build(desktop): bundle the main process and stage only its native externals by juliusmarminge · Pull Request #11410 · pingdotgg/t3code

juliusmarminge · 2026-09-12T09:42:30Z

Part 1 of 8 (stack #11411). Independent of the single-executable work, but placed at the bottom so the preview runs exercise it on every desktop platform.

Problem

The desktop main process left every third-party import external (alwaysBundle only covered @t3tools/*), so the packaged app did a full production install of apps/desktop's dependency tree next to a server bundle that already inlines the same libraries. Extracting the Linux AppImage from the last preview run showed what that costs: node_modules was 165 packages and 113 MB inside app.asar, with effect alone at 36 MB, none of which bin.mjs reads because it carries its own copy. On top of that, 75 MB of sourcemaps (52 MB client, 23 MB server) were packed in that nothing serves, and node-pty shipped its Windows and macOS prebuilds on Linux (58 MB, mostly .pdb files).

Change

apps/desktop/vite.config.ts bundles the main process the way the server is bundled: inline everything, neverBundle only what Node must load from disk. That set lives in scripts/lib/desktop-external-packages.ts (@napi-rs/keyring, @crowecawcaw/xa11y, @clerk/electron-passkeys, ffi-rs/@yuuang/*, playwright-core) and is the single source for both the bundler and the stage.
scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts stages only those externals plus the server's runtime externals, on every platform. macOS already did this for the server half; Linux kept the whole tree ("Linux retains its existing full dependency tree"); Windows' app.asar installed every desktop dependency. resolveMacStageDependencies becomes resolveMergedStageDependencies for mac and linux.
**/*.map and **/*.d.cts are excluded from app.asar and server.asar. Nothing in the packaged app enables source maps.
Linux excludes node-pty's darwin-*/win32-* prebuilds and conpty, matching what macOS already excluded.

Measured: Linux x64 AppImage, extracted

Both from channel=preview runs of this stack: before is run 34682751893 (stack without this PR), after is run 34687033946 (same stack on top of this PR).

	before	after
AppImage (download)	178 MB	143 MB
`app.asar`	215 MB	60 MB
`app.asar.unpacked` (natives)	24 MB	23 MB
`node_modules` inside asar	112 MB, 148 packages	33 MB, 18 packages
`apps/server/dist`	112 MB (client 79 MB)	38 MB (client 27 MB)
`apps/desktop`	11 MB	11 MB
sourcemaps	3,891 files, 91 MB	none

node_modules after: @clerk/electron-passkeys, @crowecawcaw/xa11y, @napi-rs/keyring, ffi-rs/@yuuang, playwright-core, plus the server's node-pty, @ff-labs/fff-*, msgpackr-extract and their loaders. effect, @clerk/electron, electron-updater, dbus-next, electron-store and the rest of the 148 are now inside dist-electron/main.cjs (5.6 MB with chunks, same as before the change).

Other platforms from the same two runs (installer size): macOS arm64 dmg 161 → 128 MB, macOS x64 dmg 168 → 135 MB, Windows x64 exe 185 → 162 MB.

Verification

build-desktop-artifact tests (70) updated for the new stage selection and exclusions; cli-external-packages tests unchanged and passing.
Built the desktop bundle with the new policy and checked the emitted main.cjs: the only non-builtin requires left are electron, node-pty (WSL probe script text), and two ajv specifiers that live inside a code-generation template string in conf, never evaluated. Installed the selected external set into a scratch stage with vp install --prod and loaded @napi-rs/keyring, @crowecawcaw/xa11y, ffi-rs, and playwright-core from it under plain Node.
From the "after" AppImage: ran the packaged server (ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 t3code resources/app.asar/apps/server/dist/bin.mjs serve) with an empty environment; / returned 200. Resolved every external require in the packaged dist-electron/*.cjs from inside app.asar and loaded @napi-rs/keyring, @crowecawcaw/xa11y, ffi-rs, node-pty, @ff-labs/fff-node and playwright-core through them. The only specifiers that do not resolve are x11 (an optional path in dbus-next that was equally absent before) and two ajv strings that sit inside ajv's code-generation templates, never executed as requires.
All three desktop platforms plus the CLI archives built, signed and smoke-tested green on the after run.

Claude Fable 5 via Claude Code.

