Hi @yan
In the following release I enable hardware acceleration explicitely for Linux.
On Windows and macOS it’s on by default.
The splash screen loading is another issue, I’ll investigate.
The $:/favicon.ico should work though… are you using encrypted wikis? Could you try the latest available version?
Very useful!
In testing so far it works well!
It obviates the problems with over-large not-easily-moveable huge alternatives.
I might propose it (the Windows Portable install of TD-RS) as a useful PortableApp?
Only a comment.
Best, TT
No. Not yet. I will. TT
Version 0.1.15 | MIT License | Author: BurningTreeC
TiddlyDesktop-rs is a complete rewrite of the original TiddlyDesktop application, built from the ground up using Rust and Tauri 2. This new version delivers a lightweight, fast, and modern desktop experience for managing TiddlyWiki files and folders across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Rust is a systems programming language developed by Mozilla Research, first released in 2010 and reaching stability in 2015. It has consistently been voted the “most loved programming language” in Stack Overflow’s developer surveys for multiple years running.
Memory Safety Without Garbage Collection: Rust’s ownership system guarantees memory safety at compile time, eliminating entire classes of bugs (null pointer dereferences, buffer overflows, data races) without the performance overhead of garbage collection.
Performance: Rust compiles to native machine code, delivering performance comparable to C and C++. TiddlyDesktop-rs starts faster and uses less memory than its NW.js-based predecessor.
Fearless Concurrency: Rust’s type system prevents data races at compile time, allowing safe multi-threaded code. This is crucial for handling file I/O, network requests, and UI responsiveness simultaneously.
Cross-Platform Compilation: A single Rust codebase compiles to native binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux with platform-specific optimizations.
Modern Tooling: Cargo (Rust’s package manager and build system) provides dependency management, testing, documentation, and release builds in a unified tool.
Tauri is an open-source framework for building desktop applications using web technologies for the frontend while leveraging Rust for the backend. Version 2 (released 2024) brought significant improvements including mobile support, enhanced security, and a plugin ecosystem.
The original TiddlyDesktop was built with NW.js (formerly node-webkit), a framework similar to Electron that bundles Chromium and Node.js together.
| Aspect | Tauri | NW.js |
|---|---|---|
| Bundle Size | ~5-10 MB | ~100-150 MB |
| Memory Usage | ~30-80 MB | ~150-250 MB |
| Backend Language | Rust | JavaScript/Node.js |
| WebView | System native (WebView2/WebKit) | Bundled Chromium |
| Node.js Integration | Optional (for wiki folders) | Built-in, always bundled |
| Security | Strict CSP, minimal attack surface | Full Node.js access in renderer |
| Startup Time | Fast | Slower (loads Chromium) |
TiddlyDesktop-rs uses Tauri’s architecture:
Frontend: Pure HTML/JavaScript served through a custom wikifile:// protocol, allowing TiddlyWiki to run in the system’s native WebView (WebView2 on Windows, WebKit on macOS/Linux).
Backend: Rust code handles file operations, process management, drag-drop interception, clipboard access, and communication with the frontend through Tauri’s IPC (Inter-Process Communication) system.
Platform Integration: Native APIs for each operating system:
Windows: Win32 OLE drag-drop APIs, WebView2 COM interfaces, Windows Job Objects for process management
macOS: Objective-C runtime via objc2 bindings, NSDraggingDestination protocol, NSPasteboard for clipboard
Linux: GTK3 drag-drop handling, GDK clipboard, WebKitGTK integration
Open and save TiddlyWiki HTML files directly from your filesystem
Automatic backup creation with configurable backup directory
Keeps up to 20 timestamped backups per wiki
Atomic save operations (write to temp file, then rename) to prevent data loss
Encrypted wiki support with favicon extraction after decryption
Open Node.js-based wiki folders (containing tiddlywiki.info)
Automatically starts a local TiddlyWiki server on an available port (starting from 8080)
Server process lifecycle management - servers are automatically killed when windows close
Platform-specific process orphan prevention:
Windows: Job Objects ensure child processes terminate with parent
Linux: PR_SET_PDEATHSIG ensures child processes receive SIGTERM
macOS: Process group management
Maintains a list of up to 50 recently opened wikis
Displays wiki favicon alongside filename for easy identification
Stores settings per-wiki: backup enabled/disabled, custom backup directory, group assignment
Remove individual wikis from recent list
Organize wikis into named groups
Create, rename, and delete groups
Move wikis between groups or to “Ungrouped”
One of the most complex features, with platform-specific implementations to handle both file drops and content drops (text, HTML, URLs from other applications).
