Building Gnomad for macOS, Linux, and Windows

Prerequisites (all platforms)

Node.js LTS
Rust stable (rustup)
Platform SDKs for the OS you are building on (cross-compiling is possible but not covered here)

npm install
npm run build

macOS

npm run tauri:build:mac

Output: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/Gnomad.app

Panel / Pop out: menu-bar accessory, in-app toolbar
Windowed: full menu bar (Gnomad, File, Edit, View, Window, Help), Gemini-style body without duplicate toolbar
Close button hides to menu bar; Quit from tray menu

Notarization (v1.0): CI builds are unsigned for Gatekeeper until Apple Developer ID secrets are configured. See MACOS_NOTARIZATION.md and npm run notarize:macos.

Cross-platform parity (macOS, Windows, Linux)

The same React UI ships in every build: chat, attachments, API keys (keychain / Credential Manager / Secret Service), cursor bloom, knowledge base, settings, and window modes (tray panel, pop-out, windowed, fullscreen).

Area	macOS	Windows	Linux
Tray / status area	Menu bar icon	System tray	System tray (AppIndicator)
Global shortcut	⌘⇧Space	Ctrl+Shift+Space	Ctrl+Shift+Space
Panel placement	Under menu bar / tray click	Top-right near tray (or under tray click)	Same as Windows
Title bar	Overlay + in-app toolbar	Native caption; toolbar hidden in Windowed (menus in OS bar)	Same as Windows
Active window context	AppleScript	PowerShell + Win32	`xdotool` (optional)
Clipboard context	`pbpaste`	PowerShell `Get-Clipboard`	`wl-paste` / `xclip`
API keys	Keychain	Credential Manager	Secret Service
Admin commands	`osascript` sudo	User runs elevated terminal	`pkexec`

Optional Linux packages for full context pills: xdotool (X11), wl-paste (Wayland) or xclip.

CI (.github/workflows/build.yml) builds macOS, Linux x86_64, Linux ARM64, and Windows on every push to main / master.

Cross-platform verification (features & UI tweaks)

Whenever you add or change UI, settings, or OS-facing behavior, use CROSS_PLATFORM_CHECKLIST.md so work on macOS translates—or is explicitly handled—for Windows and Linux.

Quick rules:

Shared React (src/) — same bundle everywhere; smoke panel and windowed on Win/Linux (toolbar may be hidden in windowed).
Platform shell (title bar, tray, shortcuts) — update platform.rs, window_manager.rs, and .platform-* CSS in index.css.
Before merge — npm run build, cargo test, CI green on all three OS jobs.

Linux

Build on a Linux host (Ubuntu/Debian recommended):

npm run tauri:build:linux

Install Tauri Linux dependencies first (webkit2gtk, etc.).

Output under src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:

.deb — Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS
.rpm — Fedora, RHEL, Rocky, openSUSE
AppImage — distro-agnostic (Arch, NixOS, etc.)

See LINUX_PACKAGES.md for install commands per distribution.

npm run tauri:build:linux          # all three
npm run tauri:build:linux:deb      # deb only
npm run tauri:build:linux:rpm      # rpm only
npm run tauri:build:linux:appimage # AppImage only
npm run tauri:build:linux:arm64    # ARM64 deb + AppImage (native or cross)

CI also builds Linux ARM64 on ubuntu-24.04-arm (see .github/workflows/build.yml).

Same UI and features as macOS (Gemini layout, sidebar, composer, attachments, API keys)
Full File / Edit / View / Window / Help menus in the window menu bar
View → System Tray Panel / Windowed — labels match Linux tray UX; windowed mode uses the OS menu bar (in-app toolbar hidden)
System tray supported; close hides to tray

Windows

Build on a Windows PC (recommended):

npm run tauri:build:win

CI: Pushes to main/master run .github/workflows/build.yml on windows-latest, ubuntu-22.04, and macos-latest and upload installers as artifacts.

Cross-compile from macOS (optional): install MinGW (brew install mingw-w64), add rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu, set CARGO_TARGET_X86_64_PC_WINDOWS_GNU_LINKER=x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc, then npm run tauri:build:win.

Output: .msi / .exe under src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Same UI and features as macOS; menus in the window menu bar
Ctrl+Shift+Space toggles visibility
Tray panel opens near the system tray; Windowed hides the duplicate in-app toolbar
Active window + clipboard context via PowerShell
Close hides to system tray; exit via tray Quit Gnomad

Development

npm run tauri dev