diff --git a/src/ell/studio/__main__.py b/src/ell/studio/__main__.py
index 20d03cd80..cadb584ca 100644
--- a/src/ell/studio/__main__.py
+++ b/src/ell/studio/__main__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 from ell.studio.server import create_app
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
-from watchfiles import awatch
+import watchfiles
+import importlib
+import sys
 import time
 
 def main():
@@ -17,7 +19,8 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument("--dev", action="store_true", help="Run in development mode")
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
-    app = create_app(args.storage_dir)
+
+    app = create_app()
 
     if not args.dev:
         # In production mode, serve the built React app
@@ -28,16 +31,13 @@ def main():
         async def serve_react_app(full_path: str):
             return FileResponse(os.path.join(static_dir, "index.html"))
 
-    db_path = os.path.join(args.storage_dir, "ell.db")
 
     async def db_watcher(db_path, app):
+        print("Starting db watcher")
         last_stat = None
-
         while True:
-            await asyncio.sleep(0.1)  # Fixed interval of 0.1 seconds
             try:
                 current_stat = os.stat(db_path)
-                
                 if last_stat is None:
                     print(f"Database file found: {db_path}")
                     await app.notify_clients("database_updated")
@@ -64,15 +64,61 @@ async def db_watcher(db_path, app):
             except Exception as e:
                 print(f"Error checking database file: {e}")
                 await asyncio.sleep(1)  # Wait a bit longer on errors
+            finally:
+                await asyncio.sleep(1)  # Use a consistent sleep interval
+
+    def get_dependencies(module_name):
+        module = importlib.import_module(module_name)
+        return list(set(sys.modules[name].__file__ for name in sys.modules if name.startswith(module_name.split('.')[0])))
+
+    def reload_app():
+        importlib.reload(sys.modules["ell.studio.server"])
+        return create_app()
+
+    async def run_server(server):
+        await server.serve()
+
+    async def watch_files(dependencies, server, config, loop):
+        async for changes in watchfiles.awatch(*dependencies):
+            print(f"Detected changes in {changes}. Reloading...")
+            new_app = reload_app()
+            await server.shutdown()
+            config.app = new_app
+            server.force_exit = False
+            loop.create_task(run_server(server))
+
+    async def main_async(args):
+        db_path = os.path.join(args.storage_dir, "ell.db")
+        dependencies = get_dependencies("ell.studio.server")
+
+        config = uvicorn.Config(
+            app=app,
+            host=args.host,
+            port=args.port,
+            loop=asyncio.get_event_loop(),
+        )
+        server = uvicorn.Server(config)
+
+        tasks = [
+            asyncio.create_task(run_server(server)),
+        ]
+        # todo. figure out equivalent for other backends
+        # maybe the server should broadcast a message to all clients on write instead of the db watcher approach
+        if args.storage_dir:
+            tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(db_watcher(db_path, app)))
+        if args.dev:
+            tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(watch_files(dependencies, server, config, asyncio.get_event_loop())))
 
-    # Start the database watcher
-    loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        try:
+            await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            pass
+        finally:
+            for task in tasks:
+                task.cancel()
+            await asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True)
 
-    config = uvicorn.Config(app=app, port=args.port, loop=loop)
-    server = uvicorn.Server(config)
-    loop.create_task(server.serve())
-    loop.create_task(db_watcher(db_path, app))
-    loop.run_forever()
+    asyncio.run(main_async(args))
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ell/studio/server.py b/src/ell/studio/server.py
index 0475494eb..95dab65af 100644
--- a/src/ell/studio/server.py
+++ b/src/ell/studio/server.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import logging
 import asyncio
 import json
+from argparse import ArgumentParser
 import ell.studio.connection_manager
 from ell.studio.connection_manager import ConnectionManager
 from ell.studio.datamodels import SerializedLMPPublic, SerializedLMPWithUses
@@ -18,13 +19,18 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from sqlmodel import select
 
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 
+def create_app():
+    parser = ArgumentParser(description="ELL Studio Data Server")
+    parser.add_argument("--storage-dir", default=os.getcwd(),
+                        help="Directory for filesystem serializer storage (default: current directory)")
+    args, _ = parser.parse_known_args()
 
-def create_app(storage_dir: Optional[str] = None):
-    storage_path = storage_dir or os.environ.get("ELL_STORAGE_DIR") or os.getcwd()
+    storage_path = args.storage_dir or os.environ.get("ELL_STORAGE_DIR") or os.getcwd()
     assert storage_path, "ELL_STORAGE_DIR must be set"
     serializer = SQLiteStore(storage_path)
     def get_session():