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How to Build a Tiny Desktop App with TinyJS

TinyJS’s core workflow is scaffold, develop, and build. See how its backend and webview architecture works, which frontend options are available, and what to check before distributing.
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TinyJS’s documented workflow is short: create a project with tinyjs new myapp, run it with tinyjs dev, then package it with tinyjs build. It builds JavaScript desktop apps using a backend runtime and the operating system’s webview, rather than bundling Electron, Node, or Chromium. Here’s what that means in practice, along with the platform and distribution details to check before you ship.

What TinyJS is—and how its app is put together

TinyJS is an open-source tool for building desktop apps in JavaScript. Its architecture separates a txiki.js backend, which provides system access, from a frontend displayed in the operating system’s webview. The project says this avoids bundling Electron, Node, or Chromium; its README gives an approximate shipped size of about 6 MB. That is an undated estimate from the project, not an independently measured comparison.

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The frontend can be ordinary HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. TinyJS injects a tiny API bridge into frontend pages so they can call backend functions and receive events pushed from the backend. The page itself does not have the backend’s tjs global or direct access to tjs:* modules. Treat the bridge as an explicit boundary: expose narrowly scoped operations the interface needs instead of granting it unrestricted access to sensitive work such as database operations.

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Build and run a starter app

  1. Install TinyJS for your operating system. Follow the project’s current installer instructions in the README. Installation steps and platform prerequisites can change, so use the instructions for your target system.
  2. Create a project. Run tinyjs new myapp. The project documents a zero-dependency default scaffold; framework-based starters are optional.
  3. Start development. From the project directory, run tinyjs dev to open the app window. According to the README, frontend edits hot-reload in place, while backend edits trigger an automatic process restart.
  4. Build the app. Run tinyjs build. The project documents a standalone executable and, on macOS, an .app bundle.

Choose a frontend that fits the app

You do not need a frontend framework to use TinyJS. The default scaffold is the simplest path for a small interface or a proof of concept, and the frontend can be written with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you prefer a framework, the project lists Vite-backed templates for React, Vue, Svelte, Solid, Preact, Lit, Alpine, and vanilla JavaScript. It also documents bundling TypeScript backends with esbuild.

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Whichever frontend you choose, keep privileged system work in the backend and make the bridge’s callable functions specific to the tasks the interface needs. This keeps the frontend’s responsibilities distinct from the runtime facilities available to backend code.

Check platform support before installing or distributing

The project’s repository headline describes macOS apps and labels Windows and Linux support beta. Its README lists different runtime requirements by platform:

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  • Linux: WebKitGTK 4.1 is required. Building from source also requires development packages.
  • macOS: The project documents app bundles and a signing and notarization workflow for public distribution.

These are project-documented requirements, not a guarantee that a particular installer or prebuilt artifact is currently available. Check the latest README and release assets for your operating system before committing to a platform-specific workflow.

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Prepare a Mac build for other people to use

A build that runs on your own Mac is not automatically ready for public distribution. TinyJS’s README says an ad-hoc-signed build may run on the developer’s Mac but can require recipients to approve it through Gatekeeper. For a smoother public release, the project documents signing with a Developer ID and notarizing the app.

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The README also describes publishing archives and an update manifest for app updates. Consult the project’s current instructions for the exact publishing process; the existence of that workflow does not establish that a release artifact is available for every platform.

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When TinyJS fits a small desktop project

TinyJS offers a compact, JavaScript-based route when you want a desktop window, a webview-rendered interface, and backend access through a bridge. Start with the default scaffold if the app is simple; choose a Vite-backed template if you want one of the listed frontend frameworks. The project’s approximate size claim may be useful context, but it is not a benchmark against other desktop frameworks. Platform support and public-release requirements should factor into the choice, particularly for Windows and Linux, which the repository describes as beta.

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