Name: Desktop App
Author: popup-studio-ai

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Desktop App | Skills Pool

Starter → Tauri (v2) [Tier 2]
  - Simpler setup than Electron
  - Smaller output bundles (~3MB vs ~150MB)

Dynamic → Tauri + auto-update [Tier 2]
  - Includes server integration, auto-update
  - Lower memory footprint

Enterprise → Tauri [Tier 2] or Electron [Tier 3]
  - Tauri for performance and security
  - Electron for complex Node.js integration

# Create with electron-vite (recommended)
npm create @electron-vite/create my-electron-app
cd my-electron-app

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

my-electron-app/
├── src/
│   ├── main/               # Main process (Node.js)
│   │   └── index.ts        # App entry point, window management
│   ├── preload/            # Preload script
│   │   └── index.ts        # Renderer↔Main bridge
│   └── renderer/           # Renderer process (Web)
│       ├── src/            # React/Vue code
│       └── index.html      # HTML entry point
├── resources/              # App icons, assets
├── electron.vite.config.ts # Build configuration
├── electron-builder.yml    # Deployment configuration
└── package.json

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Electron App                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Main Process (Node.js)                             │
│  - System API access (files, network, etc.)         │
│  - Window creation/management                       │
│  - Menu, tray management                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Preload Script (Bridge)                            │
│  - Safe main↔renderer communication                 │
│  - Expose only specific APIs                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Renderer Process (Chromium)                        │
│  - Web UI (React, Vue, etc.)                        │
│  - DOM access                                       │
│  - No direct Node.js API access (security)          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

// src/main/index.ts
import { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain } from 'electron';
import { join } from 'path';

let mainWindow: BrowserWindow | null = null;

function createWindow() {
  mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
    width: 1200,
    height: 800,
    webPreferences: {
      preload: join(__dirname, '../preload/index.js'),
      sandbox: false,
    },
  });

  // Dev mode: Load Vite server
  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
    mainWindow.loadURL('http://localhost:5173');
    mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools();
  } else {
    // Production: Load built files
    mainWindow.loadFile(join(__dirname, '../renderer/index.html'));
  }
}

app.whenReady().then(createWindow);

app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
  if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
    app.quit();
  }
});

// IPC: Handle requests from renderer
ipcMain.handle('read-file', async (event, filePath) => {
  const fs = await import('fs/promises');
  return fs.readFile(filePath, 'utf-8');
});

// src/preload/index.ts
import { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } from 'electron';

// APIs to safely expose to renderer
contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electronAPI', {
  // Read file
  readFile: (filePath: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke('read-file', filePath),

  // Save file dialog
  saveFile: (content: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke('save-file', content),

  // App version
  getVersion: () => process.env.npm_package_version,

  // Platform
  platform: process.platform,
});

// Type definitions (for use in renderer)
declare global {
  interface Window {
    electronAPI: {
      readFile: (path: string) => Promise<string>;
      saveFile: (content: string) => Promise<void>;
      getVersion: () => string;
      platform: NodeJS.Platform;
    };
  }
}

// src/renderer/src/App.tsx
import { useState } from 'react';

function App() {
  const [content, setContent] = useState('');

  const handleOpenFile = async () => {
    const result = await window.electronAPI.readFile('/path/to/file.txt');
    setContent(result);
  };

  return (
    <div className="app">
      <h1>My Electron App</h1>
      <p>Platform: {window.electronAPI.platform}</p>
      <button onClick={handleOpenFile}>Open File</button>
      <pre>{content}</pre>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

// src/main/menu.ts
import { Menu, app, shell } from 'electron';

const template: Electron.MenuItemConstructorOptions[] = [
  {
    label: 'File',
    submenu: [
      { label: 'New File', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+N', click: () => {} },
      { label: 'Open', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+O', click: () => {} },
      { type: 'separator' },
      { label: 'Quit', role: 'quit' },
    ],
  },
  {
    label: 'Edit',
    submenu: [
      { label: 'Undo', role: 'undo' },
      { label: 'Redo', role: 'redo' },
      { type: 'separator' },
      { label: 'Cut', role: 'cut' },
      { label: 'Copy', role: 'copy' },
      { label: 'Paste', role: 'paste' },
    ],
  },
  {
    label: 'Help',
    submenu: [
      {
        label: 'Documentation',
        click: () => shell.openExternal('https://docs.example.com'),
      },
    ],
  },
];

