Development Setup

Prerequisites

Required Software

Node.js and Bun

# Install Node.js 20+ (via nvm recommended)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

# Install Bun
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Rust

# Install Rust via rustup
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

# Verify installation
rustc --version
cargo --version

Git

# macOS (via Homebrew)
brew install git

# Windows (via Chocolatey)
choco install git

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install git

Platform-Specific Requirements

macOS:

# Install Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

# Install Homebrew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Windows:

# Install Visual Studio Build Tools
# Download from: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/
# Select: Desktop development with C++

# Install WebView2 (usually pre-installed on Windows 11)
# Download if needed: https://developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/webview2/

Linux:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libssl-dev \
  libgtk-3-dev \
  libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
  librsvg2-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
  openssl-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  gtk3-devel \
  libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
  librsvg2-devel

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S webkit2gtk \
  base-devel \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  openssl \
  gtk3 \
  libappindicator-gtk3 \
  librsvg

Getting Started

Clone the Repository

# Clone via HTTPS
git clone https://github.com/talkcody/talkcody.git

# Navigate to directory
cd talkcody

Install Dependencies

# Install frontend dependencies
bun install

# Install Rust dependencies (automatic during first build)
cd src-tauri
cargo fetch
cd ..

First-time setup may take 5-10 minutes as dependencies are downloaded and compiled.

Run Development Server

# Start Tauri development server
bun run tauri dev

This will:

Start the Vite dev server
Compile Rust code
Launch the application window
Enable hot-reload for frontend changes

Development Workflow

Project Structure

talkcody/
├── src/                    # React frontend source
│   ├── components/         # UI components
│   ├── hooks/              # React hooks
│   ├── lib/                # Utilities
│   ├── pages/              # Page components
│   ├── services/           # Business logic
│   ├── styles/             # CSS files
│   └── types/              # TypeScript types
│
├── src-tauri/              # Rust backend
│   ├── src/                # Rust source files
│   │   ├── main.rs         # Entry point
│   │   ├── commands/       # Tauri commands
│   │   └── lib.rs          # Library code
│   ├── Cargo.toml          # Rust dependencies
│   └── tauri.conf.json     # Tauri configuration
│
├── public/                 # Static assets
├── docs/                   # Documentation site
├── package.json            # Node dependencies
├── tsconfig.json           # TypeScript config
├── vite.config.ts          # Vite configuration
└── README.md

Common Commands

Development:

# Start dev server with hot reload
bun run tauri dev

# Start frontend only (for UI work)
bun run dev

# Run TypeScript type checking
bun run tsc

# Run linter
bun run lint

# Run frontend tests
bun run test

# Run backend tests
cd src-tauri
cargo test

Building:

# Build for production
bun run tauri build

# Build frontend only
bun run build

Contributing

Getting Started with Contributions

Fork the repository on GitHub
Clone your fork locally
Create a branch for your feature/fix
Make your changes
Test thoroughly
Submit a pull request

Coding Standards

Please refer to our AGENTS.md for coding conventions and best practices.

Next Steps

Architecture - Understand the codebase
GitHub Issues - Report bugs or request features

Development Setup

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