deskify

<h1 align="center">deskify</h1>

<p align="center">
  <b>A blazing fast, lightweight Nativefier alternative written in Rust & Tauri.</b><br>
  Instantly turn any website or web app into a native, standalone Linux desktop application.
</p>

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/OS-Linux-blue?style=flat-square" alt="Linux only" />
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Language-Rust-orange?style=flat-square" alt="Written in Rust" />
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Powered_by-Tauri_v2-grey?style=flat-square" alt="Tauri v2" />
  <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Status-Alpha-yellow?style=flat-square" alt="Alpha status" />
</p>

---

## ⚡ Why deskify?

The original [Nativefier](https://github.com/nativefier/nativefier) project (Node.js/Electron) was an incredible tool, but it is now unmaintained and deprecated. Furthermore, packaging an entire Chromium V8 engine for *every single web app* you create consumes massive amounts of RAM and disk space.

**deskify** solves this by leveraging [Tauri](https://tauri.app/). Instead of bundling a heavy browser engine, it uses your native system webview (e.g., `webkit2gtk` on Linux). 

## 🚧 Project Status (Alpha / Early MVP)

`deskify` is ready for public use and testing as an **early MVP**, but it is **not production-hardened yet**.

- **Platform scope:** Linux only
- **Build model:** `deskify` compiles a local Tauri wrapper app on your machine
- **First build can take a while:** Rust crates + Tauri build steps may need to compile
- **Test coverage:** currently limited (core behavior is implemented, but automated coverage is still growing)

### Known Limitations
- Requires Tauri/Linux system dependencies to be installed locally before `deskify build`
- Generated app build success can vary by distro/system setup (WebKitGTK/Tauri prerequisites)
- No official cross-platform support (Windows/macOS) yet
- GitHub Releases / binary automation for `deskify` itself may lag behind source updates during early MVP

### 🌟 Features
- **Extremely Lightweight:** Generated binaries are tiny (~4-6 MB) and RAM consumption is minimal.
- **Automatic Icon Fetching:** Scrapes high-quality 128x128 favicons automatically using the Google Favicon API.
- **XDG-Compliant System Integration:** Safely creates `.desktop` entries in `~/.local/share/applications` and manages application icons in `~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/`.
- **Wayland/X11 Ready:** Perfectly binds `StartupWMClass` to ensure your DE groups the app exactly to its custom icon (no generic gear icons in GNOME/KDE taskbars).
- **Kiosk / Fullscreen Mode:** Pin applications perfectly as dashboards.
- **User-Agent Spoofing:** Trick picky sites (like WhatsApp Web) into working within the webview.
- **Clean App Management:** Effortlessly list and remove created apps without leaving orphaned files behind.

---

## 🚀 Installation

### 1. System Dependencies
Because `deskify` compiles Tauri applications natively on your machine, you need the standard Tauri prerequisites installed before using it.

On **Ubuntu / Debian**:
```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libssl-dev \
  libgtk-3-dev \
  libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
  librsvg2-dev
```

On **Arch Linux / Manjaro**:
```bash
sudo pacman -S webkit2gtk-4.1 \
  base-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  openssl \
  appmenu-gtk-module \
  gtk3 \
  libappindicator-gtk3 \
  librsvg \
  libvips
```

*(For Fedora or other distros, refer to the [Tauri Prerequisites Guide](https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/).)*

### 2. Rust & Tauri CLI
You'll need the Rust compiler and the Tauri CLI to compile the generated apps.
```bash
# Ensure Rust is installed
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

# Install Tauri-CLI globally
cargo install tauri-cli --version "^2.0.0"
```

### 3. Install deskify
Clone the repository and install it directly via Cargo:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/spalencsar/deskify.git
cd deskify
cargo install --path .
```

---

## 🛠️ Usage

### Creating an App (`build`)
The `build` subcommand requires a `--url` and a `--name`.

```bash
deskify build --url "https://chatgpt.com" --name "ChatGPT"
```

Once the build finishes, `ChatGPT` will instantly appear in your system Application Launcher (e.g., Rofi, Wofi, GNOME Dash).

`deskify` derives a safe internal ID from the app name (for example, `ChatGPT` becomes `chatgpt`).

#### Advanced Build Options
```bash
deskify build \
  --url "https://netflix.com" \
  --name "Netflix" \
  --fullscreen \
  --user-agent "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" \
  --dark-mode \
  --width 1280 \
  --height 720
```

* `--icon <PATH>`: Provide a custom PNG icon instead of auto-downloading one.
* `--fullscreen`: Starts the app in Kiosk mode.
* `--user-agent <UA>`: Useful to bypass webview restrictions on certain platforms.
* `--dark-mode`: Forces the Tauri webview into a dark theme.
* `--width <PX>` / `--height <PX>`: Sets the startup resolution.

### Managing Apps (`list` & `remove`)
You can view all applications generated by `deskify`:
```bash
deskify list
```
*Output:*
```text
Installed Deskify Apps:
- ChatGPT (Internal ID: chatgpt)
- Netflix (Internal ID: netflix)
```

To entirely uninstall an app (including the binary, desktop entry, and icons):
```bash
deskify remove chatgpt
```

`remove` expects this **internal ID** (sanitized lowercase letters, numbers, `-`), not the display name.

---

## 🧪 Manual Smoke Test Checklist (Before a Public Release)

```bash
deskify build --url "https://example.com" --name "Example"
deskify list
deskify remove example
```

Also test invalid IDs:

```bash
deskify remove ../foo
deskify remove FooBar
```

Expected: clean validation error and no unintended file deletion.

---

## 🏷️ Versioning & GitHub Releases (MVP)

- Recommended tag format during MVP: `v0.1.0-alpha.N`
- Start with **source-first** releases (repository + tags)
- Add automated binary releases later via GitHub Actions

For the first public launch, tagging `v0.1.0-alpha.1` is a sensible default.

---

## 📦 Open Source Acknowledgements

`deskify` is built on the shoulders of giants. It leverages the following fantastic open-source projects:
* **[Tauri](https://tauri.app/)** - The core framework driving the native wrap.
* **[Clap](https://crates.io/crates/clap)** - Command-Line Argument Parser for Rust.
* **[Anyhow](https://crates.io/crates/anyhow)** - Excellent error handling context.
* **[Ureq](https://crates.io/crates/ureq)** - Minimalist sync HTTP request library (used for icon fetching).
* **[Directories](https://crates.io/crates/directories)** - Abstractions for standard OS directories (XDG Base Dirs).

## 📝 License
This project is licensed under the [MIT License](LICENSE).