redis-gui-foundation/plans/2026-03-27-hac-15-desktop-build-smoke.md

HAC-15 Desktop Build, Packaging, And Smoke Plan

Date: 2026-03-27 UTC Owner: Senior Backend Engineer Issue: HAC-15

Goal

Make the desktop repository usable through one stable build path, one stable package path, and one repeatable local Redis smoke path.

Current Findings

• The original tauri.conf.json pre-build and pre-dev commands assumed the wrong working directory and caused tauri build to fail before the real Rust/Tauri flow began.
• The repo already had a valid desktop frontend build and a validated shared Rust backend core, but no stable pnpm workspace setup for the desktop shell.
• QA had explicit blockers around missing seed data, missing Docker or smoke automation, and missing reusable build instructions.

Changes In This Pass

1. Standardize the workspace on pnpm by adding packageManager, pnpm-workspace.yaml, and root desktop scripts.
2. Fix Tauri beforeDevCommand and beforeBuildCommand so they execute against the desktop workspace directly.
3. Add a Docker-backed Redis fixture with start, seed, and stop scripts.
4. Add a local desktop smoke runbook and refresh README and QA evidence docs around the new commands and fixture path.

Verification

• Passed: cargo test -p redis-core
• Passed: pnpm install --lockfile-only
• Passed: pnpm run desktop:build
• Passed: ./scripts/redis-fixture/start.sh
• Passed: ./scripts/redis-fixture/seed.sh
• Passed: ./scripts/redis-fixture/stop.sh
• In progress: pnpm run desktop:tauri:build now clears the pre-build script failure and reaches Cargo dependency download and compile steps

Remaining Risk

• This heartbeat has not yet produced a saved unsigned package artifact for Linux, macOS, or Windows.
• First-run Cargo package downloads remain slow and can serialize on the shared package-cache lock, so package verification should be rerun in a clean single-build window.
• End-to-end smoke evidence inside the desktop UI still depends on frontend surfaces that are only partially implemented.