Building Desktop Apps with Flutter and Tauri

Introduction

Flutter started as a UI toolkit for mobile development but has grown into a capable cross-platform framework that targets web and desktop. Tauri is a lightweight toolkit for building tiny, secure desktop apps using a web frontend and a Rust backend. Combining Flutter's expressive UI with Tauri's small native shell lets you deliver performant desktop apps while reusing knowledge from mobile development. This tutorial covers the practical setup, bridging strategy, and packaging recommendations for a Flutter+Tauri desktop workflow.

Why Combine Flutter And Tauri

• Reuse mobile development skills: Flutter developers can reuse Dart app logic and UI patterns by targeting Flutter Web and packaging it with Tauri.

• Smaller native binary: Tauri apps often produce significantly smaller binaries than full Chromium-based wrappers because Tauri uses the system webview and a compact Rust runtime.

• Native capabilities: Tauri's Rust backend enables access to native APIs (file I/O, notifications, system dialogs) with explicit, audit-friendly commands.

When to use this approach: choose Flutter+Tauri if you want Flutter’s UI and animation model but need a small, secure desktop shell and direct native integrations via Rust. If you require maximum Flutter-native desktop fidelity (embedding Flutter engine per OS), use Flutter desktop builds instead.

Project Setup And Build Flow

Prerequisites: Flutter SDK (with web enabled), Rust toolchain (cargo), Node.js and npm/yarn for Tauri's CLI.

1. Create a Flutter app and verify web target works:

flutter create my_app 
cd my_app
flutter run -d

2. Build a production web bundle. For closer parity with mobile rendering, use CanvasKit:

flutter build web --web-renderer canvaskit --base-href ./

This produces build/web which contains index.html, main.dart.js, and assets.

3. Initialize a Tauri project in a sibling folder or inside the Flutter project. Configure Tauri's distDir to point to the Flutter build/web directory in tauri.conf.json:

"build": { 
  "distDir": "../my_app/build/web",
  "devPath": "http://localhost:5000"
 }

During development you can run a local web server serving Flutter's build or use flutter run with web; in production Tauri will load files from the distDir.

Bridging Flutter And Tauri (Rust)

Flutter Web runs inside the Tauri webview as static HTML/JS. To call Rust commands you need a small JavaScript bridge. Add a global helper to Tauri's index.html (or tauri.conf.json template):

In Flutter, use dart:js_util to call that global function and convert the returned JS Promise into a Dart Future. Example interop helper:

import 'dart:js_util' as js_util;

Future<dynamic> invokeRust(String cmd, [Map? args]) {
  final fn = js_util.getProperty(js_util.globalThis, 'invokeRust');
  final jsPromise = js_util.callMethod(fn, 'call', [js_util.globalThis, cmd, args ?? {}]);
  return js_util.promiseToFuture(jsPromise);
}

Use that helper inside your widgets to request native operations (file pickers, reading/writing files, platform info) which you implement as Tauri commands in Rust.

Example Flutter button calling a native command:

ElevatedButton(
  onPressed: () async {
    final result = await invokeRust('read_config');
    print(result);
  },
  child: Text('Load Config'),
)

On the Rust side, expose a command in src-tauri/src/main.rs using #[tauri::command] that returns JSON-compatible data.

Packaging And Distribution

• Development loop: run a local web server (e.g., python -m http.server) or use flutter run for hot reload; run tauri dev to start the Rust backend and webview pointing at your dev URL.

• Build for release: run flutter build web --web-renderer canvaskit && cd src-tauri && cargo build --release or use npm run tauri build which orchestrates the native packaging process.

• Tauri supports creating installers for Windows (MSI/EXE), macOS (DMG), and Linux (AppImage/Deb/RPM). Configure signing and notarization as needed for your distribution targets.

Security And Performance Considerations

• CSP and allowlist: limit Tauri APIs to only the functions you need. Enable Rust-side allowlist and audit commands. Set a strict Content-Security-Policy in index.html.

• Use CanvasKit for better visual fidelity if your app relies on Flutter’s Skia features; this increases bundle size but improves parity with mobile development visuals.

• Native-heavy tasks: offload CPU-bound work to Rust commands to keep the UI thread responsive.

Vibe Studio

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Conclusion

Combining Flutter and Tauri is a pragmatic path for teams with mobile development expertise who want polished cross-platform desktop UIs while keeping native binaries small and secure. The pattern is straightforward: build a Flutter web frontend, add a tiny JS bridge exposed to Dart, implement native features in Tauri’s Rust backend, and use Tauri to package and sign your app. This gives you the expressive power of Flutter UI with the compact, native Rust-based shell of Tauri—ideal for desktop apps that must feel modern without shipping an entire browser runtime.