
           document.body.insertBefore(tauriScript, document.body.firstChild)
@@ -198,8 +191,12 @@ class Runner {
             document.head.appendChild(cspTag)
           }
 
+          if (!existsSync(distDir)) {
+            mkdirSync(distDir, { recursive: true })
+          }
+
           writeFileSync(
-            path.join(indexDir, 'index.tauri.html'),
+            path.join(distDir, 'index.tauri.html'),
             dom.serialize()
           )
           resolve(inlinedAssets)
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/template/defaultConfig.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/template/defaultConfig.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..71e9929ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/template/defaultConfig.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+export default {
+  build: {
+    distDir: 'dist',
+    devPath: 'http://localhost:4000'
+  },
+  ctx: {},
+  tauri: {
+    embeddedServer: {
+      active: true
+    },
+    bundle: {
+      active: true
+    },
+    whitelist: {
+      all: false
+    },
+    window: {
+      title: 'Tauri App'
+    },
+    security: {
+      csp:
+        "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    edge: {
+      active: true
+    },
+    automaticStart: {
+      active: true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/src/template.ts b/cli/tauri.js/src/template/index.ts
similarity index 63%
rename from cli/tauri.js/src/template.ts
rename to cli/tauri.js/src/template/index.ts
index 8d6ea2765..1371198fb 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/src/template.ts
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/src/template/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
-import { copySync, existsSync, removeSync } from 'fs-extra'
+import { existsSync, removeSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs-extra'
 import { join, normalize, resolve } from 'path'
-import copyTemplates from './helpers/copy-templates'
-import logger from './helpers/logger'
+import { TauriConfig } from 'types'
+import merge from 'webpack-merge'
+import copyTemplates from '../helpers/copy-templates'
+import logger from '../helpers/logger'
+import defaultConfig from './defaultConfig'
 
 const log = logger('app:tauri', 'green')
 const warn = logger('app:tauri (template)', 'red')
@@ -15,22 +18,32 @@ type InjectionType = 'conf' | 'template' | 'all'
 
 const injectConfFile = (
   injectPath: string,
-  { force, logging }: InjectOptions
+  { force, logging }: InjectOptions,
+  customConfig: Partial<TauriConfig> = {}
 ): boolean | undefined => {
-  const path = join(injectPath, 'tauri.conf.js')
+  const path = join(injectPath, 'tauri.conf.json')
   if (existsSync(path) && force !== 'conf' && force !== 'all') {
-    warn(`tauri.conf.js found in ${path}
+    warn(`tauri.conf.json found in ${path}
   Run \`tauri init --force conf\` to overwrite.`)
     if (!force) return false
   } else {
     try {
       removeSync(path)
-      copySync(resolve(__dirname, '../templates/tauri.conf.js'), path)
+      const finalConf = merge(defaultConfig as any, customConfig as any) as {
+        [index: string]: any
+      }
+      Object.keys(finalConf).forEach(key => {
+        // Options marked `null` should be removed
+        if (finalConf[key] === null) {
+          delete finalConf[key]
+        }
+      })
+      writeFileSync(path, JSON.stringify(finalConf, undefined, 2))
     } catch (e) {
       if (logging) console.log(e)
       return false
     } finally {
-      if (logging) log('Successfully wrote tauri.conf.js')
+      if (logging) log('Successfully wrote tauri.conf.json')
     }
   }
 }
@@ -70,18 +83,19 @@ Run \`tauri init --force template\` to overwrite.`)
 const inject = (
   injectPath: string,
   type: InjectionType,
-  { force = false, logging = false, tauriPath }: InjectOptions
+  { force = false, logging = false, tauriPath }: InjectOptions,
+  customConfig?: Partial<TauriConfig>
 ): boolean => {
   if (typeof type !== 'string' || typeof injectPath !== 'string') {
     warn('- internal error. Required params missing.')
     return false
   }
-  if (type === 'conf' || type === 'all') {
-    injectConfFile(injectPath, { force, logging })
-  }
   if (type === 'template' || type === 'all') {
     injectTemplate(injectPath, { force, logging, tauriPath })
   }
+  if (type === 'conf' || type === 'all') {
+    injectConfFile(join(injectPath, 'src-tauri'), { force, logging }, customConfig)
+  }
   return true
 }
 
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/templates/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/cli/tauri.js/templates/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index 67f4a2437..4070fb847 100755
--- a/cli/tauri.js/templates/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/templates/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ build = "src/build.rs"
 serde_json = "1.0.41"
 serde = "1.0.104"
 serde_derive = "1.0.104"
-tiny_http = "0.6"
 tauri = <%= tauriDep || `{ version = "0.2.0" }` %>
 
