diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index 047ddd94..dbe99a53 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -147,6 +147,13 @@ run-ui-only:
     @echo "Running UI..."
     cd ui/desktop && npm install && npm run start-gui
 
+debug-ui:
+	@echo "🚀 Starting Goose frontend in external backend mode"
+	cd ui/desktop && \
+	export GOOSE_EXTERNAL_BACKEND=true && \
+	export GOOSE_EXTERNAL_PORT=3000 && \
+	npm install && \
+	npm run start-gui
 
 # Run UI with alpha changes
 run-ui-alpha temporal="true":
@@ -453,3 +460,4 @@ kotlin-example:
       -Djna.library.path=$HOME/Development/goose/target/debug \
       -classpath "example.jar:libs/kotlin-stdlib-1.9.0.jar:libs/kotlinx-coroutines-core-jvm-1.7.3.jar:libs/jna-5.13.0.jar" \
       UsageKt
+
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/goosed.ts b/ui/desktop/src/goosed.ts
index 3b0b5e1c..802df11a 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/goosed.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/goosed.ts
@@ -59,8 +59,30 @@ const checkServerStatus = async (
   return false;
 };
 
+const connectToExternalBackend = async (
+  workingDir: string,
+  port: number = 3000
+): Promise<[number, string, ChildProcess]> => {
+  log.info(`Using external goosed backend on port ${port}`);
+
+  const isReady = await checkServerStatus(port);
+  if (!isReady) {
+    throw new Error(`External goosed server not accessible on port ${port}`);
+  }
+
+  const mockProcess = {
+    pid: undefined,
+    kill: () => {
+      log.info(`Not killing external process that is managed externally`);
+    },
+  } as ChildProcess;
+
+  return [port, workingDir, mockProcess];
+};
+
 interface GooseProcessEnv {
   [key: string]: string | undefined;
+
   HOME: string;
   USERPROFILE: string;
   APPDATA: string;
@@ -75,18 +97,19 @@ export const startGoosed = async (
   dir: string | null = null,
   env: Partial<GooseProcessEnv> = {}
 ): Promise<[number, string, ChildProcess]> => {
-  // we default to running goosed in home dir - if not specified
   const homeDir = os.homedir();
   const isWindows = process.platform === 'win32';
 
-  // Ensure dir is properly normalized for the platform and validate it
   if (!dir) {
     dir = homeDir;
   }
 
-  // Sanitize and validate the directory path
   dir = path.resolve(path.normalize(dir));
 
+  if (process.env.GOOSE_EXTERNAL_BACKEND) {
+    return connectToExternalBackend(dir, 3000);
+  }
+
   // Validate that the directory actually exists and is a directory
   try {
     const stats = fs.lstatSync(dir);
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
index 078949ac..1934ac4e 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ const getGooseProvider = () => {
 };
 
 const generateSecretKey = () => {
-  const key = crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
+  const key = process.env.GOOSE_EXTERNAL_BACKEND ? 'test' : crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
   process.env.GOOSE_SERVER__SECRET_KEY = key;
   return key;
 };
@@ -2081,7 +2081,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
     command: uvx mcp_slack
   - id: knowledge_graph_memory
     command: npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory
-  ```
+ ```
  *
  * @returns A promise that resolves to an array of extension commands that are allowed.
  */