Linux (GTK3/WebKitGTK):
Registers as drag destination on the WebKitWebView widget
Supports multiple MIME types: text/vnd.tiddler, text/html, text/plain, text/uri-list, URL, UTF8_STRING
Proper UTF-8/UTF-16 encoding detection and conversion
Sequential format request (GTK limitation) with state machine for collecting all formats
Windows (Win32 OLE):
Implements IDropTarget COM interface with custom vtable
Registers on WebView2’s Chrome_WidgetWin content window
Disables WebView2’s native AllowExternalDrop to intercept all drags
Handles CF_HDROP (file drops), CF_UNICODETEXT, HTML Format clipboard formats
Proper coordinate conversion from screen to client coordinates
macOS (Cocoa/AppKit):
Creates dynamic Objective-C subclass at runtime using isa-swizzling
Implements NSDraggingDestination protocol methods
Registers for pasteboard types: public.url, public.html, public.utf8-plain-text, public.file-url
Converts NSPoint coordinates from window to view coordinate system
File Drops: Paths are extracted and passed to TiddlyWiki’s import handler, creating tiddlers for images, documents, etc.
Content Drops: Text, HTML, or URLs from browsers and other applications are imported as tiddlers
External Attachments: Files can be linked externally rather than embedded, with relative or absolute path options
The external attachments feature allows large files to be stored outside the wiki:
Enabled by default for wiki windows (disabled for main TiddlyDesktop wiki)
Files dropped into the wiki can be saved externally with a _canonical_uri field pointing to the file
Supports both relative paths (portable) and absolute paths
Configuration options per wiki:
enabled: Whether to use external attachments
use_absolute_for_descendents: Use absolute paths for files in wiki subdirectories
use_absolute_for_non_descendents: Use absolute paths for files outside wiki directory
TiddlyWiki’s $tw.utils.httpRequest is overridden to support local filesystem paths:
Absolute paths (/home/user/image.png, C:\Users\image.png) are resolved via Tauri IPC
Relative paths are resolved against the wiki’s directory
Media elements (<img>, <video>, <audio>, <iframe>) with filesystem src attributes are automatically converted to asset:// URLs that Tauri’s asset protocol can serve
Native clipboard access for paste operations:
Linux: GTK3 clipboard API with async content retrieval and encoding detection
Windows: Win32 clipboard APIs for CF_UNICODETEXT and HTML Format
macOS: NSPasteboard general pasteboard access
Returns clipboard content in the same format as drag-drop for consistent processing by TiddlyWiki.
