Tauri v2 Development Skill

Build cross-platform desktop and mobile apps with web frontends and Rust backends.

Before You Start

This skill prevents 8+ common errors and saves ~60% tokens.

Known Issues This Skill Prevents

1. Permission denied errors from missing capabilities
2. IPC failures from unregistered commands in generate_handler!
3. State management panics from type mismatches
4. Mobile build failures from missing Rust targets
5. White screen issues from misconfigured dev URLs

Quick Start

Step 1: Create a Tauri Command

// src-tauri/src/lib.rs
#[tauri::command]
fn greet(name: String) -> String {
    format!("Hello, {}!", name)
}

pub fn run() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![greet])
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
}

Why this matters: Commands not in generate_handler![] silently fail when invoked from frontend.

Step 2: Call from Frontend

import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';

const greeting = await invoke<string>('greet', { name: 'World' });
console.log(greeting); // "Hello, World!"

Why this matters: Use @tauri-apps/api/core (not @tauri-apps/api/tauri - that's v1 API).

Step 3: Add Required Permissions

// src-tauri/capabilities/default.json
{
    "$schema": "../gen/schemas/desktop-schema.json",
    "identifier": "default",
    "windows": ["main"],
    "permissions": ["core:default"]
}

Why this matters: Tauri v2 denies everything by default - explicit permissions required for all operations.

Critical Rules

Always Do

• Register every command in tauri::generate_handler![cmd1, cmd2, ...]
• Return Result<T, E> from commands for proper error handling
• Use Mutex<T> for shared state accessed from multiple commands
• Add capabilities before using any plugin features
• Use lib.rs for shared code (required for mobile builds)

Never Do

• Never use borrowed types (&str) in async commands - use owned types
• Never block the main thread - use async for I/O operations
• Never hardcode paths - use Tauri path APIs (app.path())
• Never skip capability setup - even "safe" operations need permissions

Common Mistakes

Wrong - Borrowed type in async:

#[tauri::command]
async fn bad(name: &str) -> String { // Compile error!
    name.to_string()
}

Correct - Owned type:

#[tauri::command]
async fn good(name: String) -> String {
    name
}

Why: Async commands cannot borrow data across await points; Tauri requires owned types for async command parameters.

Known Issues Prevention

Configuration Reference

tauri.conf.json

{
    "$schema": "./gen/schemas/desktop-schema.json",
    "productName": "my-app",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "identifier": "com.example.myapp",
    "build": {
        "devUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
        "frontendDist": "../dist",
        "beforeDevCommand": "npm run dev",
        "beforeBuildCommand": "npm run build"
    },
    "app": {
        "windows": [{
            "label": "main",
            "title": "My App",
            "width": 800,
            "height": 600
        }],
        "security": {
            "csp": "default-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data:",
            "capabilities": ["default"]
        }
    },
    "bundle": {
        "active": true,
        "targets": "all",
        "icon": ["icons/icon.icns", "icons/icon.ico", "icons/icon.png"]
    }
}

Key settings:

• build.devUrl: Must match your frontend dev server port
• app.security.capabilities: Array of capability file identifiers

Cargo.toml

[package]
name = "app"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"

[lib]
name = "app_lib"
crate-type = ["staticlib", "cdylib", "rlib"]

[build-dependencies]
tauri-build = { version = "2", features = [] }

[dependencies]
tauri = { version = "2", features = [] }
serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1"

Key settings:

• [lib] section: Required for mobile builds
• crate-type: Must include all three types for cross-platform

Common Patterns

Error Handling Pattern

use thiserror::Error;

#[derive(Debug, Error)]
enum AppError {
    #[error("IO error: {0}")]
    Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
    #[error("Not found: {0}")]
    NotFound(String),
}

impl serde::Serialize for AppError {
    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
    where S: serde::ser::Serializer {
        serializer.serialize_str(self.to_string().as_ref())
    }
}

#[tauri::command]
fn risky_operation() -> Result<String, AppError> {
    Ok("success".into())
}

State Management Pattern

use std::sync::Mutex;
use tauri::State;

struct AppState {
    counter: u32,
}

#[tauri::command]
fn increment(state: State<'_, Mutex<AppState>>) -> u32 {
    let mut s = state.lock().unwrap();
    s.counter += 1;
    s.counter
}

// In builder:
tauri::Builder::default()
    .manage(Mutex::new(AppState { counter: 0 }))

Event Emission Pattern

use tauri::Emitter;

#[tauri::command]
fn start_task(app: tauri::AppHandle) {
    std::thread::spawn(move || {
        app.emit("task-progress", 50).unwrap();
        app.emit("task-complete", "done").unwrap();
    });
}

import { listen } from '@tauri-apps/api/event';

const unlisten = await listen('task-progress', (e) => {
    console.log('Progress:', e.payload);
});
// Call unlisten() when done

Channel Streaming Pattern

use tauri::ipc::Channel;

#[derive(Clone, serde::Serialize)]
#[serde(tag = "event", content = "data")]
enum DownloadEvent {
    Progress { percent: u32 },
    Complete { path: String },
}

#[tauri::command]
async fn download(url: String, on_event: Channel<DownloadEvent>) {
    for i in 0..=100 {
        on_event.send(DownloadEvent::Progress { percent: i }).unwrap();
    }
    on_event.send(DownloadEvent::Complete { path: "/downloads/file".into() }).unwrap();
}

import { invoke, Channel } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';

const channel = new Channel<DownloadEvent>();
channel.onmessage = (msg) => console.log(msg.event, msg.data);
await invoke('download', { url: 'https://...', onEvent: channel });

Bundled Resources

References

Located in references/:

• capabilities-reference.md - Permission patterns and examples
• ipc-patterns.md - Complete IPC examples

Note: For deep dives on specific topics, see the reference files above.

Dependencies

Required

Optional (Plugins)

Official Documentation

• Tauri v2 Documentation
• Commands Reference
• Capabilities & Permissions
• Configuration Reference

Troubleshooting

White Screen on Launch

Symptoms: App launches but shows blank white screen

Solution:

1. Verify devUrl matches your frontend dev server port
2. Check beforeDevCommand runs your dev server
3. Open DevTools (Cmd+Option+I / Ctrl+Shift+I) to check for errors

Command Returns Undefined

Symptoms: invoke() returns undefined instead of expected value

Solution:

1. Verify command is in generate_handler![]
2. Check Rust command actually returns a value
3. Ensure argument names match (camelCase in JS, snake_case in Rust by default)

Mobile Build Failures

Symptoms: Android/iOS build fails with missing target

Solution:

# Android targets
rustup target add aarch64-linux-android armv7-linux-androideabi i686-linux-android x86_64-linux-android

# iOS targets (macOS only)
rustup target add aarch64-apple-ios x86_64-apple-ios aarch64-apple-ios-sim

Setup Checklist

Before using this skill, verify:

• npx tauri info shows correct Tauri v2 versions
• src-tauri/capabilities/default.json exists with at least core:default
• All commands registered in generate_handler![]
• lib.rs contains shared code (for mobile support)
• Required Rust targets installed for target platforms