 [target."cfg(windows)".build-dependencies]
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.conf.js b/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 325711ad7..000000000
--- a/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './dist')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:4000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: false
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      automaticStart: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.esm.js b/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.esm.js
index 0bd01cb65..59978818b 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.esm.js
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.esm.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *  * THIS FILE IS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY.
  * DO NOT EDIT.
  *
- * Please whitelist these API functions in tauri.conf.js
+ * Please whitelist these API functions in tauri.conf.json
  *
  **/
 
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * @module tauri
  * @description This API interface makes powerful interactions available
  * to be run on client side applications. They are opt-in features, and
- * must be enabled in tauri.conf.js
+ * must be enabled in tauri.conf.json
  *
  * Each binding MUST provide these interfaces in order to be compliant,
  * and also whitelist them based upon the developer's settings.
@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@ const uid = function () {
 /**
  * @name __whitelistWarning
  * @description Present a stylish warning to the developer that their API
- * call has not been whitelisted in tauri.conf.js
+ * call has not been whitelisted in tauri.conf.json
  * @param {String} func - function name to warn
  * @private
  */
 const __whitelistWarning = function (func) {
-  console.warn('%c[Tauri] Danger \ntauri.' + func + ' not whitelisted 💣\n%c\nAdd to tauri.conf.js: \n\ntauri: \n  whitelist: { \n    ' + func + ': true \n\nReference: https://tauri-apps.org/docs/api#' + func , 'background: red; color: white; font-weight: 800; padding: 2px; font-size:1.5em', ' ')
+  console.warn('%c[Tauri] Danger \ntauri.' + func + ' not whitelisted 💣\n%c\nAdd to tauri.conf.json: \n\ntauri: \n  whitelist: { \n    ' + func + ': true \n\nReference: https://tauri-apps.org/docs/api#' + func , 'background: red; color: white; font-weight: 800; padding: 2px; font-size:1.5em', ' ')
 }
 <% } %>
 
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.js b/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.js
index ce6ec20a4..689d46022 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.js
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/templates/tauri.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *  * THIS FILE IS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY.
  * DO NOT EDIT.
  *
- * Please whitelist these API functions in tauri.conf.js
+ * Please whitelist these API functions in tauri.conf.json
  *
  **/
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
  * @module tauri
  * @description This API interface makes powerful interactions available
  * to be run on client side applications. They are opt-in features, and
- * must be enabled in tauri.conf.js
+ * must be enabled in tauri.conf.json
  *
  * Each binding MUST provide these interfaces in order to be compliant,
  * and also whitelist them based upon the developer's settings.
diff --git a/cli/tauri.js/webpack.config.js b/cli/tauri.js/webpack.config.js
index 828c07c86..c648ff56f 100644
--- a/cli/tauri.js/webpack.config.js
+++ b/cli/tauri.js/webpack.config.js
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ module.exports = {
     build: './src/api/build.ts',
     dev: './src/api/dev.ts',
     init: './src/api/init.ts',
-    tauricon: './src/api/tauricon.ts'
+    tauricon: './src/api/tauricon.ts',
+    'tauri-config': './src/helpers/tauri-config.ts'
   },
   mode: process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development',
   devtool: 'source-map',
diff --git a/examples/react/create-react-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/examples/react/create-react-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aea959329
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/react/create-react-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../build",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:3000"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": false
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    "edge": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "automaticStart": {
+      "active": true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/react/create-react-app/tauri.conf.js b/examples/react/create-react-app/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index c6b04063d..000000000
--- a/examples/react/create-react-app/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './build')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:3000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: false
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      automaticStart: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/examples/react/gatsby-themed-site/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/examples/react/gatsby-themed-site/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b2661a228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/react/gatsby-themed-site/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../public",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:8000"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": false
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    "edge": {
+      "active": true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/react/gatsby-themed-site/tauri.conf.js b/examples/react/gatsby-themed-site/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 9c1da01f0..000000000
--- a/examples/react/gatsby-themed-site/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './public')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:8000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: false
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/examples/react/next.js/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/examples/react/next.js/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..08d238af4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/react/next.js/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../out",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:3000"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": false
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    "edge": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "automaticStart": {
+      "active": true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/react/next.js/tauri.conf.js b/examples/react/next.js/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 0e9115a1b..000000000
--- a/examples/react/next.js/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './out')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:3000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: false
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      automaticStart: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/examples/svelte/svelte-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/examples/svelte/svelte-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc434564f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/svelte/svelte-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../public",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:5000"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": false
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    "edge": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "automaticStart": {
+      "active": true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/svelte/svelte-app/tauri.conf.js b/examples/svelte/svelte-app/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index c9c8dd111..000000000
--- a/examples/svelte/svelte-app/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './public')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:5000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: false
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      automaticStart: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/examples/vanillajs/monolith/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/examples/vanillajs/monolith/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1fe49ab1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vanillajs/monolith/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../dist",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:4000"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": true
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    "edge": {
+      "active": true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/vanillajs/monolith/tauri.conf.js b/examples/vanillajs/monolith/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index cbb73b19f..000000000
--- a/examples/vanillajs/monolith/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './dist')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:4000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: true
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index 7cd58b329..30d43e3e0 100644
--- a/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ icon = [
 serde_json = "1.0.44"
 serde = "1.0"
 serde_derive = "1.0"
-tiny_http = "0.6"
-phf = "0.8.0"
-includedir = "0.5.0"
 tauri = { path = "../../../../tauri", features = [ "all-api", "edge" ] }
 
