PhoenixTauri

A desktop application powered by Phoenix LiveView and Tauri. Packages a Phoenix backend as a standalone executable via Burrito, wrapped in a native Tauri window.

Prerequisites

• Elixir 1.15+ / Erlang OTP 27+
• Rust 1.70+ and Cargo
• Node.js 18+ / npm
• Tauri CLI (cargo install tauri-cli)

Development

Start the Phoenix server for local development:

mix setup
mix phx.server

Visit localhost:4000 in your browser.

Building the Desktop App (.dmg / .app)

Step 1: Install dependencies

# Elixir deps
mix deps.get

# Tauri npm deps
cd tauri && npm install && cd ..

Step 2: Build Phoenix assets for production

MIX_ENV=prod mix assets.deploy

Step 3: Build the Burrito release (standalone Phoenix binary)

MIX_ENV=prod mix release phoenix_tauri_desktop

This generates platform-specific binaries in burrito_out/:

• phoenix_tauri_desktop_macos (macOS ARM64)
• phoenix_tauri_desktop_linux (Linux x86_64)
• phoenix_tauri_desktop_windows.exe (Windows x86_64)

Step 4: Link the sidecar binary for Tauri

Create a symlink so Tauri can find the Phoenix backend binary. On macOS (Apple Silicon):

cd tauri/src-tauri
ln -sf ../../burrito_out/phoenix_tauri_desktop_macos \
   phoenix_tauri_backend-aarch64-apple-darwin
cd ../..

For other platforms:

# Linux x86_64
ln -sf ../../burrito_out/phoenix_tauri_desktop_linux \
   phoenix_tauri_backend-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

# Windows x86_64
ln -sf ../../burrito_out/phoenix_tauri_desktop_windows.exe \
   phoenix_tauri_backend-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.exe

Step 5: Build the Tauri application

cd tauri
npx tauri build

The built application will be at:

• macOS .app: tauri/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/Phoenix Tauri.app
• macOS .dmg: tauri/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/Phoenix Tauri_0.1.0_aarch64.dmg

Quick build (all steps combined)

MIX_ENV=prod mix assets.deploy && \
MIX_ENV=prod mix release phoenix_tauri_desktop && \
cd tauri/src-tauri && \
ln -sf ../../burrito_out/phoenix_tauri_desktop_macos phoenix_tauri_backend-aarch64-apple-darwin && \
cd .. && \
npx tauri build && \
cd .. && \
mix phx.digest.clean --all

If you don't do proper versioning of backend you might have cached sidecard, to delete it on mac you can:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/.burrito/  

Architecture

Tauri (Rust native window)
  └── launches Phoenix backend as sidecar process
        └── Phoenix serves on localhost:4000
              └── Tauri webview connects to localhost:4000
                    └── Phoenix LiveView handles all UI

Project Structure

phoenix_tauri/
├── lib/                     # Elixir/Phoenix application
│   ├── phoenix_tauri/       # Business logic, Repo, Release
│   └── phoenix_tauri_web/   # Web layer, LiveViews, router
├── assets/                  # Frontend (JS, CSS, vendor libs)
├── config/                  # Elixir configuration
├── tauri/                   # Tauri desktop wrapper
│   ├── src/                 # Loading page HTML
│   ├── src-tauri/           # Rust source, Cargo.toml, config
│   └── package.json         # Tauri npm dependencies
└── mix.exs                  # Elixir project definition

Learn more

• Phoenix: https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/overview.html
• Tauri: https://tauri.app/
• Burrito: https://github.com/burrito-elixir/burrito
• Blog post: https://mrpopov.com/posts/elixir-liveview-single-binary/