Development Setup

Set up your local development environment for MarkView

Prerequisites

Before you begin developing MarkView, ensure you have the following tools installed:

Node.js & Bun

Required for running the Next.js frontend and managing JavaScript dependencies

Rust & Cargo

Required for building the Tauri backend and Rust components

Tauri CLI

Build tools and dependencies for compiling Tauri applications

Platform Tools

OS-specific build dependencies (see platform notes below)

Platform-Specific Dependencies

macOS

Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

Linux

Install required system libraries:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libssl-dev \
  libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
  librsvg2-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
  openssl-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
  librsvg2-devel

Windows

Install Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools and WebView2:

1. Download Visual Studio Build Tools
2. Install “Desktop development with C++” workload
3. WebView2 is typically pre-installed on Windows 10/11

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/sureshamal/markview.git
   cd markview
   
2. Install dependencies

   MarkView uses Bun as the package manager for optimal performance:

   bun install
   

   This will install all frontend dependencies defined in package.json, including:

   • Next.js 16.1.6 (React 19.2.3)
   • Tauri plugins (dialog, fs, window)
   • Markdown rendering libraries (react-markdown, remark-gfm, rehype-raw)
   • UI dependencies (lucide-react, react-syntax-highlighter)
3. Run development server

   Start the development server with hot-reloading:

   bun run tauri dev
   

   This command will:

   1. Start the Next.js dev server on http://localhost:3000
   2. Build the Rust backend
   3. Launch the Tauri desktop window

   The first build may take several minutes as Cargo compiles all Rust dependencies.

4. Verify the setup

   Once the application launches, verify:

   • The window opens with the MarkView interface
   • You can drag and drop markdown files
   • File and folder upload buttons work
   • Theme switching functions correctly (Alt+T)

Available Scripts

MarkView provides the following npm scripts defined in package.json:

Development Server

bun run tauri dev

Script Descriptions

Script	Command	Description
dev	next dev	Runs Next.js development server only (without Tauri)
build	next build	Builds Next.js for production (static export)
start	next start	Starts production Next.js server (not used in Tauri)
lint	eslint	Runs ESLint for code quality
tauri	tauri	Direct access to Tauri CLI commands

Troubleshooting

Rust compilation errors

If you encounter Rust compilation errors:

1. Verify Rust version meets minimum requirement (1.77.2+):

   rustc --version
   

2. Update Rust to the latest stable version:

   rustup update stable
   

3. Clean the build cache:

   cd src-tauri
   cargo clean
   cd ..
   

Next.js port already in use

If port 3000 is already occupied:

1. Kill the process using port 3000
2. Or modify the dev URL in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json:
   "devUrl": "http://localhost:3001"
   
3. Update the Next.js port in package.json:
   "dev": "next dev -p 3001"
   

WebView2 missing on Windows

If you see WebView2 errors on Windows:

Download and install the WebView2 Runtime

Bun installation issues

If you prefer npm or yarn instead of bun:

# Using npm
npm install
npm run tauri dev

# Using yarn
yarn install
yarn tauri dev

Update the beforeDevCommand and beforeBuildCommand in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json to use your package manager.

macOS code signing errors

For development, you can disable code signing:

1. Add to src-tauri/tauri.conf.json under bundle:
   "macOS": {
     "signingIdentity": null
   }
   

Development Tools

Browser DevTools

Access browser DevTools in the Tauri window:

• macOS: Cmd+Option+I
• Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+I

Rust Console Output

View Rust backend logs in the terminal where you ran bun run tauri dev.

TypeScript Type Checking

Run TypeScript compiler in watch mode:

tsc --watch --noEmit

Next Steps

Architecture Overview

Learn about MarkView’s technical architecture

Building for Production

Build and distribute MarkView binaries