 [features]
diff --git a/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 71c82fb80..89f6b0252 100644
--- a/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+#![cfg_attr(
+  all(not(debug_assertions), target_os = "windows"),
+  windows_subsystem = "windows"
+)]
+
 mod cmd;
 
 #[macro_use]
diff --git a/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50bd82270
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vue/quasar-app/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../dist/spa",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:7334"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": true
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    },
+    "edge": {
+      "active": true
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/vue/quasar-app/tauri.conf.js b/examples/vue/quasar-app/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 9bcd10e77..000000000
--- a/examples/vue/quasar-app/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './dist/spa')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:7334' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: true
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      },
-      edge: {
-        active: true
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/tauri/Cargo.toml b/tauri/Cargo.toml
index 97bcc0a9d..bb25d014b 100644
--- a/tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@ tauri-api = { version = "0.2",  path = "../tauri-api" }
 
 [build-dependencies]
 tauri_includedir_codegen = "0.5.1"
-serde_json = "1.0.44"
-serde = "1.0"
-serde_derive = "1.0"
 
 [features]
 edge = ["web-view/edge"]
diff --git a/tauri/build.rs b/tauri/build.rs
index 00ab692ec..45abdb611 100644
--- a/tauri/build.rs
+++ b/tauri/build.rs
@@ -1,26 +1,21 @@
 #[cfg(not(feature = "dev-server"))]
 extern crate tauri_includedir_codegen;
 
-#[cfg(not(feature = "dev-server"))]
-#[macro_use]
-extern crate serde_derive;
-#[cfg(not(feature = "dev-server"))]
-extern crate serde_json;
-
-#[cfg(not(feature = "dev-server"))]
-#[path = "src/config.rs"]
-mod config;
-
 pub fn main() {
   #[cfg(not(feature = "dev-server"))]
   {
     match std::env::var("TAURI_DIST_DIR") {
       Ok(dist_path) => {
-        let config = config::get();
+        let inlined_assets = match std::env::var("TAURI_INLINED_ASSETS") {
+          Ok(assets) => {
+            assets.split("|").map(|s| s.to_string()).collect()
+          }
+          Err(_) => Vec::new()
+        };
         // include assets
         tauri_includedir_codegen::start("ASSETS")
           .dir(dist_path, tauri_includedir_codegen::Compression::None)
-          .build("data.rs", config.inlined_assets)
+          .build("data.rs", inlined_assets)
           .expect("failed to build data.rs")
       }
       Err(e) => panic!("Build error: Couldn't find ENV: {}", e),
diff --git a/tauri/src/app/runner.rs b/tauri/src/app/runner.rs
index 74995b37e..3913e0dc6 100644
--- a/tauri/src/app/runner.rs
+++ b/tauri/src/app/runner.rs
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ pub(crate) fn run(application: &mut crate::App) {
   let content;
   #[cfg(not(any(feature = "embedded-server", feature = "no-server")))]
   {
-    content = if config.dev_path.starts_with("http") {
-      web_view::Content::Url(config.dev_path)
+    content = if config.build.dev_path.starts_with("http") {
+      web_view::Content::Url(config.build.dev_path)
     } else {
-      let dev_path = std::path::Path::new(&config.dev_path).join("index.tauri.html");
+      let dev_path = std::path::Path::new(env!("TAURI_DIST_DIR")).join("index.tauri.html");
       web_view::Content::Html(
         std::fs::read_to_string(dev_path).expect("failed to build index.tauri.html"),
       )
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run(application: &mut crate::App) {
     // define URL
     let port;
     let port_valid;
-    if config.embedded_server.port == "random" {
+    if config.tauri.embedded_server.port == "random" {
       match crate::tcp::get_available_port() {
         Some(available_port) => {
           port = available_port.to_string();
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run(application: &mut crate::App) {
         }
       }
     } else {
-      port = config.embedded_server.port;
+      port = config.tauri.embedded_server.port;
       port_valid = crate::tcp::port_is_available(
         port
           .parse::<u16>()
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run(application: &mut crate::App) {
       );
     }
     if port_valid {
-      let mut url = format!("{}:{}", config.embedded_server.host, port);
+      let mut url = format!("{}:{}", config.tauri.embedded_server.host, port);
       if !url.starts_with("http") {
         url = format!("http://{}", url);
       }
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ pub(crate) fn run(application: &mut crate::App) {
   let mut ran_setup = false;
 
