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Building the Desktop App

This guide explains how to build the bundl desktop app for macOS.

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Quick Start

From the apps/desktop folder, run: 
pnpm build:release
This single command builds everything you need.

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Output Files

After the build completes, your files are in: 
target/release/bundle/macos/
├── bundl.app              # The macOS application
└── bundl_1.0.0_aarch64.dmg # The installer for distribution

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What each file is for:

FilePurpose
bundl.appThe app itself. Double-click to run, or drag to Applications folder.
bundl_1.0.0_aarch64.dmgThe installer. Share this with users - they open it and drag the app to Applications.

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Common Mistakes

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Looking in the wrong folder

The target/release/ folder contains raw binaries that don’t have icons: 
target/release/
├── bundl      # ❌ Raw binary - don't use this directly
├── bundl.d    # ❌ Build metadata
└── bundle/    # ✅ Go inside here!
    └── macos/
        ├── bundl.app           # ✅ This is what you want
        └── bundl_1.0.0_aarch64.dmg
Always use the files inside bundle/macos/, not the raw binaries in release/.

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Testing the Build

  1. Navigate to target/release/bundle/macos/
  2. Double-click bundl.app
  3. The app should open with the proper icon, no terminal window

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Distributing to Users

Share the .dmg file with users. When they open it:
  1. A window appears with the bundl app and an Applications folder shortcut
  2. They drag bundl to Applications
  3. They can then launch bundl from their Applications folder or Spotlight

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Troubleshooting

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Build fails with DMG error

The pnpm build:release command handles this automatically. If you run pnpm tauri build directly, it may fail on the DMG step due to a Tauri bug. Always use pnpm build:release.

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App shows no icon

Make sure you’re opening bundl.app from bundle/macos/, not the raw bundl binary from release/.

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Terminal opens when launching

You’re double-clicking the raw binary instead of the .app bundle. Navigate to bundle/macos/ and open bundl.app.