deno desktop

deno desktop compiles a Deno project into a self-contained desktop application. The output binary bundles your code, the Deno runtime, and a rendering backend into one redistributable executable per platform.

deno desktop main.ts
deno desktop --hmr main.ts
deno desktop --output MyApp.app main.ts

The entrypoint is optional. A bare deno desktop (or deno desktop .) detects a supported framework (Next.js, Astro, Fresh, React Router, and others) in the current directory and builds the appropriate desktop entrypoint. See Frameworks for supported frameworks and per-framework requirements.

This page covers the command-line flags. For the full guide (backends, Deno.BrowserWindow, bindings, auto-update, DevTools, and distribution) see the Desktop apps section.

Runtime flags

deno desktop accepts the same runtime and permission flags as deno run. The permissions you grant at compile time are baked into the compiled binary:

deno desktop --allow-read --allow-net main.ts

Backend

--backend selects the rendering engine. It accepts webview (the default) or cef. The raw backend is selected through the desktop.backend field in deno.json. See Backends for the tradeoffs.

deno desktop --backend webview main.ts

Build output

--output (-o) sets the output path; its extension determines the format (.app, .dmg, .AppImage, and so on):

deno desktop --output ./dist/MyApp.dmg main.ts

Use --icon to set the application icon (.ico on Windows, .icns or .png on macOS), and --include / --exclude to add or remove files from the compiled binary. These can also be configured in deno.json; see Configuration.

Cross-compilation

--target builds for another platform, and --all-targets builds for every supported platform at once. No platform-specific toolchain is needed on the host:

deno desktop --target aarch64-apple-darwin main.ts
deno desktop --all-targets main.ts

See Distribution for the supported target triples and output formats.

Development

--hmr runs the app with hot module replacement during development. See Hot module replacement.

deno desktop --hmr main.ts

The --inspect, --inspect-wait, and --inspect-brk flags attach a debugger to both the Deno runtime and the renderer. --inspect-renderer overrides the CEF renderer's debugger listen address. See DevTools.

Configuration

Most settings can live in the desktop block of deno.json instead of being passed on every build:

{
  "desktop": {
    "app": {
      "name": "MyApp",
      "identifier": "com.example.myapp",
      "icons": {
        "macos": "./icons/icon.icns",
        "windows": "./icons/icon.ico",
        "linux": "./icons/icon.png"
      }
    },
    "backend": "cef",
    "output": {
      "macos": "./dist/macos",
      "windows": "./dist/windows",
      "linux": "./dist/linux"
    },
    "release": { "baseUrl": "https://updates.example.com" },
    "errorReporting": { "url": "https://errors.example.com/report" }
  }
}

For the full schema, see Configuration.