diff --git a/src/backend/src/lib.rs b/src/backend/src/lib.rs
index f1e09de..52faa23 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/backend/src/lib.rs
@@ -24,25 +24,35 @@
 }
 
 #[tauri::command]
-fn get_mcp_info() -> Result<serde_json::Value, String> {
+fn get_mcp_info(app_handle: tauri::AppHandle) -> Result<serde_json::Value, String> {
     let mut candidates = vec![PathBuf::from("mcp.json")];
+    
+    // Add resource dir candidates
+    if let Ok(res_dir) = app_handle.path().resource_dir() {
+        candidates.push(res_dir.join("mcp.json"));
+        candidates.push(res_dir.join("resources").join("mcp.json"));
+    }
+
     if let Ok(exe_path) = env::current_exe() {
         if let Some(exe_dir) = exe_path.parent() {
             let mut p = exe_dir.to_path_buf();
             for _ in 0..5 {
                 candidates.push(p.join("mcp.json"));
+                candidates.push(p.join("resources").join("mcp.json"));
                 if !p.pop() { break; }
             }
         }
     }
+    
     let mut found_path = None;
-    for candidate in candidates {
+    for candidate in &candidates {
+        log::info!("Checking mcp.json candidate: {:?}", candidate);
         if candidate.exists() {
-            found_path = Some(candidate);
+            found_path = Some(candidate.clone());
             break;
         }
     }
-    let mcp_path = found_path.ok_or_else(|| "mcp.json not found".to_string())?;
+    let mcp_path = found_path.ok_or_else(|| format!("mcp.json not found. Checked: {:?}", candidates))?;
     let content = std::fs::read_to_string(&mcp_path).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
     let mcp_data: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(&content).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
     Ok(mcp_data)
@@ -75,9 +85,13 @@
         }
     }
     if let Ok(cwd) = env::current_dir() { config_paths.push(cwd.join("config.json")); }
-    if let Ok(res_dir) = app_handle.path().resource_dir() { config_paths.push(res_dir.join("config.json")); }
+    if let Ok(res_dir) = app_handle.path().resource_dir() {
+        config_paths.push(res_dir.join("config.json"));
+        config_paths.push(res_dir.join("resources").join("config.json"));
+    }
 
     for path in config_paths {
+        log::info!("Checking config.json candidate: {:?}", path);
         if path.exists() {
             if let Ok(content) = std::fs::read_to_string(path) {
                 if let Ok(parsed) = serde_json::from_str::<serde_json::Value>(&content) { return parsed; }
@@ -173,9 +187,24 @@
         }
     };
 
+    let res_dir = app_handle.path().resource_dir().unwrap_or_default();
+    let exe_dir = std::env::current_exe()
+        .map(|p| p.parent().map(|parent| parent.to_path_buf()).unwrap_or_default())
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+
+    // Preference: res_dir > exe_dir
+    let base_dir = if res_dir.exists() { res_dir.clone() } else { exe_dir.clone() };
+    
+    // Model path could be in models/ or resources/models/
+    let mut model_path = base_dir.join("models").join("embeddinggemma-300m-q4_0.gguf");
+    if !model_path.exists() {
+        model_path = base_dir.join("resources").join("models").join("embeddinggemma-300m-q4_0.gguf");
+    }
+    log::info!("Using model path for sidecar: {:?}", model_path);
+
     // Prepare arguments
     let args = [
-        "--model", "models/embeddinggemma-300m-q4_0.gguf", // This might need absolute path if CWD is not root
+        "--model", model_path.to_str().unwrap_or(""),
         "--port", "8080",
         "--embedding",
         "--host", "127.0.0.1",
@@ -183,10 +212,6 @@
         "--parallel", "1"
     ];
 
-    let res_dir = app_handle.path().resource_dir().unwrap_or_default();
-    let exe_dir = std::env::current_exe()
-        .map(|p| p.parent().map(|parent| parent.to_path_buf()).unwrap_or_default())
-        .unwrap_or_default();
 
     // Diagnostic logging: List files in resource and exe directories
     log::info!("Diagnostic: Resource Dir: {:?}", res_dir);