LlamaCppDesk

LlamaCppDesk is a Tauri-based cross-platform desktop app for managing and chatting with local llama.cpp models.

If you just want to use the app, download the installer from the GitHub Release page that matches your computer:

• Windows: .msi
• Linux: .AppImage
• macOS: .dmg

You do not need the source code unless you want to build or change the app yourself.

Project Structure

• Tauri backend: src-tauri/
• Tauri frontend: ui/
• Migration docs: docs/migration/
• Smoke validation: tests/smoke/

Prerequisites

Required

• Node.js 22+
• npm
• Rust stable toolchain (with Cargo)

Platform notes

• Windows:
  • Visual Studio C++ build tools / MSVC runtime must be installed.
  • If you see LNK1104 msvcrt.lib, your MSVC toolchain/runtime is incomplete.
• Linux (for Tauri/GTK builds):
  • pkg-config
  • libglib2.0-dev
  • libgtk-3-dev
  • libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev
  • libayatana-appindicator3-dev
  • librsvg2-dev

Quick Start (Tauri App)

From repository root:

npm --prefix ui install

Run frontend only

npm --prefix ui run dev

This starts the browser-only Vite app on the default port (5173). Tauri features are disabled in that mode.

For remote browser mode against a Tauri backend, see docs/migration/remote-mode.md.

Build frontend

npm --prefix ui run build

Check backend formatting/build

cargo fmt --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
cargo check --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Run Tauri backend binary directly

cargo run --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

cargo run will launch the Tauri shell and start the UI through the same npm --prefix ui run dev command used for browser-only development.

Data Directory

The app stores user data (settings, presets, history, downloaded models) in Tauri's app_data_dir() under a migration-data/ subdirectory.

Remote browser mode stores its connection settings in browser local storage and uses LLAMACPPDESK_REMOTE_BIND plus LLAMACPPDESK_REMOTE_TOKEN on the backend host.

OS	Path
Windows	%APPDATA%\com.llamacppdesk\migration-data\
Linux	~/.local/share/com.llamacppdesk/migration-data/
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/com.llamacppdesk/migration-data/

Smoke Validation

Use smoke scripts before opening/merging migration PRs:

.\tests\smoke\Invoke-SmokeChecks.ps1

./tests/smoke/Invoke-SmokeChecks.sh

Stricter path (includes cargo check --locked):

.\tests\smoke\Invoke-SmokeChecks.ps1 -SkipPrereqCheck -IncludeCargoCheck

./tests/smoke/Invoke-SmokeChecks.sh --skip-prereq-check --include-cargo-check

Manual checklist: tests/smoke/smoke-checklist.md

CI / Release Notes

• Migration CI: .github/workflows/migration-ci.yml
  • Cross-platform validation matrix
  • Smoke checks and per-OS diagnostics artifacts on failure
• Tag build workflow: .github/workflows/build-on-tag.yml
  • Builds Tauri app via cargo tauri build
  • Uploads the platform installers only: Windows .msi, Linux .AppImage, macOS .dmg
  • Creates a GitHub release named LlamaCppDesk vX.Y.Z with a short download section and a changelog, then attaches only those installers

Contribution and Workflow

• Contribution rules: CONTRIBUTING.md
• Agent ownership: AGENTS.md
• Migration runbook: docs/migration/runbook.md
• Parity checklist: docs/migration/parity-checklist.md

Current Status

The Tauri app includes:

• Settings, presets, history persistence
• llama-server lifecycle and health/log surfacing
• Downloader start/cancel/status flow
• Chat stream start/cancel/status flow
• Typed Tauri API integration in the UI