diff --git a/scripts/larvatagger.sh b/scripts/larvatagger.sh
index f7ad15726b0880d508019c1ea29a9aa03441cb78..e90e3671118345cfc9cbc600fda87e3f0d7aac73 100755
--- a/scripts/larvatagger.sh
+++ b/scripts/larvatagger.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ docker build -t "${LARVATAGGER_IMAGE}:dev" -f recipes/Dockerfile.local ${DOCKER_
 elif [ "$BUILD" == "--stable" ]; then
 docker build -t "${LARVATAGGER_IMAGE}:stable" -f recipes/Dockerfile ${DOCKER_ARGS}.
 else
-docker build -t "${LARVATAGGER_IMAGE}:latest" -f recipes/Dockerfile ${DOCKER_ARGS}--build-arg BRANCH=dev .
+if [ -z "$LARVATAGGER_DEFAULT_BRANCH" ]; then LARVATAGGER_DEFAULT_BRANCH=dev; fi
+docker build -t "${LARVATAGGER_IMAGE}:latest" -f recipes/Dockerfile ${DOCKER_ARGS}--build-arg BRANCH=$LARVATAGGER_DEFAULT_BRANCH .
 fi
 #rm -rf ./external
 ;;
diff --git a/src/editor.jl b/src/editor.jl
index b1c11cdf8ffe9b09b9a631745731653db9013ff1..9c5216d3234dc4cd1c2a8b151b22df540aa34312 100644
--- a/src/editor.jl
+++ b/src/editor.jl
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ function JSServe.jsrender(session::Session, ev::EditorView)
               class="flex flex-row"))
 end
 
+projectdir = dirname(Base.active_project())
+
 function larvaeditor(path=nothing; allow_multiple_tags::Union{Nothing, Bool}=nothing,
-        backend_directory::String=".")
+        backend_directory::String=projectdir)
 
     # to (re-)load a file, the app is reloaded with the filepath as sole information
     # from previous session