Desktop Builds

Build, package, sign, and distribute World Monitor desktop apps with Tauri

World Monitor desktop apps are built with Tauri v2, providing native performance with a bundled Node.js sidecar for offline API support.

Architecture

The desktop app consists of:

• Tauri Core - Rust-based native window and system integration
• Web Frontend - Vite-built React/TypeScript app
• Node.js Sidecar - Bundled Node.js runtime for local API server
• Static Resources - Data files, API handlers, and configuration

Prerequisites

Development

Run Desktop App in Dev Mode

npm run desktop:dev

This command:

1. Syncs version numbers across package.json and tauri.conf.json
2. Builds the sidecar sebuf gateway
3. Starts Vite dev server
4. Launches Tauri with hot reload

Dev Mode with Devtools

The dev script includes devtools by default:

package.json

{
  "desktop:dev": "npm run version:sync && cross-env VITE_DESKTOP_RUNTIME=1 tauri dev -f devtools"
}

This enables:

• Web Inspector (right-click → Inspect)
• Console logging
• Network monitoring

Build Configuration

Main Configuration

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
  "productName": "World Monitor",
  "mainBinaryName": "world-monitor",
  "version": "2.5.21",
  "identifier": "app.worldmonitor.desktop",
  "build": {
    "beforeDevCommand": "npm run build:sidecar-sebuf && npm run dev",
    "beforeBuildCommand": "npm run build:desktop",
    "frontendDist": "../dist",
    "devUrl": "http://localhost:3000"
  }
}

Variant Configurations

Tech Monitor uses a merged configuration:

src-tauri/tauri.tech.conf.json

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.tauri.app/config/2",
  "productName": "Tech Monitor",
  "mainBinaryName": "tech-monitor",
  "identifier": "app.worldmonitor.tech.desktop",
  "app": {
    "windows": [
      {
        "title": "Tech Monitor"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Bundle Configuration

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json

{
  "bundle": {
    "active": true,
    "targets": ["app", "dmg", "nsis", "msi", "appimage"],
    "category": "Productivity",
    "icon": [
      "icons/32x32.png",
      "icons/128x128.png",
      "icons/[e-mail]",
      "icons/icon.icns",
      "icons/icon.ico"
    ],
    "resources": [
      "../api",
      "sidecar/local-api-server.mjs",
      "sidecar/package.json",
      "sidecar/node",
      "../data",
      "../src/config"
    ]
  }
}

Bundled Resources

• ../api/ - Serverless API handlers
• sidecar/local-api-server.mjs - Local API server
• sidecar/node/ - Bundled Node.js runtime
• ../data/ - Static datasets (GeoJSON, CSV, etc.)
• ../src/config/ - Configuration files

Building

Build for Current Platform

World Monitor

npm run desktop:build:full

Tech Monitor

npm run desktop:build:tech

Finance Monitor

npm run desktop:build:finance

Build Commands Explained

The build command chain:

package.json

{
  "desktop:build:full": "npm run version:sync && cross-env VITE_VARIANT=full VITE_DESKTOP_RUNTIME=1 tauri build",
  "desktop:build:tech": "npm run version:sync && cross-env VITE_VARIANT=tech VITE_DESKTOP_RUNTIME=1 tauri build --config src-tauri/tauri.tech.conf.json"
}

Packaging

Package Script

The desktop-package.mjs script handles multi-platform packaging:

node scripts/desktop-package.mjs --os <macos|windows|linux> --variant <full|tech> [--sign]

Package Commands

macOS Full

npm run desktop:package:macos:full

Node.js Runtime Bundling

The package script automatically downloads and bundles the Node.js runtime:

scripts/download-node.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
NODE_VERSION="${NODE_VERSION:-22.14.0}"
DEST_DIR="src-tauri/sidecar/node"

# Auto-detect or use explicit target
TARGET="x86_64-apple-darwin"  # or aarch64-apple-darwin, x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, etc.

# Download from nodejs.org
curl -fsSL "https://nodejs.org/dist/v${NODE_VERSION}/${ARCHIVE_NAME}" -o "${ARCHIVE_NAME}"

# Verify SHA256 checksum
shasum -a 256 "${ARCHIVE_NAME}"

# Extract node binary
tar -xzf "${ARCHIVE_NAME}"
cp "node-v${NODE_VERSION}-darwin-x64/bin/node" "${DEST_DIR}/node"

Bundle Targets

macOS

• app - .app bundle
• dmg - Disk image installer

Located in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Windows

• nsis - .exe installer (recommended)
• msi - Windows Installer package

Located in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Linux

• appimage - Portable .AppImage
• deb - Debian package
• rpm - RPM package

Located in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Code Signing

macOS Signing

Windows Signing

Linux Signing

Linux builds don’t require code signing, but you can sign AppImages:

gpg --detach-sign --armor World_Monitor_*.AppImage

Distribution

Manual Distribution

1. Build signed packages for each platform
2. Upload to your website or file host
3. Provide download links with SHA256 checksums

GitHub Releases

Automate releases with GitHub Actions:

.github/workflows/release.yml

name: Release Desktop
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  release:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, windows-latest, ubuntu-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run desktop:build:full
      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          files: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/**/*

Update Mechanism

Tauri supports auto-updates with the updater plugin. Configure in tauri.conf.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "updater": {
      "active": true,
      "endpoints": [
        "https://releases.worldmonitor.app/{{target}}/{{current_version}}"
      ],
      "dialog": true,
      "pubkey": "YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Build Fails on macOS

Error: xcrun: error: unable to find utility "metal"

Solution: Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

Windows Build Fails

Error: error: linking with 'link.exe' failed

Solution: Install Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 with C++ workload.

Linux Missing Dependencies

Error: webkit2gtk-4.1 not found

Solution: Install WebKit dependencies:

sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev

Sidecar Fails to Start

Error: Failed to spawn sidecar

Solution:

1. Verify Node.js binary exists: src-tauri/sidecar/node/node
2. Check execute permissions: chmod +x src-tauri/sidecar/node/node
3. Rebuild sidecar: npm run build:sidecar-sebuf

App Won’t Open on macOS

Error: "World Monitor" is damaged and can't be opened

Solution: Remove quarantine attribute:

xattr -cr /Applications/World\ Monitor.app

Or notarize the app (see Code Signing).