Flathub

For detailed information on how Flatpak works, you can read Building your first Flatpak

This guide assumes you want to distribute your Flatpak via Flathub, the most commonly used platform for Flatpak distribution. If you plan on using other platforms, please consult their documentation instead.

Prerequisites

To test your app inside the Flatpak runtime you can build the Flatpak locally first before uploading your app to Flathub. This can also be helpful if you want to quickly share development builds.

1. Install flatpak and flatpak-builder

To build Flatpaks locally you need the flatpak and flatpak-builder tools. For example on Ubuntu you can run this command:

sudo apt install flatpak flatpak-builder

sudo pacman -S --needed flatpak flatpak-builder

sudo dnf install flatpak flatpak-builder

sudo emerge --ask \
sys-apps/flatpak \
dev-util/flatpak-builder

2. Install the Flatpak Runtime

flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Platform//46 org.gnome.Sdk//46

3. Build the .deb of your tauri-app

**4. Create an AppStream MetaInfo file

5. Create the flatpak manifest

id: <identifier>

runtime: org.gnome.Platform
runtime-version: '46'
sdk: org.gnome.Sdk

command: <main_binary_name>
finish-args:
  - --socket=wayland # Permission needed to show the window
  - --socket=fallback-x11 # Permission needed to show the window
  - --device=dri # OpenGL, not necessary for all projects
  - --share=ipc
  - --talk-name=org.kde.StatusNotifierWatcher # Optional: needed only if your app uses the tray icon
  - --filesystem=xdg-run/tray-icon:create # Optional: needed only if your app uses the tray icon - see an alternative way below
  # - --env=WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1 # Optional: may solve some issues with black webviews on Wayland

modules:
  - name: binary
    buildsystem: simple

    sources:
      # A reference to the previously generated flatpak metainfo file
      - type: file
        path: flatpak.metainfo.xml
      # If you use GitHub releases, you can target an existing remote file
      - type: file
        url: https://github.com/your_username/your_repository/releases/download/v1.0.1/yourapp_1.0.1_amd64.deb
        sha256: 08305b5521e2cf0622e084f2b8f7f31f8a989fc7f407a7050fa3649facd61469 # This is required if you are using a remote source
        only-arches: [x86_64] # This source is only used on x86_64 Computers
      # You can also use a local file for testing
      # - type: file
      #   path: yourapp_1.0.1_amd64.deb
    build-commands:
      - set -e

      # Extract the deb package
      - mkdir deb-extract
      - ar -x *.deb --output deb-extract
      - tar -C deb-extract -xf deb-extract/data.tar.gz

      # Copy binary
      - 'install -Dm755 deb-extract/usr/bin/<executable_name> /app/bin/<executable_name>'

      # If you bundle files with additional resources, you should copy them:
      - mkdir -p /app/lib/<product_name>
      - cp -r deb-extract/usr/lib/<product_name>/. /app/lib/<product_name>
      - find /app/lib/<product_name> -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

      # Copy desktop file + ensure the right icon is set
      - sed -i 's/^Icon=.*/Icon=<identifier>/' deb-extract/usr/share/applications/<product_name>.desktop
      - install -Dm644 deb-extract/usr/share/applications/<product_name>.desktop /app/share/applications/<identifier>.desktop

      # Copy icons
      - install -Dm644 deb-extract/usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/<main_binary_name>.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/<identifier>.png
      - install -Dm644 deb-extract/usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/<main_binary_name>.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/<identifier>.png
      - install -Dm644 deb-extract/usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256@2/apps/<main_binary_name>.png /app/share/icons/hicolor/256x256@2/apps/<identifier>.png
      - install -Dm644 flatpak.metainfo.xml /app/share/metainfo/<identifier>.metainfo.xml

The Gnome 46 runtime includes all dependencies of the standard Tauri app with their correct versions.

If you prefer not opening access from your app to $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR (where tray-icon is saved on linux), you can change the path tauri saves the tray image:

TrayIconBuilder::new()
  .icon(app.default_window_icon().unwrap().clone())
  .temp_dir_path(app.path().app_cache_dir().unwrap()) // will save to the cache folder ($XDG_CACHE_HOME) where the app already has permission
  .build()
  .unwrap();

5. Install, and Test the app

# Install the flatpak
flatpak-builder --force-clean --user --disable-cache --repo flatpak-repo flatpak flatpak-builder.yaml

# Run it
flatpak run <your flatpak id> # or via your desktop environment

# Update it
flatpak -y --user update <your flatpak id>

Adding additional libraries

If your final binary requires more libraries than the default tauri app, you need to add them in your flatpak manifest. There are two ways to do this. For fast local development, it may work to simply include the already built library file (.so) from your local system. However, this is not recommended for the final build of the flatpak, as your local library file is not built for the flatpak runtime environment. This can introduce various bugs that can be very hard to find. Therefore, it is recommended to build the library your program depends on from source inside the flatpak as a build step.

Submitting to flathub

1. Fork The Flathub Repository

2. Clone the Fork

git clone --branch=new-pr git@github.com:your_github_username/flathub.git

3. Enter the repository

cd flathub

4. Create a new branch

git checkout -b your_app_name

5. Add your apps manifest to the branch. Commit your changes, and then push them.

6. Open a pull request against the new-pr branch on github

7. Your app will now enter the review process in which you may be asked to make changes to your project.

When your pull request is approved then you will receive an invitation to edit your apps repository. From here on you can update your app continuously.

You can read more about this in the flatpak documentation