[App Name] · Tauri desktop

A cross-platform desktop app. Rust core, web frontend. Native installers. Local-first by default.

Source of truth

GitHub. Releases are git tags. CI builds + code-signs + notarizes for mac/win/linux on every tag and uploads to GitHub Releases. Auto-update via Tauri's updater plugin.

Tech stack

Tauri 2 + Rust 1.84+ + Vite 6 + React 19 + TypeScript. Tailwind v4 for styling. SQLite (via tauri-plugin-sql) for local persistence. Optional cloud sync via your own backend or Cloudflare R2.

Deploy

• Dev: npm run tauri dev (hot reload for frontend, rebuild Rust on change)
• Build: npm run tauri build (produces signed installers in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/)
• Release: push a v0.x.x tag; GitHub Actions builds for all three platforms + uploads installers

File map

• src/ Vite + React frontend (web)
• src-tauri/src/main.rs Rust entrypoint, commands, state
• src-tauri/src/commands/ Tauri command modules (callable from JS via invoke)
• src-tauri/tauri.conf.json app config: identifier, version, bundle, updater
• src-tauri/capabilities/ permission scoping for fs, http, dialog, etc.
• .github/workflows/release.yml cross-platform CI build matrix
• src-tauri/icons/ 32x32, 128x128, 256x256, ICO, ICNS

.env keys

• TAURI_PRIVATE_KEY updater signing key (set in GH Actions secrets, NEVER committed)
• TAURI_KEY_PASSWORD updater key password
• APPLE_CERTIFICATE, APPLE_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD, APPLE_SIGNING_IDENTITY (mac signing)
• APPLE_ID, APPLE_PASSWORD, APPLE_TEAM_ID (mac notarization)
• WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE, WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD (win signing)

Hard rules

• Tauri 2 capability system is opt-in. Declare every filesystem path, HTTP host, and shell command in src-tauri/capabilities/. Default-deny.
• Heavy work happens in Rust commands, NOT in the frontend. JS is the UI; Rust is the engine.
• IPC payloads are typed via serde::Serialize/Deserialize. Generate TS types from Rust with specta or ts-rs.
• Updater is signed by your private key. Lose that key and you can't ship updates.
• macOS notarization is required for distribution outside the App Store. Set it up in CI before your first public release.
• App identifier (com.yourcompany.yourapp) is forever. Don't change it after release; updates break.

Recent significant changes

• 2026-05-16: Scaffolded. Locked: Tauri 2 over Electron (binary size, memory, security model), Vite + React over Solid (audience familiarity), SQLite over IndexedDB (Rust ecosystem maturity).

Next session: start here

1. Update src-tauri/tauri.conf.json: identifier, name, version, productName.
2. Generate icons with npx @tauri-apps/cli icon ./path/to/your-icon.png.
3. npm run tauri dev to test locally. Check it opens, has a menu, hot-reloads.
4. Implement first Rust command. Wire it from the frontend via invoke.
5. Set up GitHub Actions release workflow. Test by tagging v0.0.1. Verify all three platform binaries.