diff --git a/internal/command/dev/dev.go b/internal/command/dev/dev.go
index d50d8e8..cf5a84c 100644
--- a/internal/command/dev/dev.go
+++ b/internal/command/dev/dev.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package dev
 
 import (
+	"github.com/cirruslabs/orchard/internal/config"
 	"github.com/cirruslabs/orchard/internal/controller"
 	"github.com/cirruslabs/orchard/internal/worker"
 	"github.com/cirruslabs/orchard/pkg/client"
@@ -75,13 +76,16 @@ func CreateDevControllerAndWorker(devDataDirPath string) (*controller.Controller
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
-	devController, err := controller.New(controller.WithDataDir(dataDir),
-		controller.WithInsecureAuthDisabled(), controller.WithLogger(logger))
+	devController, err := controller.New(
+		controller.WithDataDir(dataDir),
+		controller.WithInsecureAuthDisabled(),
+		controller.WithLogger(logger),
+	)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
-	defaultClient, err := client.New()
+	defaultClient, err := client.New(client.WithAddress(devController.Address()))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
@@ -90,5 +94,20 @@ func CreateDevControllerAndWorker(devDataDirPath string) (*controller.Controller
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
+	// set local-dev context as active
+	configHandle, err := config.NewHandle()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	localContext := config.Context{URL: devController.Address()}
+	err = configHandle.CreateContext("local-dev", localContext, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	err = configHandle.SetDefaultContext("local-dev")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
 	return devController, devWorker, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/controller/controller.go b/internal/controller/controller.go
index 0407847..386028f 100644
--- a/internal/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/controller.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/keepalive"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -158,3 +159,10 @@ func (controller *Controller) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (controller *Controller) Address() string {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(controller.listenAddr, ":") {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost%s", controller.listenAddr)
+	}
+	return controller.listenAddr
+}