Build from source – inkwell docs
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    Build from source

    Set up the tools, run inkwell in development, and build installers for macOS, Windows and Linux.

    This page is for developers. If you just want to use inkwell, see Getting started.

    inkwell is a Tauri v2 desktop app. The interface is React 19 and TypeScript on top of CodeMirror 6, and the native side is Rust.

    What you need

    System Install
    macOS Xcode Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install
    Windows Microsoft C++ Build Tools and WebView2 (already included in Windows 11)
    Linux libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev, libappindicator3-dev, librsvg2-dev, patchelf

    Run in development

    git clone https://github.com/coros-hq/inkwell.git
cd inkwell
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

    pnpm tauri dev starts the Vite dev server on port 1420, opens the app window, and reloads the interface when you edit the frontend. It recompiles the Rust side when that changes.

    Build installers

    pnpm tauri build

    Installers are written to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:

    System Output
    macOS .app and .dmg
    Windows .exe and .msi
    Linux .deb, .rpm and .AppImage

    On macOS, to update an existing install by hand, drag the new .app onto the old one in /Applications and click Replace.

    Collaboration settings

    Real-time collaboration talks to a Supabase project. The values are baked into the app at build time, so set them in a .env file at the project root before you build:

    VITE_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
VITE_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=your-publishable-key

    Without them, the app still works as a local notes app, but signing in, sharing and joining vaults fail. The database schema lives in supabase/schema.sql and supabase/migrations/.

    Project structure

    inkwell/
├── src/
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── editor/      MarkdownEditor, RichPreview, charts, tables, attachments, share dialog
│   │   ├── layout/      AppShell, Sidebar, NoteList, EditorPane
│   │   ├── board/       Kanban board, columns, cards, task drawer
│   │   ├── canvas/      Canvas view, toolbar, templates, notes sheet
│   │   ├── collab/      Share dialog, presence avatars
│   │   ├── settings/    Settings dialog, theme editor, font picker
│   │   └── shared/      Search, context menu, GitHub sync, vault picker
│   ├── store/           Zustand store (useAppStore)
│   ├── lib/             vault, vault watcher, github, export, editor extensions, themes, sync
│   ├── styles/          globals.css (CSS variables and theme definitions)
│   └── types/           TypeScript interfaces
├── src-tauri/
│   ├── src/lib.rs       Tauri commands, tray, global shortcut, quick-note window
│   └── tauri.conf.json  Window config, updater, deep links
└── supabase/            Database schema and migrations

    Releases

    Pushing a tag that starts with v runs the release workflow in .github/workflows/release.yml, which builds macOS (universal), Windows and Linux installers and publishes the updater manifest that inkwell’s built-in updater reads.

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