Development Guide

This guide covers setting up a development environment for contributing to Kerminal.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed:

Tool	Version	Purpose
Node.js	20+	Frontend development
Rust	Latest stable	Backend (Tauri)
Tauri CLI	Latest	Build tooling

Install Rust

bash

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

Install Tauri CLI

bash

cargo install tauri-cli

Platform-Specific Dependencies

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

bash

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

Linux (Arch Linux)

bash

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

Linux (Fedora)

bash

sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
    openssl-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libxdo-devel \
    libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
    librsvg2-devel

macOS

bash

xcode-select --install

Windows

Install Visual Studio Build Tools with C++ workload.

Getting Started

Clone Repository

bash

git clone https://github.com/klpod221/kerminal.git
cd kerminal

Install Dependencies

bash

npm install

Development Mode

bash

npm run tauri dev

This will:

Start the Vite dev server (hot reload)
Compile the Rust backend
Launch the Tauri window

Production Build

bash

npm run tauri build

Output will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Project Structure

kerminal/
├── src/                    # Vue 3 frontend
│   ├── components/         # Vue components
│   ├── stores/             # Pinia stores
│   ├── views/              # Page views
│   ├── composables/        # Vue composables
│   └── assets/             # Static assets
├── src-tauri/              # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── commands/       # Tauri commands
│   │   ├── models/         # Data models
│   │   ├── services/       # Business logic
│   │   └── main.rs         # Entry point
│   ├── Cargo.toml          # Rust dependencies
│   └── tauri.conf.json     # Tauri configuration
├── docs/                   # VitePress documentation
├── public/                 # Public assets
└── package.json            # Node.js dependencies

Key Technologies

Frontend

Technology	Purpose
Vue 3	UI framework
TypeScript	Type safety
Pinia	State management
xterm.js	Terminal emulation
TailwindCSS	Styling

Backend

Technology	Purpose
Tauri v2	Desktop framework
Tokio	Async runtime
russh	SSH implementation
SQLx	Database access
AES-GCM	Encryption

Code Style

Frontend (TypeScript/Vue)

Use Composition API with <script setup>
Follow Vue 3 style guide
Use Prettier for formatting

bash

npm run pretty

Backend (Rust)

Follow Rust idioms
Use cargo fmt for formatting
Run cargo clippy for lints

bash

cargo fmt
cargo clippy

Testing

Frontend Tests

bash

# Coming soon
npm run test

Backend Tests

bash

cd src-tauri
cargo test

Contributing

Workflow

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
bash
```
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
```
Make your changes
Run tests and linting
Commit with descriptive message
bash
```
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
```
Push to your fork
bash
```
git push origin feature/amazing-feature
```
Open a Pull Request

Commit Messages

Follow conventional commits:

feat: New feature
fix: Bug fix
docs: Documentation
style: Formatting
refactor: Code refactoring
test: Tests
chore: Maintenance

Pull Request Guidelines

Clear description of changes
Link related issues
Include screenshots for UI changes
Update documentation if needed
Ensure all checks pass

Debugging

Frontend

Use Vue DevTools browser extension for Vue debugging.

Backend

Enable debug logging:

bash

RUST_LOG=debug npm run tauri dev

Network

For SSH debugging, enable verbose SSH output in development builds.

Building for Release

All Platforms

bash

npm run tauri build

Specific Platform

bash

# Linux
npm run tauri build -- --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

# Windows
npm run tauri build -- --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

# macOS (Intel)
npm run tauri build -- --target x86_64-apple-darwin

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
npm run tauri build -- --target aarch64-apple-darwin

Development Guide ​

Prerequisites ​

Install Rust ​

Install Tauri CLI ​

Platform-Specific Dependencies ​

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) ​

Linux (Arch Linux) ​

Linux (Fedora) ​

macOS ​

Windows ​

Getting Started ​

Clone Repository ​

Install Dependencies ​

Development Mode ​

Production Build ​

Project Structure ​

Key Technologies ​

Frontend ​

Backend ​

Code Style ​

Frontend (TypeScript/Vue) ​

Backend (Rust) ​

Testing ​

Frontend Tests ​

Backend Tests ​

Contributing ​

Workflow ​

Commit Messages ​

Pull Request Guidelines ​

Debugging ​

Frontend ​

Backend ​

Network ​

Building for Release ​

All Platforms ​

Specific Platform ​

Resources ​

Development Guide

Prerequisites

Install Rust

Install Tauri CLI

Platform-Specific Dependencies

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Linux (Arch Linux)

Linux (Fedora)

macOS

Windows

Getting Started

Clone Repository

Install Dependencies

Development Mode

Production Build

Project Structure

Key Technologies

Frontend

Backend

Code Style

Frontend (TypeScript/Vue)

Backend (Rust)

Testing

Frontend Tests

Backend Tests

Contributing

Workflow

Commit Messages

Pull Request Guidelines

Debugging

Frontend

Backend

Network

Building for Release

All Platforms

Specific Platform

Resources