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Desktop App Development

The desktop app is the full Electron IDE for Windows, macOS, and Linux (desktop-full profile). Work here for the Electron shell, React renderer, native file I/O, desktop-only panels, packaging, and installers.

Commands​

From the repository root:

npm run desktop:dev      # hot reload
npm run desktop:build
npm run desktop:test
npm run desktop:dist     # electron-builder installers

Architecture​

  • Renderer profile: __CLIENT_PROFILE__ = "desktop-full".
  • Shared playback, parsing, editor, and app state: @beatbax/app-core.
  • Desktop owns React panels (toolbar, transport, Settings, Copilot, mixer, pattern grid). It does not import @web-ui panel modules from apps/web-ui.
  • Electron main process: native dialogs, recent files, file associations, packaging, and OS secure storage for Copilot API keys.

Releasing​

Installers are published via git tags and CI — not npm.

  1. Update apps/desktop/package.json version if needed.
  2. Edit apps/desktop/build/release-notes.body.txt.
  3. npm run desktop:dist generates README.txt / RELEASE-NOTES.txt next to the app.
  4. Tag and push:
git tag -a desktop-v0.2.0 -m "BeatBax Desktop v0.2.0"
git push origin desktop-v0.2.0

The Desktop: Build workflow packages on Windows, macOS, and Linux and publishes to GitHub Releases.

Full details: docs/releasing.md.