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Building a Desktop App: Create the Project

Three prompts, said in order; at the end a real window opens on your screen. A desktop app is one thing — no backend, no database, no browser; the app is the window.

Do the setup page first

This page assumes your computer is already prepared — see Start a Project.

Before Step 1 — install the system libraries yourself​

A Tauri app needs native pieces no package manager can provide: a C++ toolchain on Windows, the Xcode command line tools on macOS, WebKitGTK on Linux. Neither the agent nor mars init can install them — do it by hand now. Rust arrives in Step 2, derived from the project.

Install the Visual Studio Build Tools with the "Desktop development with C++" workload — the workload matters more than the package, or cargo build later fails on a missing link.exe:

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools -e

WebView2 is preinstalled on Windows 11 and current Windows 10; install it only if missing:

winget install --id Microsoft.EdgeWebView2Runtime -e

Do not install Rust yourself; it arrives in Step 2. The full manual route, including the Rust install, is on the Desktop environment page.

Step 1 — Create the project​

Say this

Create a new desktop app called my-desktop in this folder. I only want the desktop app itself, nothing else. The tool will stop and ask which pieces to create: read the list it prints and pick the line that says Desktop.

That is not the default, so the agent must answer the question, not skip it.

What you should see: a confirmation of exactly one piece.

✅ Selected 1 modules:
   - Desktop

Then ask "which pieces did you actually create?" It should be only the desktop app. If anything else appeared, say "delete it and do it again, and this time answer the selection question."

Say the name, never a number

The numbers move as the list changes, so a number you were given once will eventually point at the wrong thing. Have the agent read the list and pick the Desktop line.

Step 2 — Install what the project needs​

Say this

Set up the environment file and install everything this project needs. I am in mainland China.

Saying where you are matters: the wrong download source makes a short install very long.

What you should see: a settings file at the top of the project and an install that finishes without errors. Rust also arrives here if it was missing — deliberately skipped during setup, because nothing knew you wanted a desktop app until Step 1 created one.

Then ask "is the desktop app's own code folder there?" If not, the app was never created — go back to Step 1.

Step 3 — Start it and look at it​

Say this

Start the desktop app and tell me when the window should be open.

What you should see: a real window opening on your screen — that window is the app. Changes you ask for later appear within a few seconds; you restart nothing and type no build commands.

While it runs

The app runs until you close it, so the agent starts it in a way that lets it keep talking meanwhile — its default behaviour; you need not ask. A blank white window is not a crash: the screen-drawing part is not up yet — say "the window is blank — is the development server actually running?"

When the window opens, the skeleton is done. Next: Create a Feature.

When it goes wrong​

You do not diagnose anything — find your symptom, say the sentence:

What you seeSay this
Extra pieces were created, not just the desktop app"You skipped the selection question. Delete it and do it again, answering the list"
A "command not found" error when starting the app"Open a new terminal window and try again — this one has stale information"
The window opens completely blank"The window is blank — is the development server actually running?"
The agent has been silent for a long time"Are you waiting on something that never finishes? Start it the way that lets you keep talking to me"