---
name: integrating-tauri-rust-frontends
description: Guides the user through integrating Rust-based WASM frontend frameworks with Tauri v2, covering Leptos and Trunk setup, WASM compilation configuration, Cargo.toml dependencies, Trunk.toml bundler settings, and withGlobalTauri API access.
---
# Tauri Rust/WASM Frontend Integration
This skill covers integrating Rust-based frontend frameworks with Tauri v2 for building desktop and mobile applications with WASM.
## Supported Frameworks
| Framework | Description | Bundler |
|-----------|-------------|---------|
| Leptos | Reactive Rust framework for building web UIs | Trunk |
| Yew | Component-based Rust framework | Trunk |
| Dioxus | Cross-platform UI framework | Trunk |
| Sycamore | Reactive library for Rust | Trunk |
All Rust/WASM frontends use **Trunk** as the bundler/dev server.
## Critical Requirements
1. **Static Site Generation (SSG) Only** - Tauri does not support server-based solutions (SSR). Use SSG, SPA, or MPA approaches.
2. **withGlobalTauri** - Must be enabled for WASM frontends to access Tauri APIs via `window.__TAURI__` and `wasm-bindgen`.
3. **WebSocket Protocol** - Configure `ws_protocol = "ws"` for hot-reload on mobile development.
## Project Structure
```
my-tauri-app/
├── src/
│ ├── main.rs # Rust frontend entry point
│ └── app.rs # Application component
├── src-tauri/
│ ├── src/
│ │ └── main.rs # Tauri backend
│ ├── Cargo.toml # Tauri dependencies
│ └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration
├── index.html # HTML entry point for Trunk
├── Cargo.toml # Frontend dependencies
├── Trunk.toml # Trunk bundler configuration
└── dist/ # Build output (generated)
```
## Configuration Files
### Tauri Configuration (src-tauri/tauri.conf.json)
```json
{
"build": {
"beforeDevCommand": "trunk serve",
"devUrl": "http://localhost:1420",
"beforeBuildCommand": "trunk build",
"frontendDist": "../dist"
},
"app": {
"withGlobalTauri": true
}
}
```
**Key settings:**
- `beforeDevCommand`: Runs Trunk dev server before Tauri
- `devUrl`: URL where Trunk serves the frontend (default: 1420 for Leptos, 8080 for plain Trunk)
- `beforeBuildCommand`: Builds WASM bundle before packaging
- `frontendDist`: Path to built frontend assets
- `withGlobalTauri`: **Required for WASM** - Exposes `window.__TAURI__` for API access
### Trunk Configuration (Trunk.toml)
```toml
[build]
target = "./index.html"
dist = "./dist"
[watch]
ignore = ["./src-tauri"]
[serve]
port = 1420
open = false
[serve.ws]
ws_protocol = "ws"
```
**Key settings:**
- `target`: HTML entry point with Trunk directives
- `ignore`: Prevents watching Tauri backend changes
- `port`: Must match `devUrl` in tauri.conf.json
- `open = false`: Prevents browser auto-open (Tauri handles display)
- `ws_protocol = "ws"`: Required for mobile hot-reload
### Frontend Cargo.toml (Root)
```toml
[package]
name = "my-app-frontend"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]
[dependencies]
# Core WASM dependencies
wasm-bindgen = "0.2"
wasm-bindgen-futures = "0.4"
js-sys = "0.3"
web-sys = { version = "0.3", features = ["Window", "Document"] }
# Tauri API bindings for WASM
tauri-wasm = { version = "2", features = ["all"] }
# Choose your framework:
# For Leptos:
leptos = { version = "0.6", features = ["csr"] }
# For Yew:
# yew = { version = "0.21", features = ["csr"] }
# For Dioxus:
# dioxus = { version = "0.5", features = ["web"] }
[profile.release]
opt-level = "z"
lto = true
codegen-units = 1
panic = "abort"
```
**Key settings:**
- `crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]`: Required for WASM compilation
- `tauri-wasm`: Provides Rust bindings to Tauri APIs
- `features = ["csr"]`: Client-side rendering for framework
- Release profile optimized for small WASM binary size
### HTML Entry Point (index.html)
```html
My Tauri App
```
**Trunk directives:**
- `data-trunk rel="css"`: Include CSS files
- `data-trunk rel="rust"`: Compile Rust crate to WASM
- `data-wasm-opt="z"`: Optimize for size
## Leptos Setup
### Leptos-Specific Cargo.toml
```toml
[package]
name = "my-leptos-app"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]
[dependencies]
leptos = { version = "0.6", features = ["csr"] }
wasm-bindgen = "0.2"
wasm-bindgen-futures = "0.4"
console_error_panic_hook = "0.1"
tauri-wasm = { version = "2", features = ["all"] }
[profile.release]
opt-level = "z"
lto = true
```
### Leptos Main Entry (src/main.rs)
```rust
use leptos::*;
mod app;
use app::App;
fn main() {
console_error_panic_hook::set_once();
mount_to_body(|| view! { });
}
```
### Leptos App Component (src/app.rs)
```rust
use leptos::*;
use wasm_bindgen::prelude::*;
use wasm_bindgen_futures::spawn_local;
#[wasm_bindgen]
extern "C" {
#[wasm_bindgen(js_namespace = ["window", "__TAURI__", "core"])]
