Prerequisites

In order to get started building your project with Tauri you’ll first need to install a few dependencies:

1. System Dependencies
2. Rust
3. Configure for Mobile Targets (only required if developing for mobile)

System Dependencies

Follow the link to get started for your respective operating system:

• Linux (see below for specific distributions)
• macOS Catalina (10.15) and later
• Windows 7 and later

Linux

Tauri requires various system dependencies for development on Linux. These may be different depending on your distribution but we’ve included some popular distributions below to help you get setup.

Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libxdo-dev \
  libssl-dev \
  libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
  librsvg2-dev

Arch

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S --needed \
  webkit2gtk-4.1 \
  base-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  openssl \
  appmenu-gtk-module \
  libappindicator-gtk3 \
  librsvg \
  xdotool

Fedora

sudo dnf check-update
sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
  openssl-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
  librsvg2-devel \
  libxdo-devel
sudo dnf group install "c-development"

Gentoo

sudo emerge --ask \
  net-libs/webkit-gtk:4.1 \
  dev-libs/libayatana-appindicator \
  net-misc/curl \
  net-misc/wget \
  sys-apps/file

OSTree

sudo rpm-ostree install webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
  openssl-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
  librsvg2-devel \
  libxdo-devel \
  gcc \
  gcc-c++ \
  make
sudo systemctl reboot

openSUSE

sudo zypper up
sudo zypper in webkit2gtk3-devel \
  libopenssl-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libappindicator3-1 \
  librsvg-devel
sudo zypper in -t pattern devel_basis

Alpine

sudo apk add \
  build-base \
  webkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  openssl \
  libayatana-appindicator-dev \
  librsvg

Note: Alpine Linux containers don’t include any fonts by default. To ensure text renders correctly in your Tauri app, install at least one font package (for example, font-dejavu).

NixOS

Note

Instructions for Nix/NixOS can be found in the NixOS Wiki.

If your distribution isn’t included above then you may want to check Awesome Tauri on GitHub to see if a guide has been created.

Next: Install Rust

macOS

Tauri uses Xcode and various macOS and iOS development dependencies.

Download and install Xcode from one of the following places:

• Mac App Store
• Apple Developer website.

Be sure to launch Xcode after installing so that it can finish setting up.

Only developing for desktop targets?

If you’re only planning to develop desktop apps and not targeting iOS then you can install Xcode Command Line Tools instead:

xcode-select --install

Next: Install Rust

Windows

Tauri uses the Microsoft C++ Build Tools for development as well as Microsoft Edge WebView2. These are both required for development on Windows.

Follow the steps below to install the required dependencies.

Microsoft C++ Build Tools

1. Download the Microsoft C++ Build Tools installer and open it to begin installation.
2. In the Workloads tab, select “Desktop development with C++”.
3. Switch to the Individual components tab and verify that both of the following are checked:
   • “MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools” (or the latest version available)
   • “Windows 10/11 SDK” (the latest version)
4. Click Install or Modify to apply the changes.

Verify the C++ Tools Installation

To verify that the C++ build tools are installed correctly, open the Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022 from your Start Menu.

In the Developer Command Prompt, run:

link.exe /?

If you see help text with Microsoft linker options, link.exe is available in your environment.

❌ “link.exe” is not recognized?

If link.exe is not recognized, make sure you are using the Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022. This shell automatically sets the environment variables needed to locate link.exe.

If you are already using the Developer Command Prompt and still see the error, repair your Visual Studio Build Tools installation:

1. Open the Visual Studio Installer.
2. Select “Modify” for your installation.
3. Ensure “MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools” is checked in the Individual components tab.
4. Click Modify to reinstall.

Then run link.exe /? again to confirm.

❌ “Windows SDK not found” when building?

This error occurs when the Windows SDK is missing or wasn’t selected during installation:

1. Open the Visual Studio Installer again.
2. Select “Modify” for your existing installation.
3. Go to the Individual components tab.
4. Search for “Windows 10/11 SDK” and ensure the latest version is checked.
5. Click Modify to install the SDK.

After installation, restart your terminal and IDE, then retry your Tauri build.

Next: Install WebView2.

WebView2

Tip

WebView2 is already installed on Windows 10 (from version 1803 onward) and later versions of Windows. If you are developing on one of these versions then you can skip this step and go directly to installing Rust.

Tauri uses Microsoft Edge WebView2 to render content on Windows.

Install WebView2 by visiting the WebView2 Runtime download section. Download the “Evergreen Bootstrapper” and install it.

Next: Check VBSCRIPT

VBSCRIPT (for MSI installers)

MSI package building only

This is only required if you plan to build MSI installer packages ("targets": "msi" or "targets": "all" in tauri.conf.json).

Building MSI packages on Windows requires the VBSCRIPT optional feature to be enabled. This feature is enabled by default on most Windows installations, but may have been disabled on some systems.

