Desktop app

Desktop App

Govard Desktop is the Wails-based GUI that reuses the same core engine as the CLI.

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Launch Modes

govard desktop              # Launch the built desktop binary
govard desktop --dev        # Run Wails dev mode (live backend)
govard desktop --background # Start hidden, reuse running instance on relaunch

Mode	Description
govard desktop	Standard launch — uses built binary
govard desktop --dev	Dev mode — live Go backend, hot reload frontend
govard desktop --background	Background process — keeps alive when window closes

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Current Surface

The desktop focuses on operational essentials:

Feature	Description
Environment Dashboard	Start/stop/open/delete — including orphaned Docker project detection
Project Workspace	Environments list, quick actions, onboarding flow
Quick Actions	PHPMyAdmin, Xdebug toggle, health check, Mailpit, DB client
Remotes Tab	Add/test/open/sync-plan workflows for remote environments
Resource Monitor	CPU, RAM, network, OOM hints
Logs	Multi-service selection, severity filtering, text search, live streaming
Shell Launcher	Service, user, and shell selection
Native Notifications	Operation success/failure alerts
Settings Drawer	Theme, proxy target, preferred browser, database client

Desktop environment start/stop/pull and global-services operations call the Govard CLI command surface (govard up, govard env ..., govard svc ...), keeping desktop behavior aligned with all CLI updates.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+, / Cmd+,	Open Settings
Esc	Close Settings

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Desktop Remote Actions

Action	Behavior
Open Database (Remote)	Calls govard open db -e <remote> --client
Open SSH (Remote)	Prefers native Linux terminal launchers, falls back to ssh://
Open SFTP (Remote)	Prefers FileZilla, falls back to sftp://

For auth.method: ssh-agent, Desktop reuses SSH_AUTH_SOCK and also probes /run/user/<uid>/keyring/ssh on Linux.

Local Database Open

• Resolves published Docker host and port first
• Falls back to PHPMyAdmin if the configured DB client fails

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Desktop Preferences

Preferences are stored in:

~/.govard/desktop-preferences.json

Current persisted preferences:

• Theme (light/dark)
• Proxy target
• Preferred browser
• Database client preference

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Dev Mode

When developing the desktop app from source, provide a display server to prevent Wails from crashing in headless environments:

DISPLAY=:1 govard desktop --dev

Wails dev mode compiles the backend and exposes the frontend at:

http://localhost:34115

This is the preferred browser-testing path because the Go backend bridge stays live and loads real project data.

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Frontend Layout

File	Purpose
desktop/frontend/index.html	Main HTML entry
desktop/frontend/main.js	Bootstrap, event wiring, tab/state management
desktop/frontend/services/bridge.js	Wails Go backend RPC bridge
desktop/frontend/state/store.js	Shared UI state (selected project, filters)
desktop/frontend/modules/	Feature modules (dashboard, logs, remotes, etc.)
desktop/frontend/ui/toast.js	Toast notification system
desktop/frontend/utils/dom.js	Shared DOM helpers

Test Mode Behavior

Access Method	Backend	Data
Wails dev (localhost:34115)	Full backend bridge active	Real project data
Direct file (no backend)	Bridge unavailable	Mock fallback data + warning toast

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Architecture Notes

The desktop app is intentionally focused on operational workflows:

• Desktop entrypoint: cmd/govard-desktop
• Wails bindings: internal/desktop
• Frontend shell: desktop/frontend/index.html
• Bootstrap/events: desktop/frontend/main.js
• Backend bridge: desktop/frontend/services/bridge.js
• State: desktop/frontend/state/store.js
• Feature modules: desktop/frontend/modules/

For deeper architecture context, see Architecture.

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SSL and Domains | Architecture