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This guide provides reproducible local packaging steps for the desktop app. One binary ships. World Monitor is the only desktop artifact, and every variant — tech, finance, commodity, energy, happy — is selected in-app after install and persists across restarts. There is no per-variant package, no per-variant tag, and no per-variant download. That is a deliberate constraint, not an omission: /api/version and /api/download resolve /releases/latest, which returns at most one release, so a second release line could never be served to users (#5908). Bundle identity is controlled by a single Tauri config, src-tauri/tauri.conf.json → World Monitor / world-monitor.

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Prerequisites

  • Node.js + npm
  • Rust toolchain
  • OS-native Tauri build prerequisites:
    • macOS: Xcode command-line tools
    • Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools + NSIS + WiX
Install dependencies (this also installs the pinned Tauri CLI used by desktop scripts):
All desktop scripts call the local tauri binary from node_modules/.bin; no runtime npx package download is required after npm ci. If the local CLI is missing, scripts/desktop-package.mjs now fails fast with an explicit npm ci remediation message.

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Network preflight and remediation

Before running desktop packaging in CI or managed networks, verify connectivity and proxy config:
If these fail, use one of the supported remediations:
  • Internal npm mirror/proxy.
  • Internal Cargo sparse index/registry mirror.
  • Pre-vendored Rust crates (src-tauri/vendor/) + Cargo offline mode.
  • CI artifact/caching strategy that restores required package inputs before build.
See docs/TAURI_VALIDATION_REPORT.md for failure classification labels and troubleshooting flow.

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Packaging commands

To view script usage/help:

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macOS (.app + .dmg)

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Windows (.exe + .msi)

Bundler targets are pinned in the Tauri config and enforced by packaging scripts:
  • macOS: app,dmg
  • Windows: nsis,msi

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Rust dependency modes (online vs restricted network)

From src-tauri/, the project supports two packaging paths:

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1) Standard online build (default)

Use normal Cargo behavior (crates.io):

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2) Restricted-network build (pre-vendored or internal mirror)

An optional vendored source is defined in src-tauri/.cargo/config.toml. To use it, first prepare vendored crates on a machine that has registry access:
Then enable offline mode using either method:
  • One-off CLI override (no file changes):
  • Local override file (recommended for CI/repeatable offline jobs):
For CI or internal mirrors, publish src-tauri/vendor/ as an artifact and restore it before the restricted-network build. If your organization uses an internal crates mirror instead of vendoring, point source.crates-io.replace-with to that mirror in CI-specific Cargo config and run the same build commands.

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Optional signing/notarization hooks

Unsigned packaging works by default. If signing credentials are present in environment variables, Tauri will sign/notarize automatically during the same packaging commands.

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macOS Apple Developer signing + notarization

Set before packaging (Developer ID signature):
For notarization, choose one auth method:
Then run either standard or explicit sign script aliases:

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Windows Authenticode signing

Set before packaging (PowerShell):
Then run either standard or explicit sign script aliases:

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Bundle identity (names/icons)

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json → World Monitor / world-monitor, with bundle.icon pointing at the shared icon set. Every packaged build carries that identity regardless of which variant the user later switches to, so the window title and installed app name are always World Monitor. Adding a second tauri.*.conf.json to rebrand a variant is deliberately rejected by tests/desktop-one-binary-model.test.mjs: nothing publishes it, and the endpoints cannot serve it. Reopen the packaging model in #5902 first if a branded per-variant binary becomes a real requirement.

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Output locations

Artifacts are produced under:
Common subfolders:
  • app/ → macOS .app
  • dmg/ → macOS .dmg
  • nsis/ → Windows .exe installer
  • msi/ → Windows .msi installer

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Release checklist (clean machine)

  1. Build the package(s) for the required OS.
  2. Move artifacts to a clean machine (or fresh VM).
  3. Install/launch:
    • macOS: mount .dmg, drag app to Applications, launch.
    • Windows: run .exe or .msi, launch from Start menu.
  4. Validate startup:
    • App window opens without crash.
    • Map view renders.
    • Initial data loading path does not fatal-error.
  5. Validate bundle identity and in-app variant switching:
    • Window title and product name are World Monitor.
    • Switching to another variant reloads into that variant’s panels/layers and survives a restart.
  6. If signing was enabled:
    • Verify code-signing metadata in OS dialogs/properties.
    • Verify notarization/Gatekeeper acceptance on macOS.