Expo + Tauri Desktop App

A desktop application built with Expo (React Native for web, iOS, Android) and Tauri for building a native desktop app.

Quick Start

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run as desktop app (starts Expo web + Tauri)
npm run tauri dev

# Build for production
npm run tauri build

Project Structure

• src/ - Expo app (web, iOS, Android) with Expo Router file-based routing
• src-tauri/ - Tauri backend (Rust)
• dist/ - Expo web build output (used as Tauri frontend)

How It Works

Tauri uses the Expo web build as its frontend. This is configured in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json:

"build": {
  "beforeDevCommand": "pnpm start --web",
  "beforeBuildCommand": "npx expo export -p web",
  "devUrl": "http://localhost:8081",
  "frontendDist": "../dist"
}

• Development: npm run tauri dev automatically starts the Expo web server and loads it in the Tauri window
• Production: The build runs npx expo export -p web to generate static files in dist/

Web Output Configuration

Configure in app.json:

{
  "expo": {
    "web": {
      "output": "server", // "single", "server", or "static"
      "bundler": "metro"
    }
  }
}

Output	Expo Router	API Routes	Use Case
single	Yes	No	Simple SPA (default)
server	Yes	Yes	API routes + custom server
static	Yes	No	Static hosting

See Publishing Websites for more.

Commands

Command	Description
npx expo start	Run Expo in web/mobile dev mode
npm run tauri dev	Run desktop app in development
npm run tauri build	Build production desktop app
npm run reset-project	Reset to fresh project state

Learn More

• Expo Docs - Fundamentals and guides
• Learn Expo Tutorial
• Tauri Docs
• Expo Router