Building from Source

Get the Source Code

Head to the official GitHub Repository and clone the repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/Rheosoph/flow-like.git
cd flow-like

Alternatively, you can fork the repository to your GitHub account and clone it from there (especially if you plan to contribute).

We’re continuously pushing updates to Flow-Like. The latest stable versions are available on the main and alpha branches. These are the branches that contain the source code snapshot for our latest builds available for download. They should compile without issues on your machine.

To get the latest changes, try the dev branch:

git checkout dev

Install Rust

As we are using Rust for our backend, please continue by installing Rust on your machine as described in the official Rust installation guide.

If you already have Rust installed, make sure you have the latest stable version:

rustup update stable

Install mise

We use mise as our task runner and tool version manager. It replaces the old bun run / npm run scripts and ensures everyone has the same toolchain versions.

Install mise by following the official installation guide, then from the repository root:

mise trust && mise install

This installs all required toolchains (Rust, Bun, Node.js, Python, uv) at the versions pinned in mise.toml.

Install Bun

For bundling the frontend we use Bun. If you ran mise install above, Bun is already available. Otherwise, install it manually via the official Bun installation guide.

Alternatively, you can also install Bun via npm. To do so, first install Node.js and then run:

npm install -g bun

Install Tauri Prerequisites

To build the desktop application, we are using Tauri.

Please make sure you’ve installed the necessary System Dependencies for your respective operating system as described in the official Tauri Prerequisites guide.

Install Protocol Buffer Compiler

Some of our Rust dependencies require Protobuf. Please install the Protobuf compiler (protoc) on your machine as described in the official Protobuf installation guide.

Install Node Packages

Now that you have all dependencies installed, fetch all required Node packages by running:

bun install

Build and Run in Dev Mode

To build and run the Flow-Like desktop application in development mode run:

mise run dev:desktop:<os>:<arch>

Please replace <os> and <arch> with your respective operating system and architecture, available options are:

# Example for macOS on Apple Silicon
mise run dev:desktop:mac:arm
# Example for macOS on Intel/AMD (x64)
mise run dev:desktop:mac:intel
# Example for Windows on Intel/AMD (x64)
mise run dev:desktop:win:x64
# Example for Windows on ARM
mise run dev:desktop:win:arm
# Example for Linux on Intel/AMD (x64)
mise run dev:desktop:linux:x64

Running in dev mode builds the backend without the Rust cargo build --release flag. Frontend assets are bundled on each change, so you can see your changes live in the app.

Productive Builds

To create a productive build of the Flow-Like desktop application, run the following command (no need to specify OS and architecture here):

mise run build:desktop

The build binary will be located at ./target/release/flow-like-desktop. Bundled app installers can be found in ./target/release/bundle.

Further Build Scripts

You can find all available tasks in the mise.toml file at the repository root. Run mise tasks to list them all, or mise run <task> to execute one.

Known Issues

Tauri uses WebKit for rendering the frontend. We’ve noticed some issues with certain Linux distributions and graphics drivers combinations.