diff --git a/core/admin/run_dev.sh b/core/admin/run_dev.sh
index 03003348..a2e32912 100755
--- a/core/admin/run_dev.sh
+++ b/core/admin/run_dev.sh
@@ -1,93 +1,139 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-set -euxo pipefail
+set -euo pipefail
 
 ### CONFIG
 
 DEV_NAME="${DEV_NAME:-mailu-dev}"
+DEV_DB="${DEV_DB:-}"
 DEV_PROFILER="${DEV_PROFILER:-false}"
 DEV_LISTEN="${DEV_LISTEN:-127.0.0.1:8080}"
 [[ "${DEV_LISTEN}" == *:* ]] || DEV_LISTEN="127.0.0.1:${DEV_LISTEN}"
+DEV_ADMIN="${DEV_ADMIN:-admin@example.com}"
+DEV_PASSWORD="${DEV_PASSWORD:-admin}"
 
 ### MAIN
 
-docker="$(command -v podman || command -v docker || echo false)"
-[[ "${docker}" == "false" ]] && {
-	echo "Sorry, you'll need podman or docker to run this."
-	exit 1
+[[ -n "${DEV_DB}" ]] && {
+    [[ -f "${DEV_DB}" ]] || {
+        echo "Sorry, can't find DEV_DB: '${DEV_DB}'"
+        exit 1
+    }
+    DEV_DB="$(realpath "${DEV_DB}")"
 }
 
-here="$(realpath "$(pwd)/${0%/*}")"
-cd "${here}"
+docker="$(command -v podman || command -v docker || echo false)"
+[[ "${docker}" == "false" ]] && {
+    echo "Sorry, you'll need podman or docker to run this."
+    exit 1
+}
 
-# TODO: use /tmp/... folder
-[[ -d dev ]] && rm -rf dev
-mkdir -p dev/data || exit 1
+tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
+[[ -n "${tmp}" && -d "${tmp}" ]] || {
+    echo "Sorry, can't create temporary folder."
+    exit 1
+}
+trap "rm -rf '${tmp}'" INT TERM EXIT
+
+admin="$(realpath "$(pwd)/${0%/*}")"
+base="${admin}/../base"
+assets="${admin}/assets"
+
+cd "${tmp}"
 
 # base
-cp ../base/requirements-* dev/
-cp -r ../base/libs dev/
-sed -E '/^#/d;s:^FROM system$:FROM system AS base:' ../base/Dockerfile > dev/Dockerfile
+cp "${base}"/requirements-* .
+cp -r "${base}"/libs .
+sed -E '/^#/d;s:^FROM system$:FROM system AS base:' "${base}/Dockerfile" >Dockerfile
 
 # assets
-cp -r assets/content dev/
-sed -E '/^#/d;s:^(FROM [^ ]+$):\1 AS assets:' assets/Dockerfile >> dev/Dockerfile
+cp -r "${assets}/content" .
+sed -E '/^#/d;s:^(FROM [^ ]+$):\1 AS assets:' "${assets}/Dockerfile" >>Dockerfile
 
-cat >> dev/Dockerfile <<EOF
+cat >>Dockerfile <<EOF
 RUN set -euxo pipefail \
   ; rm -f /work/static/*.gz
 EOF
 
 # admin
-sed -E '/^#/d;/^(COPY|EXPOSE|HEALTHCHECK|VOLUME|CMD) /d; s:^(.* )[^ ]*pybabel[^\\]*(.*):\1true \2:' Dockerfile >> dev/Dockerfile
+sed -E '/^#/d;/^(COPY|EXPOSE|HEALTHCHECK|VOLUME|CMD) /d; s:^(.* )[^ ]*pybabel[^\\]*(.*):\1true \2:' "${admin}/Dockerfile" >>Dockerfile
 
-MSG="\\n======================================================================\\nUI can be found here: http://${DEV_LISTEN}/sso/login\\nLog in with: admin@example.com and password admin if this is a new DB.\\n======================================================================\\n"
-
-cat >> dev/Dockerfile <<EOF
+# development
+cat >>Dockerfile <<EOF
 COPY --from=assets /work/static/ ./static/
 
 RUN set -euxo pipefail \
+  ; mkdir /data \
   ; ln -s /app/audit.py / \
   ; ln -s /app/start.py /
 
