Desktop App

The Teak desktop app is a native desktop application built with Tauri v2, combining the power of Rust with a React frontend for a fast, secure, and lightweight experience.

Overview

Built with Tauri v2, the desktop app provides a native application experience with automatic updates, system tray integration, and native file system access.

Technology Stack

Tauri v2
React 19 + Vite
Rust backend
Convex for data sync

Platforms

macOS (13.0+)
Windows
Linux
Native M1/M2 support

Key Features

Native Desktop Experience

System Integration

Native window management
System tray icon
Custom title bar
Native file dialogs
Deep linking support

Performance

Lightweight binary (~10MB)
Fast startup time
Low memory footprint
Rust-powered backend for maximum performance

Security

Tauri’s capability system for permission control
Sandboxed environment
Secure IPC between frontend and Rust backend
Content Security Policy (CSP) enforcement

Automatic Updates

Built-in updater using Tauri’s plugin system:

// Configured in tauri.conf.json
"plugins": {
  "updater": {
    "endpoints": [
      "https://updates.teakvault.com/{{target}}/{{arch}}/{{current_version}}"
    ],
    "pubkey": "REPLACE_WITH_UPDATER_PUBLIC_KEY"
  }
}

Update Flow

App checks for updates on startup
Downloads update in background
Prompts user to install
Seamless installation and restart

Cross-Platform Support

Single codebase for all desktop platforms:

macOS: Apple Silicon (aarch64) and Intel (x86_64)
Windows: 64-bit
Linux: Multiple distributions

Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

macOS
Windows
Linux

Xcode Command Line Tools
Rust (via rustup)
Node.js 18+ or Bun

xcode-select --install
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools
Rust (via rustup)
Node.js 18+ or Bun

# Install Rust
winget install Rustlang.Rustup

Build essentials
Rust (via rustup)
Node.js 18+ or Bun
System dependencies

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libxdo-dev \
  libssl-dev \
  libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
  librsvg2-dev

Development

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Start dev server (hot reload)
bun run dev

# Or start desktop + Convex
bun run dev:desktop

Platform-Specific Features

macOS

App Bundle

Native .app bundle with proper code signing and notarization support

Menu Bar

Native macOS menu bar with keyboard shortcuts

Info.plist

Custom Info.plist configuration for permissions and app metadata

Universal Binary

Support for both Intel and Apple Silicon

Windows

MSI Installer

Windows Installer (.msi) with custom branding

Auto-start

Optional startup on Windows boot

System Tray

Minimize to system tray functionality

UAC

Proper User Account Control handling

Linux

AppImage

Portable AppImage distribution

.deb Package

Debian/Ubuntu package support

Desktop Entry

XDG desktop integration

Themes

Respects system dark/light mode

Architecture

Project Structure

desktop/
├── src/                 # React frontend
│   ├── pages/           # Page components
│   │   ├── CardsPage.tsx
│   │   ├── LoginPage.tsx
│   │   └── SettingsPage.tsx
│   ├── components/      # Shared components
│   │   ├── Layout.tsx
│   │   └── ErrorBoundary.tsx
│   ├── App.tsx          # Main app component
│   └── main.tsx         # Entry point
├── src-tauri/           # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs      # Entry point
│   │   ├── lib.rs       # Library exports
│   │   └── commands.rs  # Tauri commands
│   ├── capabilities/    # Permission configs
│   ├── icons/           # App icons
│   ├── Cargo.toml       # Rust dependencies
│   └── tauri.conf.json  # Tauri configuration
├── vite.config.ts       # Vite configuration
└── package.json         # Node dependencies

Tauri Configuration

tauri.conf.json

{
  "productName": "Teak",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "identifier": "com.praveenjuge.teak",
  "build": {
    "beforeDevCommand": "vite",
    "devUrl": "http://localhost:1420",
    "beforeBuildCommand": "bun run build:vite",
    "frontendDist": "../dist"
  },
  "app": {
    "windows": [
      {
        "label": "main",
        "title": "Teak",
        "width": 1000,
        "height": 700,
        "minWidth": 800,
        "minHeight": 600
      }
    ]
  }
}

Tauri Plugins

The desktop app uses several Tauri plugins:

@tauri-apps/plugin-store

Persistent key-value storage

import { Store } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-store";

const store = new Store("settings.json");
await store.set("theme", "dark");
const theme = await store.get("theme");

@tauri-apps/plugin-updater

Automatic app updates

import { check } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-updater";

const update = await check();
if (update?.available) {
  await update.downloadAndInstall();
}

@tauri-apps/plugin-opener

Open URLs and files in default system apps

import { open } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-opener";

await open("https://teakvault.com");

@tauri-apps/plugin-process

Process management and exit handling

import { exit } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-process";

await exit(0);

Frontend Stack

React + Vite

The frontend uses modern React with Vite for fast development:

vite.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import react from "@vitejs/plugin-react";
import tailwindcss from "@tailwindcss/vite";

