12 windows

12. Windows build (MSYS2 / MSVC)

The Windows package is the same two pieces as the Linux .deb: the dependency-free Rust launcher (desktop/launcher, serves the PWA on loopback) plus the built web app — zipped with a Nysiris.bat entry point instead of a .deb, because there is no system package manager to target.

dist/nysiris_<version>_windows-x86_64.zip
├── nysiris-launcher.exe
├── Nysiris.bat            # double-click entry point (forwards extra args)
├── README.txt
└── web/               # built PWA, served on 127.0.0.1

Option A — build on Windows with MSYS2 (recommended)

1. Install MSYS2 from https://www.msys2.org, then in a MINGW64 shell:

   pacman -Syu
   pacman -S --needed mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain git zip

2. Install Rust (https://rustup.rs) and Node.js (https://nodejs.org). With --install-tools, the build adds the GNU target itself:

   rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu

3. From a MINGW64 shell in the repo root:

   ./build.sh windows --install-tools

   The target defaults to x86_64-pc-windows-gnu under MSYS2/MinGW, Cygwin, and Git Bash. Override with --target <triple>.

Option B — MSVC / cross-compile

On a machine with the MSVC toolchain (or any host with the right linker), pass the target explicitly:

./build.sh windows --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
./build.sh windows --target aarch64-pc-windows-msvc   # ARM64 Windows

Cross-compiling from Linux additionally needs a Windows linker for the chosen target; the script says so and stops rather than failing obscurely.

Browser requirement

The launcher opens the app in a Chromium app window. On Windows it looks for, in order:

1. --browser <path> if you pass one,
2. %PROGRAMFILES% / %PROGRAMFILES(X86)% installs of Edge (msedge.exe), then Chrome (chrome.exe),
3. msedge / chrome / chromium / brave on PATH (with or without .exe),
4. last resort: the default browser via cmd /C start.

Edge ships with Windows 10/11, so a stock machine already qualifies. Firefox has no --app mode and opens a plain window instead. The app profile lives under %LOCALAPPDATA%\nysiris\chrome-profile, separate from the personal browser profile.

First-launch notes

• No install, no admin rights, no inbound ports: everything is loopback plus outbound gateway traffic. Windows Firewall may still prompt on first launch; loopback-only serving needs no exception.
• SmartScreen warns because release binaries are unsigned. Verify the download against SHA256SUMS.txt on the GitHub release page.
• Nysiris.bat --port 8901 pins the loopback port; --no-open serves only (open the printed URL yourself); --help lists everything.

Releases

Pushing a v* tag runs .github/workflows/release.yml: checks, the Linux .deb, and the Windows zip (built on windows-latest with MSYS2, same ./build.sh windows path as local builds), published as a GitHub release with a SHA256SUMS.txt. Bump with ./build.sh bump <version> first — VERSION is the single source of truth.

Limitations

• No auto-updates: re-download new releases (the PWA itself updates its cached assets on load; the launcher does not).
• No MSI installer: the zip is intentionally portable (runs from any folder, leaves only its profile dir behind).
• ARM64 builds need --target aarch64-pc-windows-msvc and are untested on device; the launcher itself is portable std-only Rust.