async fn invoke(cmd: &str, args: JsValue) -> JsValue;
}
#[component]
pub fn App() -> impl IntoView {
let (message, set_message) = create_signal(String::new());
let greet = move |_| {
spawn_local(async move {
let args = serde_json::json!({ "name": "World" });
let args_js = serde_wasm_bindgen::to_value(&args).unwrap();
let result = invoke("greet", args_js).await;
let greeting: String = serde_wasm_bindgen::from_value(result).unwrap();
set_message.set(greeting);
});
};
view! {
"Welcome to Tauri + Leptos"
{message}
}
}
```
### Alternative: Using tauri-wasm Crate
```rust
use leptos::*;
use tauri_wasm::api::core::invoke;
#[component]
pub fn App() -> impl IntoView {
let (message, set_message) = create_signal(String::new());
let greet = move |_| {
spawn_local(async move {
let result: String = invoke("greet", &serde_json::json!({ "name": "World" }))
.await
.unwrap();
set_message.set(result);
});
};
view! {
{message}
}
}
```
## Tauri Backend Command
In `src-tauri/src/main.rs`:
```rust
#[tauri::command]
fn greet(name: &str) -> String {
format!("Hello, {}! You've been greeted from Rust!", name)
}
fn main() {
tauri::Builder::default()
.invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![greet])
.run(tauri::generate_context!())
.expect("error while running tauri application");
}
```
## Development Commands
```bash
# Install Trunk
cargo install trunk
# Add WASM target
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown
# Development (runs Trunk + Tauri)
cd src-tauri && cargo tauri dev
# Build for production
cd src-tauri && cargo tauri build
# Trunk only (for frontend debugging)
trunk serve --port 1420
# Build WASM only
trunk build --release
```
## Mobile Development
For mobile platforms, additional configuration is needed:
### Trunk.toml for Mobile
```toml
[serve]
port = 1420
open = false
address = "0.0.0.0" # Listen on all interfaces for mobile
[serve.ws]
ws_protocol = "ws" # Required for mobile hot-reload
```
### tauri.conf.json for Mobile
```json
{
"build": {
"beforeDevCommand": "trunk serve --address 0.0.0.0",
"devUrl": "http://YOUR_LOCAL_IP:1420"
}
}
```
Replace `YOUR_LOCAL_IP` with your machine's local IP (e.g., `192.168.1.100`).
## Accessing Tauri APIs from WASM
### Method 1: Direct wasm-bindgen (Recommended for control)
```rust
use wasm_bindgen::prelude::*;
use serde::{Serialize, Deserialize};
#[wasm_bindgen]
extern "C" {
// Core invoke
#[wasm_bindgen(js_namespace = ["window", "__TAURI__", "core"], catch)]
async fn invoke(cmd: &str, args: JsValue) -> Result;
// Event system
#[wasm_bindgen(js_namespace = ["window", "__TAURI__", "event"])]
async fn listen(event: &str, handler: &Closure) -> JsValue;
#[wasm_bindgen(js_namespace = ["window", "__TAURI__", "event"])]
async fn emit(event: &str, payload: JsValue);
}
// Usage
async fn call_backend() -> Result {
let args = serde_wasm_bindgen::to_value(&serde_json::json!({
"path": "/some/path"
})).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
let result = invoke("read_file", args)
.await
.map_err(|e| format!("{:?}", e))?;
serde_wasm_bindgen::from_value(result)
.map_err(|e| e.to_string())
}
```
### Method 2: Using tauri-wasm Crate
```rust
use tauri_wasm::api::{core, event, dialog, fs};
// Invoke command
let result: MyResponse = core::invoke("my_command", &my_args).await?;
// Listen to events
event::listen("my-event", |payload| {
// Handle event
}).await;
// Emit events
event::emit("my-event", &payload).await;
// File dialogs
let file = dialog::open(dialog::OpenDialogOptions::default()).await?;
// File system (requires permissions)
let contents = fs::read_text_file("path/to/file").await?;
```
## Troubleshooting
### WASM not loading
- Verify `withGlobalTauri: true` in tauri.conf.json
- Check browser console for WASM errors
- Ensure `wasm32-unknown-unknown` target is installed
### Hot-reload not working on mobile
- Set `ws_protocol = "ws"` in Trunk.toml
- Use `address = "0.0.0.0"` for mobile access
- Verify firewall allows connections on dev port
### Tauri APIs undefined
- `withGlobalTauri` must be `true`
- Check `window.__TAURI__` exists in browser console
- Verify tauri-wasm version matches Tauri version
### Large WASM binary size
- Enable release profile optimizations
- Use `opt-level = "z"` for size optimization
- Enable LTO with `lto = true`
- Consider `wasm-opt` post-processing
### Trunk build fails
- Check Cargo.toml has `crate-type = ["cdylib", "rlib"]`
- Verify index.html has correct `data-trunk` directives
- Ensure no server-side features enabled in framework
## Version Compatibility
| Component | Version |
|-----------|---------|
| Tauri | 2.x |
| Trunk | 0.17+ |
| Leptos | 0.6+ |
| wasm-bindgen | 0.2.x |
| tauri-wasm | 2.x |
Always match `tauri-wasm` version with your Tauri version.