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Architecture

One TypeScript app, three desktops.

GUI for CLI renders a CLI-tool bundle with a TypeScript Web UI and a local Node backend, and Tauri packages both as a native desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

WGSExtract storyDocumentation
Runtime

Shared TypeScript

Bundle loading, localization, rendering, setup state, configuration, and command execution live in one TypeScript codebase.

Backend

Local Node server

A Node server runs bundle actions and platform-specific setup scripts, streams terminal output, and serves the Web UI on a loopback port behind a per-launch token. Packaged apps include Node; users do not need a separate Node installation.

Desktop

Tauri shell

Tauri wraps the Web UI in a native window, bundles the Node runtime, and adds native menus, file pickers, installers, and signed self-updates.

From bundle to desktop

  • app/shared holds shared rendering, localization, and types; app/web/src/client is the browser UI and app/web/src/server owns loading, setup, actions, and config.
  • Every bundle load validates its manifest and pages. Load Bundle... opens a manifest.json or a .zip, .tar, .tar.gz/.tgz, or gzipped manifest archive on all three platforms.
  • Bundle scripts resolve by host platform, with distro-specific Linux folders and a POSIX fallback. WGSExtract CLI v0.6.5 runs natively on Windows without WSL or MSYS2.
  • Configuration and workspaces stay in platform-standard app data directories. WGSExtract settings preserve TOML boolean and numeric types; invalid saved types warn and use defaults without rewriting the file.
  • app/web/packagers/tauri supplies the Rust desktop shell. Installers take their app name and version from the embedded bundle; the current WGSExtract app and CLI are v0.6.5.

Tagged releases build on Windows, macOS, and Linux with a signed Tauri updater feed. macOS has separate signed, notarized Apple Silicon and Intel builds, not a universal DMG. Windows and Linux packages are x64; native ARM64 packaging for those platforms is still a follow-up.

Distribution details cover packaging, signing, updates, and uninstall hooks. Earlier SwiftUI, Sparkle, and Electron implementations are not part of the current app.

Running it

make setup    # user-level tools, locked dependencies, hooks, smoke check
make run      # Web UI in a browser
make tauri    # desktop app in dev mode
make package  # installers for this host

On Windows, use powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\make.ps1 <target> with the same target names. Setup never elevates or installs system packages; see developer setup for OS prerequisites.

Earlier experiments

Before settling on one app, the project prototyped native SwiftUI and AppKit apps, a Swift CLI, Electron, and renderers in Rust, Go, C++, .NET, Dart, Kotlin, Python, and Mojo, with benchmarks across all of them. That work is preserved on the old-experimental branch.