Windows Support

What the code does differently on Windows, and the rules that keep it working (work list: docs/plans/windows-release.md). Builds and signing: Platforms and Signing.

Helper processes without a console window

A GUI program that starts a console program such as git.exe gets a new console window for it, so every git call would flash one. child_process::hide_console (src-tauri/src/child_process.rs) sets the CREATE_NO_WINDOW flag. git::cli::command uses it, so every git call gets it, and so do gh auth token and the PowerShell clipboard reader. Use it for any new helper process.

Cancel stops everything git started

On macOS and Linux, a cancellable git command (Clone, Fetch and others with a Cancel button) runs in its own process group, and Cancel signals the whole group, so hooks and helpers such as git-remote-https stop too. Windows has no process groups. There git/cancel.rs puts git into a Job Object right after it starts. Every process git starts joins the job, and Cancel ends the whole job with TerminateJobObject. If the job cannot be made, Cancel falls back to killing git alone. The job only ends processes on Cancel: closing its handle after a normal finish leaves anything still running alone.

The home folder and PATH

• config::home_dir reads USERPROFILE first on Windows, then HOME. HOME is usually unset there, and when Git Bash sets it, an app started from the Start menu does not see it, so the app and the command line tool would use different config folders. The test sandbox in test_support.rs moves both.
• git::cli::user_path asks the login shell for PATH on macOS and Linux, because apps started from Finder get a short one. On Windows the app already gets the user's full PATH, so it is used as it is.

One copy at a time

On macOS, opening the app again brings the running copy forward. Windows starts a new process for every launch, and two copies would share state.json and the MCP port. So on Windows, lib.rs registers tauri-plugin-single-instance first. A second start hands its arguments to the running app and exits. commands::window::on_second_launch then opens the folder or workspace file it names (windows::open_for_arguments, resolved against the folder it was started in), or focuses the window that shows it already. With nothing to open, the last focused window comes forward. The merge tool never registers the plugin, because git mergetool starts it next to the running app on purpose, and nibtree cli exits before the app is built.

The command line tool and the MCP screenshot on Windows are on Windows MCP and CLI.

Paths

Absolute paths always use /, on Windows too (C:/Users/me/repo), so the page's path helpers work the same everywhere. On Windows, canonicalize returns \\?\C:\..., which git cannot use, and Path::join adds \. So:

• the backend gets real paths only from paths::real or RealPath::real_path in src-tauri/src/paths.rs (built on dunce; clippy.toml forbids canonicalize);
• every absolute path for the page goes through paths::to_ui (or serialize_ui on a serde field), which also writes the drive letter in upper case;
• on the page, fromNativePath converts what the system hands over directly (dialogs, dropped files), and isAbsolutePath, rootOf, parentOf and normalizePath in workspacePaths.ts know the C:/ and //server/share/ roots.
• samePath, isInside, relativeTo, folderFor, locateAbsolute, movedPath and pathsUnder ignore letter case on Windows, as Windows does; on macOS and Linux they compare exactly. Terminal links open under the file's real name (real_files).

Installer and releases

src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json is merged over tauri.conf.json on Windows. Its bundle targets replace the macOS ones with nsis: a per-user installer (installMode: currentUser, no administrator rights) that downloads WebView2 when it is missing. build-windows in release.yml builds it on windows-latest and attaches the -setup.exe to the release, but only when the repository variable WINDOWS_RELEASES is true. That switch keeps betas from offering a Windows download before Windows support is finished. The update check offers that -setup.exe to Windows users (downloadAsset in src/lib/update/releases.ts).

windows-installer.yml builds, installs and checks it for every pull request, and keeps the -setup.exe under the run's Artifacts. It is not signed yet, so SmartScreen warns about an unknown publisher.

Code written for Windows

The terminal, the Scripts panel and the command line tool already have Windows paths behind cfg(windows) or runtime checks. The windows-rust job in ci.yml builds and tests them on every pull request.

Where	On Windows
src-tauri/src/terminal.rs	Shells: PowerShell (pwsh.exe on PATH or in Program Files\PowerShell\7), Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt (%ComSpec%, always listed) and Git Bash (Git\bin\bash.exe under Program Files or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs, never from PATH, where bash.exe is WSL). The first found is the default. Killing uses TerminateProcess.
src-tauri/src/node_versions.rs	nvm-windows (NVM_HOME or %APPDATA%\nvm), fnm, Volta and Scoop, with node.exe right in each version folder.
src-tauri/src/run_process.rs	No login shell is read (Explorer gives apps the full environment). Programs are found with PATHEXT, and .cmd files such as npm.cmd start through cmd.exe /d /c.
src/lib/terminal/keys.ts, src/lib/views/files/reveal.ts	Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V copy and paste; "Reveal in File Explorer".

See How the terminal works and How scripts work.

Tests

• paths.rs: Windows paths get / and an upper case drive; Unix paths are left alone.
• config.rs: the home folder lookup order on both platforms.
• git/repo.rs and git/cli.rs: tests behind cfg(windows) that only the Windows CI job runs.
• workspacePaths.test.ts, fileLinks.test.ts and args.test.ts: drive roots, fromNativePath and MCP paths.
• The test sandbox (test_support.rs) takes its home folder from real_path, and path_string and file_string return paths the way the page sends them (to_ui). The first Windows CI run failed in most git tests because the sandbox used canonicalize: git cannot read its config files at a \\?\ path.
• test_support::UiText (path.ui()) gives a path the way the app returns it, for expected values. Tests that need a Unix-only tool or a missing Windows feature are marked #[cfg_attr(windows, ignore = "why")], so they still show in the output.

The bugs Windows CI found are on Windows Bugs We Fixed.