eric-desktop

name	eric-desktop
description	Apply Eric's desktop app standards. Use when implementing, refactoring, or reviewing Electron, Tauri, desktop renderer, local runtime, packaging, update, window/webview, IPC/router, generated contract, desktop data-fetching, or native integration code in Eric's style.

Eric Desktop

Use this skill for desktop app implementation or desktop review.

Workflow

1. Inspect the actual desktop stack, dev runner, packaged build flow, renderer entrypoint, native entrypoint, and generated contract flow.
2. Use $eric-frontend for renderer UI/data-flow work and $eric-backend for native service, persistence, validation, or Rust/TypeScript backend work.
3. For JavaScript, TypeScript, Node, package-manager, install, or script-runner work, also use $eric-javascript.
4. Keep native/runtime work off the UI thread and keep renderer data access behind the existing API/query layer.
5. Validate the path that matters: dev mode, packaged mode, generated contracts, typecheck, or packaging metadata depending on the change.
6. For browser-driven E2E of the renderer, use $eric-e2e-testing — on WebViews without an automation protocol (macOS WKWebView), drive the dev-server page in Chromium with the shell IPC mocked and the backend real.

Standards

• Use desktop when the product benefits from a local runtime, offline behavior, or OS-level integration; otherwise keep it web.
• Persist user data under the app data/user data directory, not the project tree.
• Use migrations for local schemas and treat packaging as a first-class runtime.
• Prefer Tauri v2 when Rust is already the native layer or the app mainly needs a thin WebView over native commands/services.
• Use generated contracts where possible, such as tauri-typegen for frontend commands and ts-rs DTO export for Rust APIs.
• Use Electron when the app needs a flexible browser stack for GUI, not just a browser wrapper.
• Treat Electron's value as controllable web content primitives, multiple renderer surfaces, and Node integration around the browser runtime.
• Use typed routers or typed IPC boundaries.
• Use TanStack Query for renderer data fetching and invalidation; treat desktop local data as server state from the renderer's point of view.
• Open external links in the system browser and keep WebView navigation explicitly allowed.

Boundaries

• Do not treat Electron as only a browser wrapper; its value is the browser stack, web content primitives, multiple renderer surfaces, and Node integration around the browser runtime.
• Do not put desktop local data directly into ad hoc component state when the renderer should see it as server state.
• Do not hand-roll OS behavior when the framework or platform already provides the primitive.