Summary by CodeRabbit

Bug Fixes
- Improved desktop application packaging across macOS and Linux.
- Fixed runtime dependency handling for native modules and Playwright-based features.
- Prevented incompatible macOS binaries from being included in Linux builds.
- Reduced packaged artifacts by excluding source maps and declaration maps.
Tests
- Expanded packaging coverage for merged runtime dependencies, platform-specific exclusions, and cross-platform build behavior.

macroscopeapp · 2026-09-12T09:44:08Z

Approvability

Verdict: Not approved

Macroscope's review found this PR not approvable — This changes the production desktop dependency boundary and platform-specific package contents, including how the main process resolves native and disk-loaded modules at startup. Because the impact spans bundled runtime code and shipped artifacts across macOS, Linux, and Windows packaging paths, it warrants human review.

No code changes detected at d42a9c5. Prior analysis still applies.

^{You can add or adjust custom eligibility rules. Learn more.}

github-actions · 2026-09-12T09:45:02Z

Thread transfer impact

✅ Thread transfer remains within every enforced ceiling.

Provider	Metric	Main baseline	This PR	Impact	PR ceiling
Codex	Total thread wire	13.6 KiB	13.6 KiB	+17 B (+0.1%)	15.1 KiB	✅
Codex	Thread snapshot wire	7.0 KiB	7.1 KiB	+8 B (+0.1%)	7.3 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket wire	6.5 KiB	6.5 KiB	+9 B (+0.1%)	7.8 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket decoded	57.0 KiB	57.0 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	66.4 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn messages	8	8	0 (0.0%)	21	✅
Claude	Total thread wire	13.6 KiB	13.6 KiB	−8 B (−0.1%)	15.1 KiB	✅
Claude	Thread snapshot wire	7.1 KiB	7.1 KiB	+6 B (+0.1%)	7.3 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket wire	6.5 KiB	6.5 KiB	−14 B (−0.2%)	7.8 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket decoded	57.8 KiB	57.8 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	66.4 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn messages	9	9	0 (0.0%)	21	✅

Baseline: 1bbca0e · PR result: d42a9c5 · Source CI: success

Scenario and decoded snapshot size

10 historical turns, 5 command tools per turn, 878.9 KiB retained MCP result per historical turn, and a 1.05 MiB retained result in the measured turn.

Codex decoded thread snapshot: 113.9 KiB
Claude decoded thread snapshot: 114.6 KiB

Updated in place by a trusted workflow. PR artifacts are strictly validated and never executed.

coderabbitai · 2026-09-12T09:46:00Z

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The desktop build now externalizes selected runtime dependencies. macOS and Linux staging merge server and desktop dependencies. Packaging excludes source maps, declaration maps, and incompatible Darwin binaries on Linux.

Changes

Desktop runtime packaging

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Runtime externalization policy `scripts/lib/desktop-external-packages.ts`, `apps/desktop/vite.config.ts`, `scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts`	Defines the desktop runtime externalization policy and applies it to main-process bundling and dependency resolution.
Merged platform dependency staging `scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts`, `scripts/build-desktop-artifact.test.ts`	Replaces macOS-only staging with merged macOS and Linux dependency resolution, including platform-specific FFF packages and desktop runtime dependencies.
Platform packaging exclusions `scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts`, `scripts/build-desktop-artifact.test.ts`	Adds source-map, declaration-map, and Linux Darwin `node-pty` exclusions. Updates packaging expectations for macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Change: Other

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant DesktopBuild
  participant resolveMergedStageDependencies
  participant DesktopRuntimePolicy
  participant PackageBuilder
  DesktopBuild->>DesktopRuntimePolicy: select desktop runtime externals
  DesktopBuild->>resolveMergedStageDependencies: merge server and desktop dependencies
  resolveMergedStageDependencies-->>DesktopBuild: return platform-specific staged dependencies
  DesktopBuild->>PackageBuilder: apply platform packaging exclusions
  PackageBuilder-->>DesktopBuild: produce packaged desktop artifact

Suggested reviewers: bil0000, t3dotgg

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to d42a9

Windows builds can retain unnecessary CommonJS declaration files in server.asar, reducing the intended artifact-size savings. Add the missing exclusion before merge.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 42.86% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 7 functions across 4 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly identifies the main changes: bundling the desktop main process and staging only required native external dependencies.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description is detailed and covers the problem, implementation, measured results, and verification. It does not use the template headings or include the checklist, but it provides the required cha…

✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1

📝 Generate docstrings 💡

Create stacked PR
Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

Create PR with unit tests
Commit unit tests in branch sea/desktop-bundle

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
In `@scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts`:
- Line 1027: Add the **/*.d.cts glob to WINDOWS_SERVER_ASAR_IGNORE_GLOBS so
packWindowsServerAsar excludes declaration files from server.asar, matching
DESKTOP_FILE_EXCLUSIONS; update the adjacent assertion to include the new
exclusion.

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ℹ️ Review info

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between b1e223e and 0f04cb8.

