Snowball Task Manager

A cross-platform todo application that runs on Linux desktop and Android mobile from a single codebase.

Tech Stack

• React + TypeScript + Vite - Core web application
• Electron - Linux desktop binary (AppImage)
• Capacitor - Android APK wrapper
• SQLite - Persistent data storage (better-sqlite3 on Electron, @capacitor-community/sqlite on Android)
• Single codebase - Same React app deployed to both platforms via different wrappers

Architecture

This project uses a web-first approach where the React application is built once and wrapped for different platforms:

• Desktop: Electron wraps the app in a native window with system webview
• Mobile: Capacitor wraps the app for Android with native API access
• No platform-specific UI code - one React app for everything

Database Layer

The app includes a unified SQLite database layer that works seamlessly across platforms:

• Platform-agnostic API - Same code works on Electron and Capacitor
• Automatic detection - Detects which platform it's running on and uses the appropriate implementation
• GTD-inspired schema - Support for Eisenhower Matrix (Q1-Q4) and Maslow's hierarchy
• Full type safety - TypeScript interfaces for all database entities

See DATABASE_SETUP.md for detailed information about the database schema and usage.

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js and npm
• Java 21 (for Android builds)
• Android SDK (for Android builds)

Getting Started

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run development server
npm run dev

# Build web app
npm run build

Building for Platforms

Linux Desktop (Electron)

# Build and test locally
npm run electron

# Build AppImage
npm run package:linux

Output: release/Snowball Task Manager-0.0.0.AppImage

Android (Capacitor)

# Sync React build to Android
npm run android:sync

# Build APK
npm run android:build

Output: android/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── db/              # Database layer (SQLite abstraction)
│   │   ├── types.ts     # TypeScript interfaces
│   │   ├── schema.ts    # SQLite schema definition
│   │   ├── electron.ts  # Electron (better-sqlite3) implementation
│   │   ├── capacitor.ts # Capacitor (Android) implementation
│   │   └── index.ts     # Factory & platform detection
│   ├── App.tsx          # Main React component
│   └── main.tsx         # React entry point
├── electron/            # Electron main process
├── android/             # Capacitor Android project
├── dist/                # Vite build output
├── dist-electron/       # Compiled Electron files
└── release/             # Packaged desktop binaries