diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0e3b2539c..947806bb3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -44,15 +44,15 @@ endif
 # BUILD
 
 CARGO_SOURCES := rust/.cargo/config.toml $(wildcard rust/Cargo.*) $(wildcard rust/**/Cargo.*)
+KCL_SOURCES := $(wildcard public/kcl-samples/**/*.kcl)
 RUST_SOURCES := $(wildcard rust/**/*.rs)
 
 REACT_SOURCES := $(wildcard src/*.tsx) $(wildcard src/**/*.tsx)
 TYPESCRIPT_SOURCES := tsconfig.* $(wildcard src/*.ts) $(wildcard src/**/*.ts)
 VITE_SOURCES := $(wildcard vite.*) $(wildcard vite/**/*.tsx)
 
-
 .PHONY: build
-build: install public/kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm .vite/build/main.js
+build: install public/kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm public/kcl-samples/manifest.json .vite/build/main.js
 
 public/kcl_wasm_lib_bg.wasm: $(CARGO_SOURCES) $(RUST_SOURCES)
 ifdef WINDOWS
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ else
 	npm run build:wasm:dev
 endif
 
+public/kcl-samples/manifest.json: $(KCL_SOURCES)
+	cd rust/kcl-lib && EXPECTORATE=overwrite cargo test generate_manifest
+
 .vite/build/main.js: $(REACT_SOURCES) $(TYPESCRIPT_SOURCES) $(VITE_SOURCES)
 	npm run tronb:vite:dev
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 359af739f..2c7ecfaf6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@
     "files:invalidate-bucket:nightly": "./scripts/invalidate-files-bucket.sh --nightly",
     "postinstall": "electron-rebuild",
     "generate:machine-api": "npx openapi-typescript ./openapi/machine-api.json -o src/lib/machine-api.d.ts",
-    "generate:samples-manifest": "cd public/kcl-samples && node generate-manifest.js",
     "tron:start": "electron-forge start",
     "chrome:test": "PLATFORM=web NODE_ENV=development playwright test --config=playwright.config.ts --project='Google Chrome' --grep-invert=@snapshot",
     "tronb:vite:dev": "vite build -c vite.main.config.ts -m development && vite build -c vite.preload.config.ts -m development && vite build -c vite.renderer.config.ts -m development",
diff --git a/rust/Cargo.lock b/rust/Cargo.lock
index 0d7ec37ca..52b740ef1 100644
--- a/rust/Cargo.lock
+++ b/rust/Cargo.lock
@@ -1959,6 +1959,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "url",
  "uuid",
  "validator",
+ "walkdir",
  "wasm-bindgen",
  "wasm-bindgen-futures",
  "web-sys",
diff --git a/rust/kcl-lib/Cargo.toml b/rust/kcl-lib/Cargo.toml
index 1138e3f02..e096f3560 100644
--- a/rust/kcl-lib/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/kcl-lib/Cargo.toml
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ tynm = "0.1.10"
 url = { version = "2.5.4", features = ["serde"] }
 uuid = { workspace = true, features = ["v4", "v5", "js", "serde"] }
 validator = { version = "0.20.0", features = ["derive"] }
+walkdir = "2.5.0"
 web-time = "1.1"
 winnow = "=0.6.24"
 zip = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/rust/kcl-lib/src/simulation_tests/kcl_samples.rs b/rust/kcl-lib/src/simulation_tests/kcl_samples.rs
index a975cfbc9..7642a82cf 100644
--- a/rust/kcl-lib/src/simulation_tests/kcl_samples.rs
+++ b/rust/kcl-lib/src/simulation_tests/kcl_samples.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use std::{
 use anyhow::Result;
 use fnv::FnvHashSet;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use walkdir::WalkDir;
 
 use super::Test;
 
@@ -250,19 +251,12 @@ fn get_kcl_metadata(project_path: &Path, files: &[String]) -> Option<KclMetadata
     let title = lines[0].trim_start_matches(COMMENT_PREFIX).trim().to_string();
     let description = lines[1].trim_start_matches(COMMENT_PREFIX).trim().to_string();
 
-    // Get the path components
-    let path_components: Vec<String> = full_path_to_primary_kcl
-        .components()
-        .map(|comp| comp.as_os_str().to_string_lossy().to_string())
-        .collect();
-
-    // Get the last two path components
-    let len = path_components.len();
-    let path_from_project_dir = if len >= 2 {
-        format!("{}/{}", path_components[len - 2], path_components[len - 1])
-    } else {
-        primary_kcl_file.clone()
-    };
+    // Get the relative path from the project directory to the primary KCL file
+    let path_from_project_dir = full_path_to_primary_kcl
+        .strip_prefix(INPUTS_DIR.as_path())
+        .unwrap_or(&full_path_to_primary_kcl)
+        .to_string_lossy()
+        .to_string();
 
     let mut files = files.to_vec();
     files.sort();
@@ -281,21 +275,23 @@ fn get_kcl_metadata(project_path: &Path, files: &[String]) -> Option<KclMetadata
 fn generate_kcl_manifest(dir: &Path) -> Result<()> {
     let mut manifest = Vec::new();
 
-    // Collect all directory entries first and sort them by name for consistent ordering
-    let mut entries: Vec<_> = fs::read_dir(dir)?
-        .filter_map(Result::ok)
-        .filter(|e| e.path().is_dir())
+    // Collect all directory entries first
+    let mut entries: Vec<_> = WalkDir::new(dir)
+        .follow_links(true)
+        .into_iter()
+        .filter_map(|e| e.ok())
         .collect();
 
     // Sort directories by name for consistent ordering
-    entries.sort_by_key(|a| a.file_name());
+    entries.sort_by_key(|a| a.file_name().to_string_lossy().to_string());
 
+    // Loop through all directories and add to manifest if KCL sample
     for entry in entries {
-        let project_path = entry.path();
+        let path = entry.path();
 
-        if project_path.is_dir() {
+        if path.is_dir() {
             // Get all .kcl files in the directory
-            let files: Vec<String> = fs::read_dir(&project_path)?
+            let files: Vec<String> = fs::read_dir(path)?
                 .filter_map(Result::ok)
                 .filter(|e| {
                     if let Some(ext) = e.path().extension() {
@@ -311,7 +307,7 @@ fn generate_kcl_manifest(dir: &Path) -> Result<()> {
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if let Some(metadata) = get_kcl_metadata(&project_path, &files) {
+            if let Some(metadata) = get_kcl_metadata(path, &files) {
                 manifest.push(metadata);
             }
         }