create-deskforge-app

create-deskforge-app

Creates a Tauri application with @deskforge/cli and @deskforge/runtime pre-installed.

Overview

Scaffold a new DeskForge desktop application with React, Vite, Tauri, and DeskForge runtime utilities.

Installation

Install globally via npm:

npm install -g create-deskforge-app

Or use with npx without installing:

npx create-deskforge-app

Quick Start

1. Create a new project

npx create-deskforge-app my-app
cd my-app

Or run interactively:

npx create-deskforge-app

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Start development

npm run desktop:dev

This will:

• Start the Vite dev server
• Launch the Tauri development window
• Enable hot module replacement (HMR)
• Auto-reload on file changes

4. Build for production

npm run desktop:build

This creates optimized desktop app binaries for your platform.

Project Structure

my-app/
├── src/
│   ├── main.tsx          # React entry point
│   ├── App.tsx           # Main App component
│   ├── App.css           # App styles
│   └── index.css         # Global styles
├── src-tauri/            # Tauri configuration
│   ├── tauri.conf.json   # Tauri app config
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── main.rs       # Tauri main process
│   └── icons/            # App icons
├── vite.config.ts        # Vite configuration
├── tsconfig.json         # TypeScript configuration
├── package.json          # Project dependencies
└── index.html            # HTML entry point

Available Scripts

• npm run dev - Start Vite dev server (web only)
• npm run build - Build web assets
• npm run desktop:dev - Start Tauri development environment
• npm run desktop:build - Build desktop app for current platform
• npm run lint - Run ESLint
• npm run preview - Preview production build

Prerequisites

Required

• Node.js 18+ (download)
• Rust (install)

Optional

• Cargo (comes with Rust) - for building Tauri apps
• Git - for version control

Troubleshooting

Rust not installed

If you see a warning about Rust not being detected, install it:

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

Then restart your terminal and try again.

Build errors on macOS

If you encounter code signing issues:

# Install Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

Build errors on Windows

Ensure you have:

• Visual Studio Build Tools
• Windows SDK

See Tauri prerequisites for detailed setup.

Using DeskForge CLI

To build and publish your app to multiple platforms, use the @deskforge/cli:

npm install -g @deskforge/cli
deskforge init
deskforge build

See @deskforge/cli documentation for more details.

Technology Stack

• React 18 - UI framework
• Vite 5 - Build tool
• TypeScript - Type safety
• Tauri 1 - Desktop framework
• Rust - Native backend

Resources

• Tauri Documentation
• React Documentation
• Vite Documentation
• DeskForge Documentation

License

MIT

Support

For issues or questions:

• GitHub Issues
• DeskForge Community