A "batteries-included" template for building production-ready desktop applications with Tauri v2, React, and TypeScript. Designed with opinionated patterns that help both human developers and AI coding agents build well-architected apps from the start.
Most Tauri starters give you a blank canvas. This template gives you a working application with patterns already established:
- Type-safe Rust-TypeScript bridge via tauri-specta.
- Performance patterns enforced by tooling - all the usual linting plus ast-grep for common anti-patterns
- Multi-window architecture already working (quick pane with global shortcut as a demo)
- Cross-platform ready with platform-specific title bars, window controls, and native menu integration
- i18n built-in with RTL support
| Layer | Technologies |
|---|---|
| Frontend | React 19, TypeScript, Vite 8 |
| UI | shadcn/ui v4, Tailwind CSS v4, Lucide React |
| State | Zustand v5, TanStack Query v5 |
| Backend | Tauri v2, Rust |
| Testing | Vitest v4, Testing Library, Playwright |
| Quality | ESLint, Prettier, ast-grep, knip, jscpd, clippy |
The template includes a working application with these features implemented:
- Command Palette (
Cmd+K) - Searchable command launcher with keyboard navigation - Quick Pane - Global shortcut (
Cmd+Shift+.) opens a floating window from any app, even fullscreen. Uses native NSPanel on macOS for proper fullscreen overlay behavior. - Keyboard Shortcuts - Platform-aware shortcuts with automatic menu integration
- Native Menus - File, Edit, View menus built from JavaScript with full i18n support
- Preferences System - Settings dialog with Rust-side persistence, React hooks, and type-safe access throughout
- Collapsible Sidebars - Empty left and right sidebars with state persistence via resizable panels
- Theme System - Light/dark mode with system preference detection, synced across windows
- Notifications - Toast notifications for in-app feedback, plus native system notifications
- Auto-updates - Tauri updater plugin configured with GitHub Releases integration and update checking on launch
- Logging - Structured logging utilities for both Rust and TypeScript with consistent formatting
- Crash Recovery - Emergency data persistence for recovering unsaved work after unexpected exits
- Three-layer state management - Clear decision tree:
useState(component) →Zustand(global UI) →TanStack Query(persistent data "not owned by the app) - Event-driven Rust-React bridge - Menus, shortcuts, and command palette all route through the same command system
- React Compiler - Automatic memoization means no manual
useMemo/useCallbackneeded
| Platform | Title Bar | Window Controls | Bundle Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS | Custom with vibrancy | Traffic lights | .dmg |
| Windows | Custom | Right side | .msi |
| Linux | Native + toolbar | Native | .AppImage |
Platform detection utilities, platform-specific UI strings ("Reveal in Finder" vs "Show in Explorer"), and separate Tauri configs per platform are all set up.
- Type-safe Tauri commands - tauri-specta generates TypeScript bindings from Rust, with full autocomplete and compile-time checking
- Static analysis - ESLint, Prettier, ast-grep (architecture enforcement), knip (unused code), jscpd (duplication)
- Single quality gate -
npm run check:allruns TypeScript, ESLint, Prettier, ast-grep, clippy, and unit/component tests (browser E2E is separate) - Testing patterns - Separate logic/component suites, offline browser flows, and explicit Tauri mocking boundaries
| Plugin | Purpose |
|---|---|
| single-instance | Prevent multiple app instances |
| window-state | Remember window position/size |
| fs | File system access |
| dialog | Native open/save dialogs |
| notification | System notifications |
| clipboard-manager | Clipboard access |
| global-shortcut | System-wide keyboard shortcuts |
| updater | In-app auto-updates |
| opener | Open URLs/files with default app |
| tauri-nspanel | macOS floating panel behavior |
This template is designed to work well with AI coding agents like Claude Code:
- Comprehensive documentation in
docs/developer/covering all patterns. Human readable but really designed to explain the "why" of certain patterns to AI agents. Not slop. - Claude Code integration - Custom commands (
/check,/cleanup) and a couple of specialized agents - Sensible file organization - React code in
src/with clear separation (components, hooks, stores, services), Rust insrc-tauri/src/with modular command organization. Predictable structure for both humans and AI.
See Using This Template for setup instructions and workflow guidance.
# Prerequisites: Node.js 24+, Rust (latest stable)
# See https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/ for platform-specific deps
git clone <your-repo>
cd your-app
npm ci --include=dev
npm run devnpm run test:frontend # Node logic and tooling
npm run test:ui # jsdom components and Hooks (not Vitest viewer)
npm run test:backend # Rust; Cargo must be on PATH
npm run check:all # static checks + all unit/component tests
npm exec playwright -- install chromium
npm run test:e2e # offline browser flows; mocked native boundary
npm run build # local native installer for this hostdev:web / build:frontend are browser-only; build:release requires completed release configuration. Start with the testing workflow and command migration guide. See testing, UI contract and releases for scopes and native verification limits.
- Developer Docs - Architecture, patterns, and detailed guides
- User Guide - End-user documentation template
- Using This Template - Setup and workflow guide