// Add macOS app menu
if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
  template.unshift({
    label: app.getName(),
    submenu: [
      { role: 'about' },
      { type: 'separator' },
      { role: 'services' },
      { type: 'separator' },
      { role: 'hide' },
      { role: 'unhide' },
      { type: 'separator' },
      { role: 'quit' },
    ],
  });
}

export const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate(template);

// src/main/tray.ts
import { Tray, Menu, nativeImage } from 'electron';
import { join } from 'path';

let tray: Tray | null = null;

export function createTray() {
  const icon = nativeImage.createFromPath(join(__dirname, '../../resources/icon.png'));
  tray = new Tray(icon.resize({ width: 16, height: 16 }));

  const contextMenu = Menu.buildFromTemplate([
    { label: 'Open', click: () => {} },
    { type: 'separator' },
    { label: 'Quit', role: 'quit' },
  ]);

  tray.setToolTip('My App');
  tray.setContextMenu(contextMenu);
}

# Prerequisite: Rust installation required
# Install from https://rustup.rs

# Create Tauri project
npm create tauri-app my-tauri-app
cd my-tauri-app

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run tauri dev

my-tauri-app/
├── src/                    # Frontend (React, Vue, etc.)
│   ├── App.tsx
│   └── main.tsx
├── src-tauri/              # Tauri backend (Rust)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs         # Main entry point
│   │   └── lib.rs          # Command definitions
│   ├── tauri.conf.json     # Tauri configuration
│   └── Cargo.toml          # Rust dependencies
├── public/
└── package.json

// src-tauri/src/lib.rs
use tauri::command;

#[command]
fn greet(name: &str) -> String {
    format!("Hello, {}!", name)
}

#[command]
async fn read_file(path: &str) -> Result<String, String> {
    std::fs::read_to_string(path)
        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
}

#[cfg_attr(mobile, tauri::mobile_entry_point)]
pub fn run() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![greet, read_file])
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
}

// src/App.tsx
import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';

function App() {
  const [greeting, setGreeting] = useState('');

  const handleGreet = async () => {
    const result = await invoke('greet', { name: 'World' });
    setGreeting(result as string);
  };

  const handleReadFile = async () => {
    try {
      const content = await invoke('read_file', { path: '/path/to/file.txt' });
      console.log(content);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(error);
    }
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={handleGreet}>Greet</button>
      <p>{greeting}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

// Web: Not possible (user must select directly)
// Desktop: Free access

// Electron
const fs = require('fs');
fs.writeFileSync('/path/to/file.txt', 'content');

// Tauri
await invoke('write_file', { path: '/path/to/file.txt', content: 'content' });

Things impossible on web but possible on desktop:
- System tray icon
- Global shortcuts
- Native notifications
- Drag and drop (file path access)
- Full clipboard control
- Native menus

Web: Requires Service Worker, limited
Desktop: Works offline by default

⚠️ Server integration features must handle offline!

# electron-builder.yml
appId: com.example.myapp
productName: My App

Framework	Tier	Recommendation	Use Case
Tauri	Tier 2	⭐ Primary	Lightweight (3MB), Rust security
Electron	Tier 3	Supported	Mature ecosystem, VS Code-like apps

Framework	Tier	Recommendation	Use Case
Tauri	Tier 2	⭐ Primary	Lightweight (3MB), Rust security
Electron	Tier 3	Supported	Mature ecosystem, VS Code-like apps

Desktop App

Desktop App Development Expertise

Overview

Framework Selection Guide

Framework Selection by Tier (v1.3.0)

Desktop App

Desktop App Development Expertise

Overview

Framework Selection Guide

Framework Selection by Tier (v1.3.0)

Level-wise Recommendations

Electron Guide

Project Creation

Folder Structure

Core Concept: Process Separation

Main Process

Preload Script

Renderer Process

Creating Menus

System Tray

Tauri Guide

Project Creation

Folder Structure

Command Definition (Rust)

Calling from Frontend

Web vs Desktop Differences

File System Access

System Integration

Offline Support

Build & Deployment

Electron Build

microsoft-vscode-extensions-copilot-assets-prompts-skills-project-setup-info-context7-skill-md

How to setup a project

Coding Standards

Nuxt4 Patterns

Coding Standards

Nextjs Turbopack