diff --git a/api/CONFIG.md b/api/CONFIG.md
index 83d4c28e0b..b957b1fc56 100644
--- a/api/CONFIG.md
+++ b/api/CONFIG.md
@@ -156,7 +156,6 @@ icon |  |  The icon to use for identifying your app in Linux desktop environment
 
 Key | Default Value | Description
 :--- | :--- | :---
-appstore_icon |  |  Mac App Store icon
 category |  |  A category in the App Store
 cmd |  |  The command to execute to spawn the "back-end" process.
 icon |  |  The icon to use for identifying your app on MacOS.
diff --git a/assets/icon.png b/assets/icon.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc2f73dda8
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/icon.png differ
diff --git a/bin/install.sh b/bin/install.sh
index 850a03d056..5cb86e5b38 100755
--- a/bin/install.sh
+++ b/bin/install.sh
@@ -583,6 +583,9 @@ function _install {
     mkdir -p "$SOCKET_HOME/api"
     cp -frp "$root"/api/* "$SOCKET_HOME/api"
 
+    mkdir -p "$SOCKET_HOME/assets"
+    cp -rf "$root"/assets/* "$SOCKET_HOME/assets"
+
     # only do this for desktop, no need to copy again for other platforms
     rm -rf "$SOCKET_HOME/include"
     mkdir -p "$SOCKET_HOME/include"
diff --git a/bin/publish-npm-modules.sh b/bin/publish-npm-modules.sh
index 041657a4b1..11492fb982 100755
--- a/bin/publish-npm-modules.sh
+++ b/bin/publish-npm-modules.sh
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@ if (( !only_top_level )); then
     cp -f "$root/LICENSE.txt" "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package"
     cp -f "$root/README.md" "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package"
 
+    mkdir -p "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package/assets"
+    cp -rf "$root/assets"/* "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package/assets"
+
     cp -rf "$SOCKET_HOME/uv"/* "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package/uv"
     cp -rf "$SOCKET_HOME/bin"/* "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package/bin"
     cp -rf "$SOCKET_HOME/src"/* "$SOCKET_HOME/packages/$package/src"
diff --git a/src/cli/cli.cc b/src/cli/cli.cc
index 6df11d3a9a..f06465040a 100644
--- a/src/cli/cli.cc
+++ b/src/cli/cli.cc
@@ -2194,6 +2194,7 @@ int main (const int argc, const char* argv[]) {
     auto configOnly = optionsWithoutValue.find("--config") != optionsWithoutValue.end();
     auto projectName = optionsWithValue["--name"];
 
+    // create socket.ini
     if (fs::exists(targetPath / "socket.ini")) {
       log("socket.ini already exists in " + targetPath.string());
     } else {
@@ -2203,19 +2204,26 @@ int main (const int argc, const char* argv[]) {
       writeFile(targetPath / "socket.ini", tmpl(gDefaultConfig, defaultTemplateAttrs));
       log("socket.ini created in " + targetPath.string());
     }
+
     if (!configOnly) {
       if (isCurrentPathEmpty) {
+        // create src/index.html
         fs::create_directories(targetPath / "src");
         writeFile(targetPath / "src" / "index.html", gHelloWorld);
         log("src/index.html created in " + targetPath.string());
+
+        // copy icon.png
+        fs::copy(trim(prefixFile("assets/icon.png")), targetPath / "src" / "icon.png", fs::copy_options::overwrite_existing);
+        log("icon.png created in " + targetPath.string() + "/src");
       } else {
-        log("Current directory was not empty. Assuming index.html is already in place.");
+        log("Current directory was not empty. Assuming index.html and icon are already in place.");
       }
-      if (fs::exists(targetPath / ".gitignore")) {
-        log(".gitignore already exists in " + targetPath.string());
-      } else {
+      // create .gitignore
+      if (!fs::exists(targetPath / ".gitignore")) {
         writeFile(targetPath / ".gitignore", gDefaultGitignore);
         log(".gitignore created in " + targetPath.string());
+      } else {
+        log(".gitignore already exists in " + targetPath.string());
       }
     }
     exit(0);
diff --git a/src/cli/templates.hh b/src/cli/templates.hh
index d1715f3f5b..65b2769b10 100644
--- a/src/cli/templates.hh
+++ b/src/cli/templates.hh
@@ -1815,9 +1815,6 @@ icon = "src/icon.png"
 
 [mac]
 
-; Mac App Store icon
-appstore_icon = "src/icons/icon.png"
-
 ; A category in the App Store
 category = ""
 
@@ -1825,7 +1822,7 @@ category = ""
 ; cmd = "node backend/index.js"
 
 ; The icon to use for identifying your app on MacOS.
-icon = ""
+icon = "src/icon.png"
 
 ; TODO Signing guide: https://socketsupply.co/guides/#code-signing-certificates
 codesign_identity = ""
@@ -1849,13 +1846,13 @@ headers = native-module1.hh
 ; cmd = "node backend/index.js"
 
 ; The icon to use for identifying your app on Windows.
-icon = ""
+icon = "src/icon.png"
 
 ; The icon to use for identifying your app on Windows.
 logo = "src/icons/icon.png"
 
 ; A relative path to the pfx file used for signing.
-pfx = "certs/cert.pfx"
+; pfx = "certs/cert.pfx"
 
 ; The signing information needed by the appx api.
 ; publisher = "CN=Beep Boop Corp., O=Beep Boop Corp., L=San Francisco, S=California, C=US"