diff --git a/work/README.md b/work/README.md
index 5c40839..26f5a62 100644
--- a/work/README.md
+++ b/work/README.md
@@ -55,11 +55,17 @@ Everything is driven from the web UI, organized into **General**, **Meshtastic**
 ```bash
 git clone https://github.com/zvx-echo6/meshai.git
 cd meshai
+cd dashboard-frontend && npm ci && npm run build && cd ..   # builds the web dashboard -- required, see note below
 pip install -e .
 cp config.example.yaml config.yaml   # then edit config.yaml (or use the dashboard)
 meshai
 ```
 
+> The frontend build step is required. `meshai/dashboard/static/` is no longer
+> committed to the repo, so skipping it means no dashboard UI is served (the
+> bot and API still run fine). Docker users don't need this -- the image
+> builds the frontend automatically. Requires Node.js/npm.
+
 Or with Docker:
 
 ```bash