diff --git a/cmd/tailscale/cli/debug.go b/cmd/tailscale/cli/debug.go
index 9ee2dcc50..fc6d28182 100644
--- a/cmd/tailscale/cli/debug.go
+++ b/cmd/tailscale/cli/debug.go
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ var debugCmd = &ffcli.Command{
 			FlagSet: (func() *flag.FlagSet {
 				fs := newFlagSet("watch-ipn")
 				fs.BoolVar(&watchIPNArgs.netmap, "netmap", true, "include netmap in messages")
+				fs.BoolVar(&watchIPNArgs.initial, "initial", false, "include initial status")
 				return fs
 			})(),
 		},
@@ -318,11 +319,16 @@ func runPrefs(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 }
 
 var watchIPNArgs struct {
-	netmap bool
+	netmap  bool
+	initial bool
 }
 
 func runWatchIPN(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
-	watcher, err := localClient.WatchIPNBus(ctx, 0)
+	var mask ipn.NotifyWatchOpt
+	if watchIPNArgs.initial {
+		mask = ipn.NotifyInitialState | ipn.NotifyInitialPrefs | ipn.NotifyInitialNetMap
+	}
+	watcher, err := localClient.WatchIPNBus(ctx, mask)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/ipn/backend.go b/ipn/backend.go
index 4aaf426d5..7b8dfff0d 100644
--- a/ipn/backend.go
+++ b/ipn/backend.go
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ const (
 	// client either regularly or when they change, without having to ask for
 	// each one via RequestEngineStatus.
 	NotifyWatchEngineUpdates NotifyWatchOpt = 1 << iota
+
+	NotifyInitialState  // if set, the first Notify message (sent immediately) will contain the current State + BrowseToURL
+	NotifyInitialPrefs  // if set, the first Notify message (sent immediately) will contain the current Prefs
+	NotifyInitialNetMap // if set, the first Notify message (sent immediately) will contain the current NetMap
 )
 
 // Notify is a communication from a backend (e.g. tailscaled) to a frontend
diff --git a/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go b/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go
index 938a54b1a..55bbf7649 100644
--- a/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go
+++ b/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/types/netmap"
 	"tailscale.com/types/persist"
 	"tailscale.com/types/preftype"
+	"tailscale.com/types/ptr"
 	"tailscale.com/types/views"
 	"tailscale.com/util/deephash"
 	"tailscale.com/util/dnsname"
@@ -534,6 +535,10 @@ func stripKeysFromPrefs(p ipn.PrefsView) ipn.PrefsView {
 func (b *LocalBackend) Prefs() ipn.PrefsView {
 	b.mu.Lock()
 	defer b.mu.Unlock()
+	return b.prefsLocked()
+}
+
+func (b *LocalBackend) prefsLocked() ipn.PrefsView {
 	return stripKeysFromPrefs(b.pm.CurrentPrefs())
 }
 
@@ -1736,15 +1741,41 @@ func (b *LocalBackend) readPoller() {
 func (b *LocalBackend) WatchNotifications(ctx context.Context, mask ipn.NotifyWatchOpt, fn func(roNotify *ipn.Notify) (keepGoing bool)) {
 	ch := make(chan *ipn.Notify, 128)
 
+	var ini *ipn.Notify
+
 	b.mu.Lock()
+	const initialBits = ipn.NotifyInitialState | ipn.NotifyInitialPrefs | ipn.NotifyInitialNetMap
+	if mask&initialBits != 0 {
+		ini = &ipn.Notify{}
+		if mask&ipn.NotifyInitialState != 0 {
+			ini.State = ptr.To(b.state)
+			if b.state == ipn.NeedsLogin {
+				ini.BrowseToURL = ptr.To(b.authURLSticky)
+			}
+		}
+		if mask&ipn.NotifyInitialPrefs != 0 {
+			ini.Prefs = ptr.To(b.prefsLocked())
+		}
+		if mask&ipn.NotifyInitialNetMap != 0 {
+			ini.NetMap = b.netMap
+		}
+	}
+
 	handle := b.notifyWatchers.Add(ch)
 	b.mu.Unlock()
+
 	defer func() {
 		b.mu.Lock()
 		delete(b.notifyWatchers, handle)
 		b.mu.Unlock()
 	}()
 
+	if ini != nil {
+		if !fn(ini) {
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
 	// The GUI clients want to know when peers become active or inactive.
 	// They've historically got this information by polling for it, which is
 	// wasteful. As a step towards making it efficient, they now set this