Custom find bar implementation (since WebView2 and WebKitGTK don’t expose native find-in-page UI):
Press Ctrl/Cmd+F to open find bar
Text highlighting with yellow background, current match in orange
Navigate with Enter/F3 (next) and Shift+Enter/Shift+F3 (previous)
Match counter showing current position
Escape to close
Each wiki window runs in an isolated browser session:
Separate data directories for cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB
Supports session-based authentication for wiki-specific services
Configurable authentication URLs per wiki
Unsaved changes detection with confirmation dialog on close
confirm() override to provide non-blocking modal dialogs (WebKitGTK blocks the UI on native confirm)
Window title updates based on TiddlyWiki’s document title
Automatic focus of existing window when opening an already-open wiki
System tray icon with quick access menu
On Windows, TiddlyDesktop-rs can run in portable mode:
Create a portable or portable.txt file next to the executable
All configuration and data stored next to the executable instead of %APPDATA%
Useful for USB drives or shared folders
Automatic migration when upgrading:
Reads $:/TiddlyDesktop/AppVersion tiddler to detect version
Preserves user data ($:/TiddlyDesktop/WikiList) when upgrading to newer bundled version
Seamless upgrade experience
wikifile://
TiddlyDesktop-rs uses a custom URI scheme to serve wiki content:
wikifile://localhost/{base64-encoded-path}
The protocol handler:
Decodes the path from the URL
Reads the wiki HTML file
Injects initialization scripts for TiddlyDesktop integration
Sets proper MIME type and headers
Serves the content to the WebView
The Rust backend exposes these commands to the JavaScript frontend:
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
open_wiki_window |
Open a single-file wiki |
open_wiki_folder |
Start server and open wiki folder |
save_wiki |
Save wiki content with backup |
load_wiki |
Read wiki file content |
get_recent_files |
Retrieve recent wikis list |
set_wiki_backups |
Enable/disable backups |
set_wiki_group |
Assign wiki to group |
get_clipboard_content |
Read system clipboard |
read_file_as_data_uri |
Read file and return as data URI |
execute_command |
Run shell command (for launchers) |
show_find_bar |
Display find-in-page UI |
[dependencies]
tauri = { version = "2.9.5", features = ["protocol-asset", "tray-icon", "image-png"] }
tokio = { version = "1.49.0", features = ["fs", "sync", "rt"] }
# Platform-specific
[target.'cfg(target_os = "windows")'.dependencies]
windows = { version = "0.61", features = ["Win32_System_Ole", "Win32_UI_Shell", ...] }
webview2-com = "0.38"
[target.'cfg(target_os = "macos")'.dependencies]
objc2 = "0.6"
objc2-app-kit = { version = "0.3", features = ["NSDragging", "NSPasteboard", ...] }
[target.'cfg(target_os = "linux")'.dependencies]
gtk = "0.18"
webkit2gtk = "2.0.1"
Improved Windows drag-drop with recursive Chrome window detection
Enhanced diagnostic logging for drag-drop troubleshooting
Version bumps across all platform builds
External attachments support for keeping large files outside wikis
Wiki grouping for better organization
Session isolation for multi-account scenarios
Custom find-in-page implementation
Clipboard integration for paste operations
UTF-16 encoding detection for international content
Improved favicon extraction from encrypted wikis
Windows: Windows 10/11 with WebView2 Runtime (usually pre-installed)
macOS: macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later
Linux: GTK3, WebKitGTK, libayatana-appindicator (for system tray)
For wiki folder support:
Node.js installed and accessible in PATH
TiddlyWiki npm package (bundled or system-installed)
| Feature | Original (NW.js) | TiddlyDesktop-rs (Tauri) |
|---|---|---|
| Download size | ~100-150 MB | ~10 MB |
| Memory usage | ~150-250 MB | ~50-80 MB |
| Startup time | 2-5 seconds | <1 second |
| Single-file wikis | Yes | Yes |
| Wiki folders | Yes | Yes |
| External attachments | Plugin-based | Native support |
| Cross-platform drag-drop | Chromium-based | Native implementation |
| Clipboard paste | Chromium-based | Full native support |
| Find in page | Chromium built-in | Custom implementation |
| Framework | NW.js (node-webkit) | Tauri 2 + Rust |
Download the appropriate release for your platform
Install or extract the application
Launch TiddlyDesktop-rs
Click “Open Wiki” or drag a .html file onto the window
Your TiddlyWiki opens in a native window with full save capability
For wiki folders:
Ensure Node.js is installed
Use “Open Wiki Folder” to select a folder containing tiddlywiki.info
The server starts automatically and opens in a new window
TiddlyDesktop-rs is open source. Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome on the project repository.