-ENV FLASK_ENV=development
-ENV MEMORY_SESSIONS=true
-ENV RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL="memory://"
-ENV SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=false
+ENV \
+    FLASK_ENV="development" \
+    MEMORY_SESSIONS="true" \
+    RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL="memory://" \
+    SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE="false" \
+    \
+    DEBUG="true" \
+    DEBUG_PROFILER="${DEV_PROFILER}" \
+    DEBUG_ASSETS="/app/static" \
+    DEBUG_TB_ENABLED="true" \
+    \
+    IMAP_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1" \
+    POP3_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1" \
+    AUTHSMTP_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1" \
+    SMTP_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1" \
+    REDIS_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1" \
+    WEBMAIL_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
 
-ENV DEBUG=true
-ENV DEBUG_PROFILER=${DEV_PROFILER}
-ENV DEBUG_ASSETS=/app/static
-ENV DEBUG_TB_ENABLED=true
-
-ENV IMAP_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
-ENV POP3_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
-ENV AUTHSMTP_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
-ENV SMTP_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
-ENV REDIS_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
-ENV WEBMAIL_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"
-
-CMD ["/bin/bash", "-c", "flask db upgrade &>/dev/null && flask mailu admin admin example.com admin --mode ifmissing >/dev/null && echo -e '${MSG}' 1>&2 && flask run --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080"]
+CMD ["/bin/bash", "-c", "flask db upgrade &>/dev/null && flask mailu admin '${DEV_ADMIN/@*}' '${DEV_ADMIN#*@}' '${DEV_PASSWORD}' --mode ifmissing >/dev/null && flask run --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080"]
 EOF
 
-# TODO: re-compile assets on change?
-# TODO: re-run babel on change?
-
 # build
-chmod -R u+rwX,go+rX dev/
-"${docker}" build --tag "${DEV_NAME}:latest" dev/
+chmod -R u+rwX,go+rX .
+cat Dockerfile
+"${docker}" build --tag "${DEV_NAME}:latest" .
+
+# gather volumes to map into container
+volumes=()
+
+if [[ -n "${DEV_DB}" ]]; then
+    volumes+=( --volume "${DEV_DB}:/data/main.db" )
+else
+    mkdir -p "data"
+    volumes=( --volume "${tmp}/data/:/data/" )
+fi
+
+for vol in audit.py start.py mailu/ migrations/; do
+    volumes+=( --volume "${admin}/${vol}:/app/${vol}" )
+done
+
+for file in "${assets}/content/assets"/*; do
+    [[ "${file}" == */vendor.js ]] && continue
+    volumes+=( --volume "${file}:/app/static/${file/*\//}" )
+done
+
+# show configuration
+cat <<EOF
+
+=============================================================================
+DEV_NAME="${DEV_NAME}"
+DEV_DB="${DEV_DB}"
+DEV_PROFILER="${DEV_PROFILER}"
+DEV_LISTEN="${DEV_LISTEN}"
+DEV_ADMIN="${DEV_ADMIN}"
+DEV_PASSWORD="${DEV_PASSWORD}"
+=============================================================================
+
+=============================================================================
+The Mailu UI can be found here: http://${DEV_LISTEN}/sso/login
+EOF
+[[ -z "${DEV_DB}" ]] && echo "You can log in with user ${DEV_ADMIN} and password ${DEV_PASSWORD}"
+cat <<EOF
+=============================================================================
+
+Starting mailu dev environment...
+EOF
 
 # run
-args=( --rm -it --name "${DEV_NAME}" --publish "${DEV_LISTEN}:8080" --volume "${here}/dev/data/:/data/" )
-for vol in audit.py start.py mailu/ migrations/; do
-	args+=( --volume "${here}/${vol}:/app/${vol}" )
-done
+"${docker}" run --rm -it --name "${DEV_NAME}" --publish "${DEV_LISTEN}:8080" "${volumes[@]}" "${DEV_NAME}"
 
-for file in "${here}"/assets/content/assets/*; do
-	[[ "${file}" == */vendor.js ]] && continue
-	args+=( --volume "${file}:/app/static/${file/*\//}" )
-done
-
-"${docker}" run "${args[@]}" "${DEV_NAME}"
-
-# TODO: remove dev folder?