Tauri Desktop Development

Instructions

Build performant, secure desktop applications with Tauri 2.

Rust backend:

• Define IPC commands with #[tauri::command] — these are the bridge between frontend and native code
• Use tauri::State for shared application state accessible from any command
• Persist data with rusqlite: open the database in setup(), wrap the connection in Mutex, and pass as managed state
• Use tokio for async operations; mark commands as async when performing I/O

React/TypeScript frontend:

• Call Rust commands via invoke('command_name', { args }) from @tauri-apps/api/core
• Use the event system (listen, emit) for backend-to-frontend push notifications
• Manage frontend state with Zustand — lightweight stores that pair well with Tauri’s command-based data flow
• Structure the frontend as a standard React app: components, hooks, stores, and pages

Plugin architecture:

• Use tauri-plugin-* crates for common needs: tauri-plugin-shell, tauri-plugin-fs, tauri-plugin-dialog
• Register plugins in tauri::Builder::default().plugin(tauri_plugin_shell::init())
• Prefer official plugins over custom native code for maintainability and cross-platform compatibility

Multi-platform builds:

• macOS: builds produce .dmg and .app bundles; sign with Apple Developer ID for distribution
• iOS: use tauri ios init and tauri ios dev for Xcode project generation and simulator testing
• Windows: builds produce .msi and .exe installers via WiX or NSIS
• Set platform-specific configuration in tauri.conf.json under the bundle section

Security:

• Capability-based permissions: define allowed commands and scopes in src-tauri/capabilities/*.json
• Each window gets an explicit set of permitted IPC commands — deny by default
• Set Content Security Policy headers in tauri.conf.json to restrict script and resource origins
• Never expose filesystem or shell access without scoped permissions

Antigravity testing for Tauri apps:

Antigravity’s browser sub-agent cannot directly control native desktop windows. For Tauri apps:

• Use the Tauri dev build (cargo tauri dev) which renders in a webview — the browser sub-agent can test web content inside the webview if accessible at a local URL
• For truly native UI elements (title bar, system dialogs), test manually
• Use Antigravity’s code agent (not browser agent) for Rust backend logic testing — dispatch a targeted debug session to trace IPC command behavior
• The “Native App QA” prompt in .agents/workflows/prompt-library.md provides the recommended dispatch pattern for Tauri projects

See the antigravity-testing skill for agent dispatch and the antigravity-debugging skill for Rust backend debugging.

Reference architectures:

• Personal Assistant: full-featured Tauri 2 app with 86+ agents, SQLite backend, React UI with Zustand, plugin-based extensibility
• Estate Manager: Electron + Tauri dual-stack demonstrating migration path from Electron to Tauri for native performance