NativePHP for Desktop app with Herd (nginx) works in dev, but .exe build throws 500 error

[bimaalbertus]

I'm building a NativePHP desktop application with Electron, and everything works perfectly during development using Herd (nginx).

However, after running php artisan native:build win, the application successfully builds into a .exe file, but when I run it, it throws a 500 internal server error.

Some context:

• I'm using SQLite as the database.
• .env has DB_CONNECTION=sqlite and DB_DATABASE=database/database.sqlite
• The database.sqlite file exists and works in dev.
• I suspect the built app can't find or access this file because it's being looked for inside the packaged resources folder.
• In dev, Herd/nginx manages everything just fine, but I know nginx is not used in the built .exe runtime.

What I've tried:

• Manually creating database.sqlite inside the expected path in the built folder → still error.
• Attempted to use appdata_path() dynamically but not sure how to integrate that into .env or config/database.php cleanly.
• Checked logs but couldn't find a clear trace.

How do I properly reference and persist the SQLite database in a NativePHP + Electron build, especially when dev uses Herd but production runs outside of nginx?
Would really appreciate guidance on best practices for managing SQLite database files in a built NativePHP application.
Thanks!