diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly-build.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly-build.yml
index 634293928..9dcf81a13 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly-build.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@ name: Build Canary Desktop App on Staging Branch
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      channel_override:
+        description: 'channel type (canary, beta, or stable)'
+        type: choice
+        default: beta
+        options:
+          - canary
+          - beta
+          - stable
   push:
     branches:
       # 0.6.x-staging
@@ -27,7 +36,10 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 env:
+  # BUILD_TYPE => app icon, app name, etc
   BUILD_TYPE: internal
+  # BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE => channel type (canary, beta, or stable) - get the channel type (the api configs)
+  BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE: ${{ github.event.inputs.channel_override || 'beta' }}
 
 jobs:
   set-build-version:
diff --git a/apps/electron/scripts/build-layers.mjs b/apps/electron/scripts/build-layers.mjs
index f4a37b113..bd1db6d99 100644
--- a/apps/electron/scripts/build-layers.mjs
+++ b/apps/electron/scripts/build-layers.mjs
@@ -15,12 +15,21 @@ if (process.platform === 'win32') {
 
 async function buildLayers() {
   const common = config();
+
+  const define = {
+    'process.env.NODE_ENV': `"${NODE_ENV}"`,
+    'process.env.BUILD_TYPE': `"${process.env.BUILD_TYPE || 'stable'}"`,
+  };
+
+  if (process.env.BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE) {
+    define[
+      'process.env.BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE'
+    ] = `"${process.env.BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE}"`;
+  }
+
   await esbuild.build({
     ...common.layers,
-    define: {
-      'process.env.NODE_ENV': `"${NODE_ENV}"`,
-      'process.env.BUILD_TYPE': `"${process.env.BUILD_TYPE || 'stable'}"`,
-    },
+    define: define,
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/electron/scripts/generate-assets.mjs b/apps/electron/scripts/generate-assets.mjs
index cf7307b11..22e568caf 100755
--- a/apps/electron/scripts/generate-assets.mjs
+++ b/apps/electron/scripts/generate-assets.mjs
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ if (!process.env.SKIP_WEB_BUILD) {
   await $`yarn -T run build:plugins`;
   await $`yarn nx build @affine/core`;
 
+  await $`yarn workspace @affine/electron build`;
+
   // step 1.5: amend sourceMappingURL to allow debugging in devtools
   await glob('**/*.{js,css}', { cwd: affineCoreOutDir }).then(files => {
     return files.map(async file => {
diff --git a/apps/electron/src/main/config.ts b/apps/electron/src/main/config.ts
index adc6df4ce..95d0ea916 100644
--- a/apps/electron/src/main/config.ts
+++ b/apps/electron/src/main/config.ts
@@ -7,9 +7,16 @@ export const ReleaseTypeSchema = z.enum([
   'internal',
 ]);
 
-export const envBuildType = (process.env.BUILD_TYPE || 'canary')
+export const envBuildType = (
+  process.env.BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE ||
+  process.env.BUILD_TYPE ||
+  'canary'
+)
   .trim()
   .toLowerCase();
+
+export const overrideSession = process.env.BUILD_TYPE === 'internal';
+
 export const buildType = ReleaseTypeSchema.parse(envBuildType);
 
 export const mode = process.env.NODE_ENV;
diff --git a/apps/electron/src/main/index.ts b/apps/electron/src/main/index.ts
index fb24f7b1e..ccaed0b07 100644
--- a/apps/electron/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/apps/electron/src/main/index.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 import './security-restrictions';
 
+import path from 'node:path';
+
 import { app } from 'electron';
 
 import { createApplicationMenu } from './application-menu/create';
+import { buildType, overrideSession } from './config';
 import { setupDeepLink } from './deep-link';
 import { registerEvents } from './events';
 import { registerHandlers } from './handlers';
@@ -14,6 +17,14 @@ import { registerUpdater } from './updater';
 
 app.enableSandbox();
 
+// use the same data for internal & beta for testing
+if (overrideSession) {
+  const appName = buildType === 'stable' ? 'AFFiNE' : `AFFiNE-${buildType}`;
+  const userDataPath = path.join(app.getPath('appData'), appName);
+  app.setPath('userData', userDataPath);
+  app.setPath('sessionData', userDataPath);
+}
+
 if (require('electron-squirrel-startup')) app.quit();
 // allow tests to overwrite app name through passing args
 if (process.argv.includes('--app-name')) {
diff --git a/apps/electron/src/main/updater/electron-updater.ts b/apps/electron/src/main/updater/electron-updater.ts
index 593fd33c7..dc91ab753 100644
--- a/apps/electron/src/main/updater/electron-updater.ts
+++ b/apps/electron/src/main/updater/electron-updater.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,12 @@
 import { app } from 'electron';
 import { autoUpdater } from 'electron-updater';
-import { z } from 'zod';
 
 import { isMacOS, isWindows } from '../../shared/utils';
+import { buildType } from '../config';
 import { logger } from '../logger';
 import { CustomGitHubProvider } from './custom-github-provider';
 import { updaterSubjects } from './event';
 
-export const ReleaseTypeSchema = z.enum([
-  'stable',
-  'beta',
-  'canary',
-  'internal',
-]);
-
-export const envBuildType = (process.env.BUILD_TYPE || 'canary')
-  .trim()
-  .toLowerCase();
-export const buildType = ReleaseTypeSchema.parse(envBuildType);
 const mode = process.env.NODE_ENV;
 const isDev = mode === 'development';