diff --git a/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/package.json b/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/package.json
index d557ccfd259..ca17377c9f2 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/package.json
+++ b/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "description": "",
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "napi build --platform --js false",
+    "build": "node scripts/build.js",
     "test": "cargo test"
   },
   "author": "",
diff --git a/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/scripts/build.js b/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/scripts/build.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7b3dccf81e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/scripts/build.js
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires */
+const { execSync } = require('child_process');
+
+const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+const isRelease = args.includes('--release');
+
+if (isRelease) {
+  console.log('Building release mode.');
+} else {
+  console.log('Building debug mode.');
+  process.env.RUST_LOG = 'debug';
+}
+
+execSync(`napi build --platform --js false ${isRelease ? '--release' : ''}`, { stdio: 'inherit', env: process.env });
diff --git a/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/src/lib.rs b/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/src/lib.rs
index b5dcb277a75..c34e7574f68 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/src/lib.rs
+++ b/apps/desktop/desktop_native/napi/src/lib.rs
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ pub mod logging {
     };
     use tracing::Level;
     use tracing_subscriber::{
-        filter::{EnvFilter, LevelFilter},
+        filter::EnvFilter,
         fmt::format::{DefaultVisitor, Writer},
         layer::SubscriberExt,
         util::SubscriberInitExt,
@@ -1049,9 +1049,17 @@ pub mod logging {
     pub fn init_napi_log(js_log_fn: ThreadsafeFunction<(LogLevel, String), CalleeHandled>) {
         let _ = JS_LOGGER.0.set(js_log_fn);
 
+        // the log level hierarchy is determined by:
+        //    - if RUST_LOG is detected at runtime
+        //    - if RUST_LOG is provided at compile time
+        //    - default to INFO
         let filter = EnvFilter::builder()
-            // set the default log level to INFO.
-            .with_default_directive(LevelFilter::INFO.into())
+            .with_default_directive(
+                option_env!("RUST_LOG")
+                    .unwrap_or("info")
+                    .parse()
+                    .expect("should provide valid log level at compile time."),
+            )
             // parse directives from the RUST_LOG environment variable,
             // overriding the default directive for matching targets.
             .from_env_lossy();