   let webview = web_view::builder()
-    .title(&config.window.title)
-    .size(config.window.width, config.window.height)
-    .resizable(config.window.resizable)
+    .title(&config.tauri.window.title)
+    .size(config.tauri.window.width, config.tauri.window.height)
+    .resizable(config.tauri.window.resizable)
     .debug(debug)
     .user_data(())
     .invoke_handler(|webview, arg| {
diff --git a/tauri/src/config.rs b/tauri/src/config.rs
index 4fb501ea1..b5098b030 100644
--- a/tauri/src/config.rs
+++ b/tauri/src/config.rs
@@ -63,27 +63,48 @@ fn default_embedded_server() -> EmbeddedServerConfig {
 }
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
-#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
-pub struct Config {
+#[serde(tag = "tauri", rename_all = "camelCase")]
+pub struct TauriConfig {
   #[serde(default = "default_window")]
   pub window: WindowConfig,
   #[serde(default = "default_embedded_server")]
-  pub embedded_server: EmbeddedServerConfig,
-  #[serde(default = "default_dev_path")]
-  pub dev_path: String,
-  #[serde(default = "default_inlined_assets")]
-  pub inlined_assets: Vec<String>,
+  pub embedded_server: EmbeddedServerConfig
 }
 
-fn default_inlined_assets() -> Vec<String> {
-  Vec::new()
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+#[serde(tag = "build", rename_all = "camelCase")]
+pub struct BuildConfig {
+  #[serde(default = "default_dev_path")]
+  pub dev_path: String
 }
 
 fn default_dev_path() -> String {
   "".to_string()
 }
 
-pub fn get() -> Config {
-  serde_json::from_str(include_str!(concat!(env!("TAURI_DIR"), "/config.json")))
-    .expect("failed to create config.json")
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
+pub struct Config {
+  #[serde(default = "default_tauri")]
+  pub tauri: TauriConfig,
+  #[serde(default = "default_build")]
+  pub build: BuildConfig
+}
+
+fn default_tauri() -> TauriConfig {
+  TauriConfig {
+    window: default_window(),
+    embedded_server: default_embedded_server()
+  }
+}
+
+fn default_build() -> BuildConfig {
+  BuildConfig {
+    dev_path: default_dev_path()
+  }
+}
+
+pub fn get() -> Config {
+  serde_json::from_str(include_str!(concat!(env!("TAURI_DIR"), "/tauri.conf.json")))
+    .expect("failed to read tauri.conf.json")
 }
diff --git a/tauri/test/fixture/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/tauri/test/fixture/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c60f00918
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tauri/test/fixture/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+{
+  "build": {
+    "distDir": "../dist",
+    "devPath": "http://localhost:4000"
+  },
+  "ctx": {},
+  "tauri": {
+    "embeddedServer": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "bundle": {
+      "active": true
+    },
+    "whitelist": {
+      "all": true
+    },
+    "window": {
+      "title": "Tauri App"
+    },
+    "security": {
+      "csp": "default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'"
+    }
+  },
+  "edge": true
+}
diff --git a/tauri/test/fixture/tauri.conf.js b/tauri/test/fixture/tauri.conf.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 19ebc419a..000000000
--- a/tauri/test/fixture/tauri.conf.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-const path = require('path')
-const distDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './dist')
-
-module.exports = function () {
-  return {
-    build: {
-      distDir: distDir,
-      devPath: 'http://localhost:4000' // devServer URL or html dir
-    },
-    ctx: {},
-    tauri: {
-      embeddedServer: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      bundle: {
-        active: true
-      },
-      whitelist: {
-        all: true
-      },
-      window: {
-        title: 'Tauri App'
-      },
-      security: {
-        csp: 'default-src data: filesystem: ws: http: https: \'unsafe-eval\' \'unsafe-inline\''
-      }
-    },
-    edge: true
-  }
-}