Desktop App

The Rocket.Chat desktop app is a multiplatform client built with Electron, a robust framework for creating cross-platform applications using web technologies.

This document outlines the process of setting up and building your Rocket.Chat Desktop app directly from the source code. We'll also cover the steps for setting up the development environment, including downloading and installing the necessary dependencies.

Make sure that you have an active internet connection throughout the installation process.

Prerequisites

Before you begin with the installation, make sure you have the following on your machine:

Git
Node.js
node-gyp
Yarn is recommended instead of npm
A Rocket.Chat workspace URL

Set up Rocket.Chat desktop app

Go to your working directory in the terminal and clone the Github repository by executing this command:

git clone https://github.com/RocketChat/Rocket.Chat.Electron.git

Go to the cloned repository directory, install the project dependencies, and start the project with these commands:

cd Rocket.Chat.Electron
yarn
yarn start

Once the project is running successfully, a Rocket.Chat desktop app window will launch, prompting you to input your server details to initiate the setup process.

Project structure

The Rocket.Chat desktop app's source code resides in the src folder. Running the app with yarn start command triggers a build process that compiles all the code in the src folder and outputs the result in the app folder, making the application ready to run. This means the app folder will contain the complete, runnable application, ensuring the app is always up-to-date with the latest changes to the source code.

Rocket.Chat.Electron
├── build
│   └── icons
├── src
│   ├── app
│   │   ├── main
│   │   └── reducers
│   ├── deepLinks
│   ├── downloads
│   │   └── reducers
│   ├── i18n
│   ├── ipc
│   ├── jitsi
│   ├── navigation
│   ├── notifications
│   ├── public
│   │   └── images
│   │       ├── touch-bar
│   │       └── tray
│   │           ├── darwin
│   │           ├── linux
│   │           └── win32
│   ├── screenSharing
│   ├── servers
│   │   └── preload
│   ├── spellChecking
│   ├── store
│   ├── types
│   ├── ui
│   │   ├── assets
│   │   ├── components
│   │   │   ├── AboutDialog
│   │   │   ├── AddServerView
│   │   │   ├── Dialog
│   │   │   ├── DownloadsManagerView
│   │   │   ├── ScreenSharingDialog
│   │   │   ├── SelectClientCertificateDialog
│   │   │   ├── ServersView
│   │   │   ├── SettingsView
│   │   │   │   └── features
│   │   │   ├── Shell
│   │   │   ├── SideBar
│   │   │   ├── UpdateDialog
│   │   │   └── utils
│   │   ├── icons
│   │   ├── main
│   │   │   └── serverView
│   │   ├── preload
│   │   └── reducers
│   ├── updates
│   └── userPresence
└── workspaces
    └── desktop-release-action
        ├── dist
        └── src

After setting up the application environment, develop your desktop app and customize it to meet your specific requirements.