Distributing Tauri For Windows

What it does

This skill simplifies deploying Tauri v2 applications on Windows. It automates the creation of installers in two formats: WiX MSI (.msi) and NSIS (-setup.exe). The skill also covers customizing these installers, including options for WebView2 runtime installation modes (downloadBootstrapper, embedBootstrapper, offlineInstaller, fixedVersion), and provides guidance on creating custom WiX templates or fragments to extend functionality.

When to use it

• You are developing a Tauri application and need to distribute it as a Windows installer.
• You want to create an MSI installer for traditional Windows deployment scenarios.
• You require the flexibility of building NSIS installers on non-Windows systems (Linux/macOS).
• You need to customize your installer, such as embedding or downloading the WebView2 runtime.
• You are deploying an application in an offline or air-gapped environment and require the offlineInstaller option.

Key capabilities

• Generates MSI (.msi) installers for Windows.
• Creates NSIS (-setup.exe) installers, buildable on Linux/macOS.
• Configures WebView2 runtime installation modes (downloadBootstrapper, embedBootstrapper, offlineInstaller, fixedVersion).
• Supports customization of WiX MSI templates and fragments.
• Provides instructions for building installers using npm, yarn, pnpm or cargo.

Example prompts

• "Build an NSIS installer for my Tauri application targeting x86_64 architecture."
• "Create a Windows MSI installer with the 'embedBootstrapper' WebView2 installation mode."
• "How do I add a custom registry entry to my WiX MSI installer?"

Tips & gotchas

• Building NSIS installers on non-Windows systems requires installing specific tools like nsis, lld, llvm, clang and cargo-xwin.
• The fixedVersion WebView2 installation mode requires an additional path configuration for the WebView2Runtime.
• For MSI customization, you may need to replace the default WiX template or add XML fragments.