Built with Rust and Tauri for the TiddlyWiki community
tiddlydesktop-rs-0.1.14-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
After running install.sh:
tiddlydesktop-rs
Main wiki path: "/home/user/.local/share/com.burningtreec.tiddlydesktop-rs/tiddlydesktop.html"
[TiddlyDesktop] JS: setupExternalAttachments attempt 1 __TAURI__:true __IS_MAIN_WIKI__:undefined __WIKI_PATH__:undefined $tw:not ready
[TiddlyDesktop] JS: Main wiki - external attachments disabled
It does not fail anymore to find index.html as above - good.
But still gets stuck at startup splash screen as I posted here: TiddlyDesktopRS - a new TiddlyWiki Desktop (RS) experience - Alpha / Beta - #22 by vuk
I see hardware acceleration mentioned above and Nouveau is traditionally known for not being as good as the proprietary blob (which does not work anymore with old Nvidia hardware).
Hi @vuk would it be of any help if you could disable hardware acceleration using an environment variable?
absolutely, we would at least find out if it can start properly at all in such setups.
@vuk within 30 minutes a new build will be available:
If you experience graphics issues on Linux (blank windows, rendering glitches, crashes), particularly with older Nvidia cards using the nouveau driver, you can disable hardware acceleration:
TIDDLYDESKTOP_DISABLE_GPU=1 ./tiddlydesktop-rs
Or set it permanently in your .bashrc or create a wrapper script:
#!/bin/bash
export TIDDLYDESKTOP_DISABLE_GPU=1
exec /path/to/tiddlydesktop-rs "$@"
This sets WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1, WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1, and LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 to force software rendering.
È epico. Include ancora la portabilità di Windows?
Certo, certo signore!
Success 
. I suggest adding this hint directly into the stdout of tiddlydesktop-rs. This way the program will become the “source of truth” and an end user will know what to try before reaching author/community support for assistance.
Even better, for this particular case, the program can check if nouveau is loaded like
lsmod | grep ^nouveau
Then suggest the env var workaround.
I succeeded opening a single HTML file encrypted wiki. Would be really nice to be able to change font size with Ctrl - +/- hotkeys like in a browser, if this is technically possible.
Thanks, it’s still running very slowly and I believe it’s still not hardware-accelerated with v0.1.2.4. Note that I am on Fedora 43 KDE Edition, so WebKitGTK (which this is using) is not entirely native to the platform. Perhaps that’s affecting things?
Seems like Tauri will not support Qt any time soon but there has to be a workaround.
No, it is not encrypted and I can confirm the favicon is still not loading on v0.1.2.4.
Here is the JSON tiddler for it: favicon.ico.json (6.3 KB)
By the way, when I exported the tiddler to JSON it seemed to save the wiki, which probably isn’t intended behaviour.
Following up on this, I ran it with TIDDLYDESKTOP_DISABLE_GPU=1 tiddlydesktop-rs and it is slow in a different way. So maybe it was hardware accelerated, but it is surprisingly choppy and has strange visual artefacts that just don’t happen in Windows.
This is the output of lspci -k | grep -EA3 'VGA|3D|Display' on my system:
08:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 23 [Radeon RX 6650 XT / 6700S / 6800S] (rev c1)
Subsystem: Sapphire Technology Limited Device 448e
Kernel driver in use: amdgpu
Kernel modules: amdgpu
just checked on tiddlywiki.com - it’s standard behavior
Edit: Ah! but from within the app one cannot choose a file destination, no feedback, nothing
Drag and drop should be working now - correct? I use a lot of <$link/> and <$droppable/> in my workflows and it still doesn’t seem to be working for me (0.1.27) windows setup.exe portable. Ideas?
