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Building the Desktop App

This page covers how to compile the Go backend and package the full application as a Windows NSIS installer.

Step 1 — Build the Go backend

cd backend-go
go build -o backend.exe .
cd ..

The backend.exe binary must be present in backend-go/ before packaging.

Step 2 — Build the frontend

npm run build

Vite bundles the React application into dist/. The Electron wrapper loads this directory as a local HTML page.

Step 3 — Package with Electron Builder

npm run build:electron

This runs electron-builder with the configuration in package.json. The output NSIS installer is written to the output directory defined in package.json (C:\temp\calliope-release\ by default).

To change the output path, edit the build.directories.output field in package.json.

What gets packaged

electron-builder creates an ASAR archive from the dist/, electron/, backend-go/, and python/ directories. The backend binary and Python runner are excluded from the ASAR and placed in app.asar.unpacked/ so the OS can execute them:

"asarUnpack": [
  "backend-go/**/*",
  "python/**/*"
]

Installer options

The NSIS installer is configured as a one-click or guided install (user's choice):

Option Value
One-click install Disabled
Change install dir Enabled
Desktop shortcut Created
Start menu shortcut Created

Build artifacts

Artifact Location
Installer (.exe) C:\temp\calliope-release\TEMPO Setup x.x.x.exe
Unpacked app dir C:\temp\calliope-release\win-unpacked\

Versioning

The application version is read from the version field in package.json. Increment it before each release build:

"version": "1.0.0"

Releasing and in-app updates

Installed copies of TEMPO check the latest GitHub release at startup and every 6 hours (electron/updater.cjs) and offer to update. For that to work, every release must follow these rules:

  1. Bump the version in package.json (e.g. 4.1.0) before building. The app compares this with the release.
  2. Version in the tag or title: the tag or release title must contain x.y.z, e.g. Release_V4.1.0 / TEMPO V4.1.0.
  3. Publish as a full release, not a draft or pre-release. Only the release marked Latest is offered.

  4. Upload the three build outputs with their default names:

    Platform File How it is applied
    Windows TEMPO Setup x.y.z.exe (*.exe) Installer is launched, TEMPO closes
    Linux AppImage TEMPO-x.y.z.AppImage File is replaced and TEMPO restarts
    Linux Debian tempo_x.y.z_amd64.deb Installed with pkexec dpkg -i, TEMPO restarts

  5. Release notes: use ## Added / ## Fixed style headings with bullet points; the first bullets are shown in the update dialog.

GitHub stores a SHA-256 digest for every uploaded asset; the updater verifies the download against it before installing.

Testing the update flow

Run the dev build pretending to be an older version. The real latest release is downloaded and verified, but nothing is installed (the file is shown in its folder):

TEMPO_UPDATE_TEST_VERSION=3.0.0 make dev

The variable is ignored in packaged builds. Users can turn automatic checks off in Settings → General and check manually in Settings → About.

Windows code signing

The installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn when it is launched by the updater. Signing the NSIS installer removes the warning.

CI / CD

The GitLab CI pipeline (gitlab-ci.yml) currently only builds the documentation PDF. A separate pipeline stage for the Electron build can be added by including a Windows runner with Node.js and Go installed.