diff --git a/run_dev.bat b/run_dev.bat
index 8b984df..2ee4825 100644
--- a/run_dev.bat
+++ b/run_dev.bat
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 @echo off
 REM === Local dev launcher ===
+REM cd to this script's own folder first (%~dp0 = the .bat's directory) so
+REM "python manage.py ..." works no matter where the launcher was started
+REM from (the Claude preview runner starts cmd outside the project root).
+cd /d "%~dp0"
 REM USE_SQLITE=true  -> use SQLite, skip MySQL requirement, relax prod-only checks
 REM DJANGO_DEBUG=true -> make Django's dev server auto-serve /static/ files so
 REM                     CSS/JS/images load without needing collectstatic (prod