diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index be9e97d76e97f..39cd4ecf4bed1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 .vscode/
+.devcontainer/
+.cache/
 .idea/
 .kdev4/
 
@@ -13,3 +15,4 @@ imgui.ini
 .DS_Store
 CMakeUserPresets.json
 Brewfile.lock.json
+compile_commands.json
diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
index 83c9e53429b95..55a0ec16a8df0 100644
--- a/CMakePresets.json
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
         "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug",
         "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "gcc",
         "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "g++",
+        "CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS": "ON",
         "IMHEX_PATTERNS_PULL_MASTER": "ON",
         "CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX": "./install",
         "USE_SYSTEM_CAPSTONE": "ON",
diff --git a/cmake/build_helpers.cmake b/cmake/build_helpers.cmake
index a3ee0a45ae329..33af041205fc7 100644
--- a/cmake/build_helpers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/build_helpers.cmake
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ function(configureProject)
         # Support Xcode's multi configuration paradigm by placing built artifacts into separate directories
         set(IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/Configs/$<CONFIG>" PARENT_SCOPE)
     else()
-        set(IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+        set(IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin" PARENT_SCOPE)
     endif()
 endfunction()
 
@@ -499,16 +499,16 @@ function(downloadImHexPatternsFiles dest)
 
         # Maybe patterns are cloned to a subdirectory
         if (NOT EXISTS ${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR})
-            set(imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/ImHex-Patterns")        
+            set(imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/ImHex-Patterns")
         endif()
 
         # Or a sibling directory
         if (NOT EXISTS ${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR})
-            set(imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../ImHex-Patterns")        
+            set(imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../ImHex-Patterns")
         endif()
     endif ()
 
-    if (NOT EXISTS ${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR}) 
+    if (NOT EXISTS ${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR})
         message(WARNING "Failed to locate ImHex-Patterns repository, some resources will be missing during install!")
     elseif(XCODE)
         # The Xcode build has multiple configurations, which each need a copy of these files
@@ -526,8 +526,18 @@ function(downloadImHexPatternsFiles dest)
             file(GENERATE OUTPUT "${dest}/${relativePath}" INPUT "${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR}/${relativePath}")
         endforeach()
     else()
+        # Make sure the IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY exists, as CREATE_LINK doesn't create missing intermediate directories
+        file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}")
         set(PATTERNS_FOLDERS_TO_INSTALL constants encodings includes patterns magic nodes)
         foreach (FOLDER ${PATTERNS_FOLDERS_TO_INSTALL})
+            # Make the pattern files available to ImHex binaries started from the build directory
+            if (NOT IMHEX_OFFLINE_BUILD)
+                file(COPY "${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR}/${FOLDER}" DESTINATION "${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}" PATTERN "**/_schema.json" EXCLUDE)
+            else()
+                # If it is an offline build, the imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR location is likely a git clone
+                # Create the directories as symbolic links, so that any changes get mirrored both ways
+                file(CREATE_LINK "${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR}/${FOLDER}" "${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/${FOLDER}" COPY_ON_ERROR SYMBOLIC)
+            endif()
             install(DIRECTORY "${imhex_patterns_SOURCE_DIR}/${FOLDER}" DESTINATION "${dest}" PATTERN "**/_schema.json" EXCLUDE)
         endforeach ()
     endif ()
@@ -735,8 +745,8 @@ macro(addBundledLibraries)
         set_target_properties(
                 libpl
                 PROPERTIES
-                    RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
-                    LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
+                    RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}
+                    LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}
         )
     endif()
     enableUnityBuild(libpl)
diff --git a/cmake/modules/ImHexPlugin.cmake b/cmake/modules/ImHexPlugin.cmake
index b20b0e50ae3b3..3c69a9b8a66c2 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/ImHexPlugin.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/ImHexPlugin.cmake
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ macro(add_imhex_plugin)
     set_target_properties(${IMHEX_PLUGIN_NAME}
             PROPERTIES
             RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/plugins"
+            LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/plugins"
             CXX_STANDARD 23
             PREFIX ""
             SUFFIX ${IMHEX_PLUGIN_SUFFIX}
diff --git a/lib/libimhex/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/libimhex/CMakeLists.txt
index abcd9677faa54..1b138d96470df 100644
--- a/lib/libimhex/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/libimhex/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -151,5 +151,6 @@ set_property(TARGET libimhex PROPERTY INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION FALSE)
 add_dependencies(imhex_all libimhex)
 
 install(FILES "$<TARGET_FILE:libimhex>" DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" PERMISSIONS ${LIBRARY_PERMISSIONS})
-set_target_properties(libimhex PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
+set_target_properties(libimhex PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})
+set_target_properties(libimhex PROPERTIES LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})
 set_target_properties(libimhex PROPERTIES PREFIX "")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main/forwarder/CMakeLists.txt b/main/forwarder/CMakeLists.txt
index 9a04c35173e1f..94478a845660a 100644
--- a/main/forwarder/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/main/forwarder/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,5 +9,5 @@ target_link_libraries(main-forwarder PRIVATE wolv::io ${FMT_LIBRARIES})
 add_dependencies(imhex_all main-forwarder)
 set_target_properties(main-forwarder PROPERTIES
         OUTPUT_NAME "imhex"
-        RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/../..
+        RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}
 )
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main/updater/CMakeLists.txt b/main/updater/CMakeLists.txt
index 4e07614a7c9dd..c8e34ccbac53e 100644
--- a/main/updater/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/main/updater/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-project(updater) 
+project(updater)
 
 add_executable(updater
     source/main.cpp
@@ -16,5 +16,5 @@ endif()
 
 set_target_properties(updater PROPERTIES
         OUTPUT_NAME "imhex-updater"
-        RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}
+        RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${IMHEX_MAIN_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}
 )
\ No newline at end of file