NH Desktop v0.5.0

NH Desktop v0.5.0

Release date: 2026-09-30

✨ Highlights

NH Desktop v0.5.0 introduces flexible installation options tailored dynamically across Windows, Linux, and macOS. Users can now choose between per-user installation, system-wide installation, or a custom target folder using a native OS folder dialog. This release also debuts an optional Portable Mode for complete zero-footprint self-contained operation, and adds official PortableApps.com Format (PAF) packaging (NHDesktopPortable_0.5.0.paf.exe).

🚀 Key Improvements & Features

• Installation destination scope selection — The installer's destination step now presents distinct options tailored per platform:
  • Install for current user (per-user directory: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\NH Desktop on Windows, ~/.local/share/NH Desktop on Linux, ~/Applications on macOS).
  • Install for all users (system-wide directory: %ProgramFiles%\NH Desktop on Windows, /opt/NH Desktop on Linux, /Applications on macOS).
  • Custom install directory with text input and native folder dialog.
• Native OS folder picker — Added the installer_pick_directory Tauri command invoking native directory dialogs across all supported operating systems (FolderBrowserDialog on Windows, zenity/kdialog on Linux, osascript on macOS).
• Portable mode toggle — An optional toggle during installation configures NH Desktop as a completely portable application:
  • Stores all runtime data (SQLite database nh-desktop.db, disk cache cache/images, settings, and downloads) inside <install_dir>/data.
  • Creates a .portable marker file inside the application directory.
  • Zero system footprint: skips deploying uninstall.exe, creating desktop or Start Menu shortcuts, and writing Windows Add/Remove Programs registry keys.
• Dynamic disk space verification — Replaced static space indicators with reactive installer_disk_space queries reporting exact available storage for the selected directory.
• PortableApps.com Format (PAF) installer packaging — Integrated official PortableApps layout generation (App/AppInfo/appinfo.ini, standard multi-resolution icons, App/NHDesktop, Data/) and NSIS compilation for NHDesktopPortable_0.5.0.paf.exe in scripts/build-installer.mjs and GitHub Actions CI workflow.
• Portable zip distribution — Added NHDesktopPortable_0.5.0.zip generation for immediate portable extraction.

✅ Changed

• Bumped project version to 0.5.0 across package.json, Cargo.toml, tauri.conf.json, Cargo.lock, and documentation.
• Registered installer_pick_directory in commands.rs and lib.rs (bringing total Tauri commands to 45).
• Runtime data directory resolution checks for .portable or local data/ folder before falling back to system application data.
• Default downloads directory resolves to <install_dir>/data/downloads in portable mode.
• Synchronized all documentation (ROADMAP.md, TODO.md, BUGS.md, README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and all wiki/ pages).

🐛 Fixed

• Installation Options (Closed #3) — Replaced the single text input in the installer with platform-accurate scope selections, native directory browsing, and portable installation options.

📦 Install & Upgrading

Download the installer for your platform from the Assets section below:

• Windows: NH Desktop-Setup-0.5.0-win-x64.exe
• Windows (PortableApps PAF): NHDesktopPortable_0.5.0.paf.exe
• Windows (Portable ZIP): NHDesktopPortable_0.5.0.zip
• macOS: NH Desktop-Setup-0.5.0-macos-arm64 (or macos-x64 if available)
• Linux: NH Desktop-Setup-0.5.0-linux-x64

Upgrade in place: run the new installer over your existing installation.

Verification

• cargo check + cargo test (src-tauri) — passed (10/10)
• npm run check (svelte-check) — 0 errors, 0 warnings
• npm run build — adapter-static site generated successfully
• npm run i18n:check — 87/87 keys validated
• npm run check:agents — whole tree compliant, 0 violations

📄 Changes & Commits

• feat(installer): add installation scopes, portable mode, and PAF packaging (v0.5.0)
• docs: document download engine and favorites button fixes in v0.4.0

Full commit history: git log --oneline v0.4.0..v0.5.0