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react(), tailwindcss()],
  clearScreen: false,
  server: {
    port: 1420,
    strictPort: true,
  },
});

UI Components

Tailwind CSS 4: Utility-first styling
shadcn/ui: Reusable component library (via @teak/ui)
Ant Design: Complex components like date pickers
React Router: Client-side routing
next-themes: Dark mode support

State Management

import { useQuery, useMutation } from "@teak/convex";
import { api } from "@teak/convex";

// Real-time Convex queries
const cards = useQuery(api.cards.list);
const createCard = useMutation(api.cards.create);

Authentication Flow

The desktop app uses a special OAuth flow:

Initiate Auth

Desktop app opens the web app in the default browser

User Logs In

User authenticates in the browser

Callback

Web app redirects to teak://auth/complete with auth token

Deep Link

Desktop app handles the deep link and stores the session

// Deep link handling in Rust
#[tauri::command]
fn handle_auth_callback(token: String) -> Result<(), String> {
    // Store auth token
    Ok(())
}

Building & Distribution

Code Signing

macOS
Windows

# Set up code signing
export APPLE_CERTIFICATE="path/to/cert.p12"
export APPLE_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD="your-password"
export APPLE_ID="[email protected]"
export APPLE_PASSWORD="app-specific-password"

# Build with signing
bun run build

# Set up code signing
export WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE="path/to/cert.pfx"
export WINDOWS_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD="your-password"

# Build with signing
bun run build

Release Process

Build

Build the application for target platforms

bun run build

Test

Test the built application thoroughly

Upload

Upload artifacts to your update server

# Upload to https://updates.teakvault.com/

Release

Users get automatic update notifications

Update Server

The updater requires a server that provides:

Latest version information
Download URLs for platform-specific binaries
Signature verification

update-manifest.json

{
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "notes": "Bug fixes and improvements",
  "pub_date": "2026-03-03T00:00:00Z",
  "platforms": {
    "darwin-aarch64": {
      "url": "https://updates.teakvault.com/Teak_0.1.0_aarch64.app.tar.gz",
      "signature": "..."
    }
  }
}

Performance

Bundle Size

The desktop app is extremely lightweight:

macOS: ~10MB .app bundle
Windows: ~8MB .exe
Linux: ~12MB AppImage

Memory Usage

Typical memory footprint:

Idle: ~50MB
Active use: ~100-150MB
Large card library: ~200MB

Startup Time

Cold start performance:

macOS: <1 second
Windows: <1.5 seconds
Linux: <1.5 seconds

Security

Capability System

Tauri v2 uses a capability-based permission system:

capabilities/default.json

{
  "identifier": "default",
  "permissions": [
    "core:default",
    "store:default",
    "updater:default"
  ]
}

Content Security Policy

"security": {
  "csp": null  // Customize for production
}

Troubleshooting

Build Failures

Ensure all system dependencies are installed
Check Rust toolchain is up to date: rustup update
Clear cargo cache: cargo clean
Check Tauri CLI version: cargo install tauri-cli --version 2

Dev Server Issues

Ensure port 1420 is available
Check Vite configuration
Verify frontend dependencies are installed

Update Issues

Verify update server is accessible
Check signature verification
Ensure app has network permissions

Learn More

Backend

Learn about the Convex backend

Architecture

Understand the system architecture

Tauri

Official Tauri documentation

Tauri v2

Tauri v2 migration guide

Get Started

Core Features

Platforms

Guides

​Overview

Technology Stack

Platforms

​Key Features

​Native Desktop Experience

​Automatic Updates

Update Flow

​Cross-Platform Support

​Installation & Setup

​Prerequisites

​Development

​Platform-Specific Features

​macOS

App Bundle

Menu Bar

Info.plist

Universal Binary

​Windows

MSI Installer

Auto-start

System Tray

UAC

​Linux

AppImage

.deb Package

Desktop Entry

Themes

​Architecture

​Project Structure

​Tauri Configuration

​Tauri Plugins

​Frontend Stack

​React + Vite

​UI Components

​State Management

​Authentication Flow

​Building & Distribution

​Code Signing

​Release Process

​Update Server

​Performance

​Bundle Size

​Memory Usage

​Startup Time

​Security

​Capability System

​Content Security Policy

​Troubleshooting

​Learn More

Backend

Architecture

Tauri

Tauri v2

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Key Features

Native Desktop Experience

Automatic Updates

Cross-Platform Support

Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

Development

Platform-Specific Features

macOS

Windows

Linux

Architecture

Project Structure

Tauri Configuration

Tauri Plugins

Frontend Stack

React + Vite

UI Components

State Management

Authentication Flow

Building & Distribution

Code Signing

Release Process

Update Server

Performance

Bundle Size

Memory Usage

Startup Time

Security

Capability System

Content Security Policy

Troubleshooting

Learn More