name: tauri
description: Tauri path handling, cross-platform file operations, and API usage. Use when working with file paths in Tauri frontend code, accessing filesystem APIs, or handling platform differences in desktop apps.

Tauri Path Handling

Context Detection

Before choosing a path API, determine your execution context:

Rule: If the code runs in the browser (Tauri webview), use Tauri's path APIs. If it runs in Node.js/Bun, use the Node.js path module.

Available Functions from @tauri-apps/api/path

Path Manipulation

Platform Constants

Base Directories

Patterns

Constructing Paths (Correct)

import { appLocalDataDir, dirname, join } from '@tauri-apps/api/path';

// Join path segments - handles platform separators automatically
const baseDir = await appLocalDataDir();
const filePath = await join(baseDir, 'workspaces', workspaceId, 'data.json');

// Get parent directory - cleaner than manual slicing
const parentDir = await dirname(filePath);
await mkdir(parentDir, { recursive: true });

Logging Paths (Exception)

For human-readable log output, hardcoded / is acceptable since it's not used for filesystem operations:

// OK for logging - consistent cross-platform log output
const logPath = pathSegments.join('/');
console.log(`[Persistence] Loading from ${logPath}`);

Anti-Patterns

Never: Manual String Concatenation

// BAD: Hardcoded separator breaks on Windows
const filePath = baseDir + '/' + 'workspaces' + '/' + id;

// BAD: Template literal with hardcoded separator
const filePath = `${baseDir}/workspaces/${id}`;

// GOOD: Use join()
const filePath = await join(baseDir, 'workspaces', id);

Never: Manual Parent Directory Extraction

// BAD: Manual slicing is error-prone
const parentSegments = pathSegments.slice(0, -1);
const parentDir = await join(baseDir, ...parentSegments);

// GOOD: Use dirname()
const parentDir = await dirname(filePath);

Never: Hardcoded Separators in Filesystem Operations

// BAD: Windows uses backslashes
const configPath = appDir + '/config.json';

// GOOD: Platform-agnostic
const configPath = await join(appDir, 'config.json');

Never: Assuming Path Format

// BAD: Splitting on '/' fails on Windows paths
const parts = filePath.split('/');

// GOOD: Use dirname/basename for extraction
const dir = await dirname(filePath);
const file = await basename(filePath);

Import Pattern

Always import from @tauri-apps/api/path:

import {
    appLocalDataDir,
    dirname,
    join,
    basename,
    extname,
    normalize,
    resolve,
    sep,
} from '@tauri-apps/api/path';

Note on Async

All Tauri path functions are async because they communicate with the Rust backend via IPC. Always await them:

// All path operations return Promises
const baseDir = await appLocalDataDir();
const filePath = await join(baseDir, 'file.txt');
const parent = await dirname(filePath);
const separator = await sep();

Filesystem Operations

Use @tauri-apps/plugin-fs for file operations, combined with Tauri path APIs:

import { appLocalDataDir, dirname, join } from '@tauri-apps/api/path';
import { mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-fs';

async function saveData(segments: string[], data: Uint8Array) {
    const baseDir = await appLocalDataDir();
    const filePath = await join(baseDir, ...segments);

    // Ensure parent directory exists
    const parentDir = await dirname(filePath);
    await mkdir(parentDir, { recursive: true });

    await writeFile(filePath, data);
}