📒 Files selected for processing (4)

apps/desktop/vite.config.ts
scripts/build-desktop-artifact.test.ts
scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts
scripts/lib/desktop-external-packages.ts

Included review availability: Your plan provides up to 10 included reviews per hour; 9 remain after this review.

…ernals The desktop main process left every third-party import external, so the packaged app did a full production install of apps/desktop's dependency tree (165 packages, 113 MB on Linux) next to a server bundle that already inlines the same libraries. effect alone was 36 MB of app.asar that only main.cjs read, while bin.mjs carried its own copy. The main process now follows the server's policy: inline everything and keep external only what Node must load from disk (native addons and playwright-core), listed once in scripts/lib/desktop-external-packages.ts. The stage installs just those externals plus the server's, on every platform; Linux previously kept the entire tree. Sourcemaps and .d.cts files no longer ship in app.asar or server.asar (75 MB of maps that nothing served), and Linux drops node-pty's darwin and win32 prebuilds like macOS already did (58 MB, mostly Windows .pdb files). Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

…ernals (pingdotgg#11410) Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

@t3dotgg

## What's Changed * fix(web): disconnect offline servers from threads by @t3dotgg in pingdotgg/t3code#11671 * feat(web): flatten the connections page into one environments list by @t3dotgg in pingdotgg/t3code#11672 * fix(mobile): keep usage widget rows consistently sized by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11669 * feat(server): add reusable auth token for dev worktrees by @t3dotgg in pingdotgg/t3code#8606 * feat(settings): choose how responses stream, with a warning on legacy token mode by @t3dotgg in pingdotgg/t3code#11678 * revert(web): remove the compact sidebar by @maria-rcks in pingdotgg/t3code#11685 * build(desktop): bundle the main process and stage only its native externals by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11410 * build(server): make the CLI bundle loadable as a Node single-executable by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11316 * ci(release): build, sign, and publish self-contained CLI archives by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11317 * feat(server): install preview runtimes from release archives by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11318 * feat(ssh): run preview builds on remotes from the release archive by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11319 * feat(cli): add t3 update for self-contained installs by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11451 * feat(server): manage runtimes as release archives only, never from npm by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11510 * feat(desktop): run the WSL backend from the Linux CLI archive by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11511 * ci(release): build CLI archives for five targets, each on its own architecture by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11605 * ci(release): build the JS bundle once and run every platform and architecture in parallel by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11606 * feat(release): publish npx t3 as a launcher over per-platform executable packages by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11607 * feat(cli): add t3 uninstall for self-contained installs by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11659 * feat(web): show each worktree setup step and let users cancel it by @t3dotgg in pingdotgg/t3code#11372 * fix(server): skip device hosts that resolve to the local machine by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11698 * fix(web): test device hosts across selected environments by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11699 * feat(desktop): allow disabling the local environment by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#9194 * feat(cli): add t3 service restart and make t3 update repoint the service eagerly by @juliusmarminge in pingdotgg/t3code#11702 * docs(claude): clarify OpenRouter model selection by @shivamhwp in pingdotgg/t3code#11369 **Full Changelog**: pingdotgg/t3code@v0.0.41-nightly.20260914.1687...v0.0.41-nightly.20260914.1700 Upstream release: https://github.com/pingdotgg/t3code/releases/tag/v0.0.41-nightly.20260914.1700

github-actions Bot added vouch:trusted PR author is trusted by repo permissions or the VOUCHED list. size:L 100-499 changed lines (additions + deletions). labels Sep 12, 2026

juliusmarminge added this pull request to stack #11411 September 12, 2026 09:43

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Sep 12, 2026

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Comment thread scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts

juliusmarminge force-pushed the sea/desktop-bundle branch 2 times, most recently from c294243 to 59f982d Compare September 14, 2026 00:57

juliusmarminge force-pushed the sea/desktop-bundle branch from 59f982d to d42a9c5 Compare September 14, 2026 04:14

juliusmarminge merged commit 683aa87 into main Sep 14, 2026
24 checks passed

juliusmarminge deleted the sea/desktop-bundle branch September 14, 2026 04:24

faw01 pushed a commit to faw01/t3code that referenced this pull request Sep 14, 2026

build(desktop): bundle the main process and stage only its native ext…

f3e40c7

…ernals (pingdotgg#11410) Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

goggi mentioned this pull request Sep 14, 2026

Desktop exits on launch in nightly 1700: dbus-next chunk re-requires main.cjs, registerSchemesAsPrivileged throws after ready #11720

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build(desktop): bundle the main process and stage only its native externals - #11410

build(desktop): bundle the main process and stage only its native externals#11410
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Measured: Linux x64 AppImage, extracted

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