diff --git a/apps/server/src/__tests__/config.test.ts b/apps/server/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
index c294bf2..d14f05d 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { mkdtemp, readFile, rm, stat } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { BASE_PATH, resolveFromBase, toStoredPath } from "../config.ts";
 
@@ -21,3 +23,25 @@ test("toStoredPath - files outside BASE_PATH are stored absolute", () => {
   expect(toStoredPath("/etc/snapraid.conf")).toEqual("/etc/snapraid.conf");
   expect(toStoredPath("../outside.conf")).toEqual(resolveFromBase("../outside.conf"));
 });
+
+// BASE_PATH is read once, when config.ts is imported: the first start runs in a process of its own
+test("loadAppConfig - the first start creates the data directory and saves the default config", async () => {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "snapraid-ui-first-start-"));
+  const base = join(dir, "snapraid");
+  try {
+    const proc = Bun.spawn(
+      [process.execPath, "-e", `import { loadAppConfig } from ${JSON.stringify(join(import.meta.dir, "..", "config-parser.ts"))}; await loadAppConfig();`],
+      { env: { ...process.env, SNAPRAID_BASE_PATH: base }, stdout: "pipe", stderr: "pipe" },
+    );
+    const [stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([new Response(proc.stderr).text(), proc.exited]);
+
+    expect(stderr).not.toContain("Failed to save default config");
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    // As the log directory and every other directory the backend makes: mkdir's default, less the umask
+    expect((await stat(base)).mode & 0o777).toBe(0o777 & ~process.umask());
+    const saved = JSON.parse(await readFile(join(base, "config.json"), "utf8"));
+    expect(saved.snapraidConfigs[0].path).toBe("snapraid.conf");
+  } finally {
+    await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/apps/server/src/config-parser.ts b/apps/server/src/config-parser.ts
index 4ff3537..38ba62f 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/config-parser.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/config-parser.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-import { basename, join } from "node:path";
+import { basename, dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import type { AppConfig, ParityLevel, ParsedSnapRaidConfig } from "@shared/types.ts";
 import { resolveFromBase } from "./config.ts";
 import { effectiveSmartIgnore, parseSmartIgnoreLine } from "./smart-ignore.ts";
 import { writeTextFileAtomic } from "./atomic-write.ts";
-import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { mkdir, readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { isNotFound } from "./fs.ts";
 
 export const MAX_PARITY_LEVEL = 6;
@@ -174,5 +174,7 @@ export const loadAppConfig = async (): Promise<AppConfig> => {
  */
 export const saveAppConfig = async (config: AppConfig): Promise<void> => {
   const configPath = resolveFromBase("config.json");
+  // On the first start the data directory is not there yet; made as the log directory is
+  await mkdir(dirname(configPath), { recursive: true });
   await writeTextFileAtomic(configPath, JSON.stringify(config, null, 2));
 };
diff --git a/e2e/harness/fixtures.ts b/e2e/harness/fixtures.ts
index 13b2ee0..70bc865 100644
--- a/e2e/harness/fixtures.ts
+++ b/e2e/harness/fixtures.ts
@@ -49,7 +49,13 @@ export const test = base.extend<{ app: App }>({
         )
       },
       expectFinished: async (label) => {
-        await expect(page.getByText(`"${label}" finished successfully`)).toBeVisible({ timeout: 90_000 })
+        const toast = page.locator('[data-sonner-toast]').filter({ hasText: `"${label}" finished successfully` })
+        await expect(toast).toBeVisible({ timeout: 90_000 })
+        // Each job gets its own toast, they stack for 5 s (Feedback.tsx): closed, so the toast
+        // of the next job of the same command is the only one the next call finds. Dispatched,
+        // as an open dialog's overlay (a wizard's) lies over the toasts
+        await toast.getByRole('button', { name: 'Close toast' }).dispatchEvent('click')
+        await expect(toast).toHaveCount(0)
         await waitForIdle()
       },
       waitForIdle,
diff --git a/e2e/tests/schedules.spec.ts b/e2e/tests/schedules.spec.ts
index c77a370..ac9986f 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/schedules.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/schedules.spec.ts
@@ -122,7 +122,10 @@ test('a disk that is not mounted pauses the scheduled sync', async ({ page, app
   // Back in place, nothing changed since the last sync: parity still has the files of d1
   await array.remount('d1')
   expect(await array.snapraid('diff')).toMatch(/No differences/)
+  // The dashboard shows the status it kept (persisted, fresh for 10 s) without reading it again:
+  // the disk came back behind the app's back, so read it again as a user would
   await page.goto('/')
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Refresh', exact: true }).click()
   await expectHealth(page, 'All good')
 })