Nanoframe

Lightweight, fast desktop apps with system webviews. Nanoframe pairs a tiny Rust core (tao + wry) with a TypeScript API, connected via JSON‑RPC over stdio. Think “Electron‑like DX without bundling Chromium”.

Status: experimental, but usable for prototypes and internal tools.

Highlights

• System webviews (no bundled Chromium)
• Cross‑platform Rust core with prebuilt binaries per OS/arch
• Simple Node/TypeScript API: app + BrowserWindow
• JSON‑RPC transport over stdio (no local servers)

Repository layout

• packages/nanoframe – TypeScript SDK (Node entry point)
• packages/nanoframe-core – Rust core (nanoframe-core binary)
• packages/nanoframe-core-* – Prebuilt platform binary packages
• examples/hello-world – Minimal example using the SDK

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• pnpm 19+
• Rust stable toolchain (for local dev or when building core from source)
• Windows: WebView2 runtime installed; macOS: WebKit is present; Linux: wry dependencies (WebKitGTK)

Quick start (run the example)

Windows PowerShell:

pnpm install
cargo build -r
$env:NANOF_DEV = "1"  # prefer local cargo-built core during development
pnpm -C examples/hello-world dev

On macOS/Linux, use your shell’s equivalent of setting NANOF_DEV=1.

The example will open a window pointed at https://example.com, print to the webview console, then demo a few window APIs.

Using Nanoframe in your app

Install from npm (using pnpm here):

npm install nanoframe
# or
pnpm add nanoframe
# or
yarn add nanoframe
# or
bun add nanoframe

Create a window:

import { app, BrowserWindow } from 'nanoframe';

await app.whenReady;
const win = await BrowserWindow.create({
	title: 'My App',
	width: 1024,
	height: 768,
	url: 'https://example.com'
});
await win.openDevTools();

See the full package API in packages/nanoframe/README.md.

How it works

• The JS SDK launches the nanoframe-core process.
• Calls from JS are sent via JSON‑RPC over stdio to the Rust core.
• The Rust core manages windows (tao) and webviews (wry), then returns results back over the same channel.
• In dev, set NANOF_DEV=1 to run the local cargo build; otherwise the SDK resolves a platform binary package when available.

Environment variables:

• NANOF_DEV=1 – Prefer local cargo build of nanoframe-core.
• NANOF_FORCE_PLATFORM=1 – Force using a platform binary package even if a local core is present.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm -r build   # builds TS packages
cargo build -r  # builds the Rust core

Run the example during development:

$env:NANOF_DEV = "1"
pnpm -C examples/hello-world dev

Contributing

We welcome issues and PRs. Please read:

• CONTRIBUTING.md – setup, development flow, commit/PR conventions
• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md – community standards
• SECURITY.md – how to report vulnerabilities

License

This project is licensed under the Infinite Clause License (ICL). See LICENSE for details.