If you encounter errors like failed to run light.exe when building MSI packages, you may need to enable the VBSCRIPT feature:

1. Open Settings → Apps → Optional features → More Windows features
2. Locate VBSCRIPT in the list and ensure it’s checked
3. Click Next and restart your computer if prompted

Note: VBSCRIPT is currently enabled by default on most Windows installations, but is being deprecated and may be disabled in future Windows versions.

Next: Install Rust

Rust

Tauri is built with Rust and requires it for development. Install Rust using one of following methods. You can view more installation methods at https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install.

Linux and macOS

Install via rustup using the following command:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh

Security Tip

We have audited this bash script, and it does what it says it is supposed to do. Nevertheless, before blindly curl-bashing a script, it is always wise to look at it first.

Here is the file as a plain script: rustup.sh

Windows

Visit https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install to install rustup.

Alternatively, you can use winget to install rustup using the following command in PowerShell:

winget install --id Rustlang.Rustup

MSVC toolchain as default

For full support for Tauri and tools like trunk make sure the MSVC Rust toolchain is the selected default host triple in the installer dialog. Depending on your system it should be either x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, i686-pc-windows-msvc, or aarch64-pc-windows-msvc.

If you already have Rust installed, you can make sure the correct toolchain is installed by running this command:

rustup default stable-msvc

Be sure to restart your Terminal (and in some cases your system) for the changes to take effect.

Next: Configure for Mobile Targets if you’d like to build for Android and iOS, or, if you’d like to use a JavaScript framework, install Node. Otherwise Create a Project.

Node.js

JavaScript ecosystem

Only if you intend to use a JavaScript frontend framework

1. Go to the Node.js website, download the Long Term Support (LTS) version and install it.
2. Check if Node was successfully installed by running:

node -v
# v20.10.0
npm -v
# 10.2.3

It’s important to restart your Terminal to ensure it recognizes the new installation. In some cases, you might need to restart your computer.

While npm is the default package manager for Node.js, you can also use others like pnpm or yarn. To enable these, run corepack enable in your Terminal. This step is optional and only needed if you prefer using a package manager other than npm.

Next: Configure for Mobile Targets or Create a project.

Configure for Mobile Targets

If you’d like to target your app for Android or iOS then there are a few additional dependencies that you need to install:

• Android
• iOS

Android

1. Download and install Android Studio from the Android Developers website
2. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable:

Linux

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/android-studio/jbr

macOS

export JAVA_HOME="/Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jbr/Contents/Home"

Windows

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_HOME", "C:\Program Files\Android\Android Studio\jbr", "User")

3. Use the SDK Manager in Android Studio to install the following:

• Android SDK Platform
• Android SDK Platform-Tools
• NDK (Side by side)
• Android SDK Build-Tools
• Android SDK Command-line Tools

Selecting “Show Package Details” in the SDK Manager enables the installation of older package versions. Only install older versions if necessary, as they may introduce compatibility issues or security risks.

4. Set ANDROID_HOME and NDK_HOME environment variables.

Linux

export ANDROID_HOME="$HOME/Android/Sdk"
export NDK_HOME="$ANDROID_HOME/ndk/$(ls -1 $ANDROID_HOME/ndk)"

macOS

export ANDROID_HOME="$HOME/Library/Android/sdk"
export NDK_HOME="$ANDROID_HOME/ndk/$(ls -1 $ANDROID_HOME/ndk)"

Windows

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("ANDROID_HOME", "$env:LocalAppData\Android\Sdk", "User")
$VERSION = Get-ChildItem -Name "$env:LocalAppData\Android\Sdk\ndk" | Select-Object -Last 1
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("NDK_HOME", "$env:LocalAppData\Android\Sdk\ndk\$VERSION", "User")

Tip

Most apps don’t refresh their environment variables automatically, so to let them pickup the changes, you can either restart your terminal and IDE or for your current PowerShell session, you can refresh it with

[System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariables("User").GetEnumerator() | % { Set-Item -Path "Env:\$($_.key)" -Value $_.value }

5. Add the Android targets with rustup:

rustup target add aarch64-linux-android armv7-linux-androideabi i686-linux-android x86_64-linux-android

Next: Setup for iOS or Create a project.

iOS

macOS Only

iOS development requires Xcode and is only available on macOS. Be sure that you’ve installed Xcode and not Xcode Command Line Tools in the macOS system dependencies section.

1. Add the iOS targets with rustup in Terminal:

rustup target add aarch64-apple-ios x86_64-apple-ios aarch64-apple-ios-sim

2. Install Homebrew:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Install Cocoapods using Homebrew:

brew install cocoapods

Next: Create a project.

Troubleshooting

If you run into any issues during installation be sure to check the Troubleshooting Guide or reach out on the Tauri Discord.

Next Steps

Now that you’ve installed all of the prerequisites you’re ready to create your first Tauri project!