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, and others) in the current directory and builds it without any code changes. See Frameworks.

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 Jump to heading#

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 Jump to heading#

--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 Jump to heading#

--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 Jump to heading#

--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 Jump to heading#

--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 Jump to heading#

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.