diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 4cafd5ca2..aa1165164 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ Self-review checklist:
 
 - Use reka-ui for UI components (Splitter, ContextMenu, DropdownMenu, etc.)
 - Browser and Tauri menus share `src/app/shell/menu/schema.ts` as the canonical menu model. Do not add menu items directly in `src/components/AppMenu.vue` or `desktop/src/menu.rs`.
-- Regenerate the native menu with `bun run generate:tauri-menu` after editing the shared menu schema; `desktop/generated/menu.json` is consumed by the Tauri menu builder.
+- Regenerate the native menu with `bun run generate:tauri-menu` after editing the shared menu schema; `desktop/generated/menu.json` is consumed by the Tauri menu builder. Tauri also runs this generator from `desktop/tauri.conf.json` via `beforeDevCommand` and `beforeBuildCommand`.
 - Every shared menu item with an `id` must be handled by `src/app/shell/menu/use.ts`, an editor command, or explicitly marked browser/native-only in the schema.
 - Tailwind 4 for styling — no inline CSS, no component-level `<style>` blocks
 - Mac keyboards: use `e.code` not `e.key` for shortcuts with modifiers (Option transforms characters)
diff --git a/desktop/tauri.conf.json b/desktop/tauri.conf.json
index e6f8e2869..1177a81cb 100644
--- a/desktop/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/desktop/tauri.conf.json
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
   "version": "0.11.8",
   "identifier": "net.dannote.open-pencil",
   "build": {
-    "beforeDevCommand": "bun run dev",
+    "beforeDevCommand": "bun run generate:tauri-menu && bun run dev",
     "devUrl": "http://localhost:1420",
-    "beforeBuildCommand": "bun run build",
+    "beforeBuildCommand": "bun run generate:tauri-menu && bun run build",
     "frontendDist": "../dist"
   },
   "app": {