diff --git a/.changes/cli-js-kill-dev-fn.md b/.changes/cli-js-kill-dev-fn.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a62400b42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/cli-js-kill-dev-fn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"cli.js": "minor"
+---
+
+Add `killDevApp` API to kill the dev app process manually.
diff --git a/.changes/cli-rs-kill-dev-fn.md b/.changes/cli-rs-kill-dev-fn.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa889b376
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/cli-rs-kill-dev-fn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"cli.rs": "minor"
+---
+
+Add `tauri_cli::kill_dev_app` API to kill the dev app process manually.
diff --git a/tooling/cli/node/index.d.ts b/tooling/cli/node/index.d.ts
index b562ef74a..7c7c2afec 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/node/index.d.ts
+++ b/tooling/cli/node/index.d.ts
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
 /* auto-generated by NAPI-RS */
 
 export function run(args: Array<string>, binName: string | undefined | null, callback: (...args: any[]) => any): void
+export function killDevApp(callback: (...args: any[]) => any): void
 export function logError(error: string): void
diff --git a/tooling/cli/node/index.js b/tooling/cli/node/index.js
index 4bf34ea76..8617a06c9 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/node/index.js
+++ b/tooling/cli/node/index.js
@@ -252,7 +252,8 @@ if (!nativeBinding) {
   throw new Error(`Failed to load native binding`)
 }
 
-const { run, logError } = nativeBinding
+const { run, killDevApp, logError } = nativeBinding
 
 module.exports.run = run
+module.exports.killDevApp = killDevApp
 module.exports.logError = logError
diff --git a/tooling/cli/node/main.d.ts b/tooling/cli/node/main.d.ts
index a89dae573..3963fefba 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/node/main.d.ts
+++ b/tooling/cli/node/main.d.ts
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@
 /* eslint-disable */
 
 export function run(args: Array<string>, binName: string | undefined | null): Promise<void>
+export function killDevApp(): Promise<void>
diff --git a/tooling/cli/node/main.js b/tooling/cli/node/main.js
index b3156ed09..b541f2639 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/node/main.js
+++ b/tooling/cli/node/main.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 
-const { run, logError } = require('./index')
+const { run, killDevApp, logError } = require('./index')
 
 module.exports.run = (args, binName) => {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
@@ -16,4 +16,16 @@ module.exports.run = (args, binName) => {
   })
 }
 
+module.exports.killDevApp = () => {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    killDevApp(res => {
+      if (res instanceof Error) {
+        reject(res)
+      } else {
+        resolve(res)
+      }
+    })
+  })
+}
+
 module.exports.logError = logError
diff --git a/tooling/cli/node/src/lib.rs b/tooling/cli/node/src/lib.rs
index 213dd84c4..aa6ae13ae 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/node/src/lib.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli/node/src/lib.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,23 @@ pub fn run(args: Vec<String>, bin_name: Option<String>, callback: JsFunction) ->
   Ok(())
 }
 
+#[napi_derive::napi]
+pub fn kill_dev_app(callback: JsFunction) -> Result<()> {
+  let function: ThreadsafeFunction<bool, ErrorStrategy::CalleeHandled> = callback
+    .create_threadsafe_function(0, |ctx| ctx.env.get_boolean(ctx.value).map(|v| vec![v]))?;
+
+  // we need to run in a separate thread so Node.js (e.g. vue-cli-plugin-tauri) consumers
+  // can do work while `tauri dev` is running.
+  std::thread::spawn(move || match tauri_cli::kill_dev_app() {
+    Ok(_) => function.call(Ok(true), ThreadsafeFunctionCallMode::Blocking),
+    Err(e) => function.call(
+      Err(Error::new(Status::GenericFailure, format!("{:#}", e))),
+      ThreadsafeFunctionCallMode::Blocking,
+    ),
+  });
+  Ok(())
+}
+
 #[napi_derive::napi]
 pub fn log_error(error: String) {
   log::error!("{}", error);
diff --git a/tooling/cli/src/dev.rs b/tooling/cli/src/dev.rs
index b0bae7157..52c0c567c 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/src/dev.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli/src/dev.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use crate::{
     command_env,
     config::{get as get_config, reload as reload_config, AppUrl, BeforeDevCommand, WindowUrl},
   },
-  interface::{AppInterface, ExitReason, Interface},
+  interface::{rust::DevChild, AppInterface, ExitReason, Interface},
   CommandExt, Result,
 };
 use clap::{ArgAction, Parser};
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ use std::{
   },
 };
 
+pub(crate) static DEV_CHILD: OnceCell<Arc<Mutex<DevChild>>> = OnceCell::new();
 static BEFORE_DEV: OnceCell<Mutex<Arc<SharedChild>>> = OnceCell::new();
 static KILL_BEFORE_DEV_FLAG: OnceCell<AtomicBool> = OnceCell::new();
 
diff --git a/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs b/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs
index d2fb9474f..30945d05f 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ pub struct DevChild {
 }
 
 impl DevChild {
-  fn kill(&self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
+  pub fn kill(&self) -> std::io::Result<()> {
     if let Some(child) = &*self.app_child.lock().unwrap() {
       child.kill()?;
     } else {
@@ -194,11 +194,13 @@ impl Interface for Rust {
 
     if options.no_watch {
       let (tx, rx) = sync_channel(1);
-      self.run_dev(options, move |status, reason| {
+      let child = self.run_dev(options, move |status, reason| {
         tx.send(()).unwrap();
         on_exit_(status, reason)
       })?;
 
+      let _ = crate::dev::DEV_CHILD.set(Arc::new(Mutex::new(child)));
+
       rx.recv().unwrap();
       Ok(())
     } else {
@@ -206,6 +208,10 @@ impl Interface for Rust {
         on_exit_(status, reason)
       })?;
 
+      let child = Arc::new(Mutex::new(child));
+      let child_ = Arc::clone(&child);
+      let _ = crate::dev::DEV_CHILD.set(child_);
+
       self.run_dev_watcher(child, options, on_exit)
     }
   }
@@ -392,11 +398,10 @@ impl Rust {
 
   fn run_dev_watcher<F: Fn(ExitStatus, ExitReason) + Send + Sync + 'static>(
     &mut self,
-    child: DevChild,
+    process: Arc<Mutex<DevChild>>,
     options: Options,
     on_exit: Arc<F>,
   ) -> crate::Result<()> {
-    let process = Arc::new(Mutex::new(child));
     let (tx, rx) = sync_channel(1);
     let app_path = app_dir();
     let tauri_path = tauri_dir();
diff --git a/tooling/cli/src/lib.rs b/tooling/cli/src/lib.rs
index de520f85d..4ad3a3e17 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli/src/lib.rs
@@ -176,6 +176,14 @@ where
   Ok(())
 }
 
+pub fn kill_dev_app() -> Result<()> {
+  dev::DEV_CHILD
+    .get()
+    .map(|child| child.lock().unwrap().kill())
+    .unwrap_or(Ok(()))
+    .map_err(Into::into)
+}
+
 /// This maps the occurrence of `--verbose` flags to the correct log level
 fn verbosity_level(num: u8) -> Level {
   match num {