Choose Features Guide

This Tauri starter kit is feature-neutral by design. All optional features are disabled by default, and you choose which features to enable when running or building your application. This keeps your application lightweight and only includes the functionality you actually use.

Available Features

🔔 Notifications (`notifications`)

What it includes: Native system notifications with permission handling
Dependencies: tauri-plugin-notification
Frontend components: Notification demo page
Use cases: User alerts, status updates, background task completion

🔗 Deep Links (`deep-links`)

What it includes: Custom protocol handling for deep linking
Dependencies: tauri-plugin-deep-link
Frontend components: Deep link demo page
Use cases: Opening your app from web browsers, handling custom URLs

📋 Clipboard (`clipboard`)

What it includes: Advanced clipboard management with history and image support
Dependencies: tauri-plugin-clipboard-manager, image, base64, chrono
Frontend components: Clipboard demo page with full image support
Use cases: Clipboard history like Win+V, image clipboard operations, format analysis

🖥️ System Tray (`system-tray`)

What it includes: System tray icon with context menu
Dependencies: Built into Tauri core
Frontend components: Tray menu integration
Use cases: Background operation, quick access menu, minimize to tray

🪟 Window Manager (`window-manager`)

What it includes: Inter-window communication, multi-window management, message passing
Dependencies: Built into Tauri core
Frontend components: Window manager demo, window creation interface, message history
Use cases: Multi-window applications, window-to-window messaging, distributed UI components
Features:
- Create and manage multiple windows with custom labels
- Send targeted messages to specific windows
- Broadcast messages to all windows
- Message history tracking with timestamps
- Window state management (focus, visibility, positioning)
- Developer tools integration (restart app in dev mode)

Default Configuration

By default, no optional features are enabled (feature-neutral):

[features]
default = []

This means you get a minimal, lightweight application by default and choose which features to enable when you run or build.

How to Choose Features

Method 1: NPM Scripts (Recommended)

Use the provided npm scripts to run or build with specific features:

# Development with features
npm run tauri:dev -- --features clipboard,notifications
npm run tauri:dev -- --features deep-links
npm run tauri:dev:feat  # All features enabled

# Development with no features (minimal)
npm run tauri:dev

# Building with features
npm run tauri:build -- --features clipboard,notifications
npm run tauri:build -- --features deep-links

# Building with no features (minimal)
npm run tauri:build

Method 2: Direct Cargo Commands

You can also use cargo directly:

# Development with features
cargo tauri dev --features clipboard,notifications
cargo tauri dev --features deep-links

# Building with features
cargo tauri build --features clipboard,notifications
cargo tauri build --features deep-links

# Minimal builds (no features)
cargo tauri dev
cargo tauri build

Method 3: Modify Cargo.toml (Not Recommended)

While you can still modify the default features in src-tauri/Cargo.toml, this approach is discouraged as it makes the project less flexible:

# Not recommended - makes project less flexible
[features]
default = ["clipboard", "notifications"]

Why not recommended? Because it forces everyone using your project to have the same features, whereas the command-line approach lets each developer choose what they need.

Feature Combinations

Minimal Build (Default)

npm run tauri:dev
npm run tauri:build

Smallest bundle size
Only basic window management
No external plugin dependencies

Essential Build

npm run tauri:dev -- --features notifications,system-tray
npm run tauri:build -- --features notifications,system-tray

Basic notifications
System tray integration
Good for simple desktop apps

Power User Build

npm run tauri:dev -- --features clipboard,notifications
npm run tauri:build -- --features clipboard,notifications

Advanced clipboard management
System notifications
Great for productivity apps

Full Build

npm run tauri:dev:feat  # Shortcut for all features
npm run tauri:dev -- --features notifications,deep-links,clipboard,system-tray,window-manager
npm run tauri:build -- --features notifications,deep-links,clipboard,system-tray,window-manager

All features enabled
Complete functionality
Larger bundle size

Frontend Integration

The frontend automatically detects which features are enabled and shows/hides components accordingly. No manual configuration needed!

Automatic Feature Detection

The application uses SWR to fetch enabled features from the Rust backend:

// This happens automatically in src/app/page.tsx
const { data: features } = useSWR('tauri-features', fetchFeatures)

// Components are conditionally rendered:
{features?.has('clipboard') && <ClipboardDemo />}
{features?.has('notifications') && <NotificationDemo />}
{features?.has('deep-links') && <DeepLinkDemo />}
{features?.has('window-manager') && <WindowManagerDemo />}

What This Means

No manual updates needed: When you run with different features, the UI automatically adapts
Clean experience: Users only see features that are actually available
No broken links: Demo pages only appear when their features are enabled
Helpful messaging: When no features are enabled, users see guidance on how to enable them

Example Behavior

# Run with no features - shows minimal UI with helpful message
npm run tauri:dev

# Run with clipboard only - shows only clipboard demo
npm run tauri:dev -- --features clipboard

# Run with all features - shows all demos
npm run tauri:dev:feat

Bundle Size Impact

Approximate bundle size impact of each feature:

Feature	Size Impact	Dependencies
`notifications`	~200KB	tauri-plugin-notification
`deep-links`	~150KB	tauri-plugin-deep-link
`clipboard`	~800KB	tauri-plugin-clipboard-manager + image processing
`system-tray`	~50KB	Built into Tauri
`window-manager`	~100KB	Built into Tauri core

Development Workflow

1. Start Development

Simply run with the features you want to test:

# Start with specific features
npm run tauri:dev -- --features clipboard,notifications

# Or start minimal and add features as needed
npm run tauri:dev

2. Test Different Combinations

Easily test different feature combinations without changing code:

# Test minimal build
npm run tauri:dev

# Test with clipboard only
npm run tauri:dev -- --features clipboard

# Test full build
npm run tauri:dev:feat

3. Build for Production

Build with the exact features your users need:

npm run tauri:build -- --features clipboard,notifications

4. No Manual Updates Needed

The frontend automatically adapts to enabled features - no code changes required!

Common Configurations

Blog/Content App

npm run tauri:dev -- --features notifications,system-tray
npm run tauri:build -- --features notifications,system-tray

Productivity/Utility App

npm run tauri:dev -- --features clipboard,notifications,system-tray
npm run tauri:build -- --features clipboard,notifications,system-tray

Web Integration App

npm run tauri:dev -- --features deep-links,notifications
npm run tauri:build -- --features deep-links,notifications

Multi-Window App

npm run tauri:dev -- --features window-manager,notifications,system-tray
npm run tauri:build -- --features window-manager,notifications,system-tray

Minimal Utility

npm run tauri:dev -- --features system-tray
npm run tauri:build -- --features system-tray

Troubleshooting

Build Errors After Disabling Features

If you get build errors after disabling features:

Clean the build: cargo clean
Check imports: Remove imports for disabled features in main.rs
Update frontend: Remove references to disabled Tauri commands

Runtime Errors

If you get runtime errors:

Check frontend calls: Ensure frontend doesn't call disabled Tauri commands
Conditional rendering: Use feature flags in frontend to conditionally show UI
Error handling: Add proper error handling for missing features

Advanced: Custom NPM Scripts

You can create your own custom npm scripts for common feature combinations in package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "tauri:dev:productivity": "tauri dev --features clipboard,notifications,system-tray",
    "tauri:dev:web": "tauri dev --features deep-links,notifications",
    "tauri:dev:multiwindow": "tauri dev --features window-manager,notifications,system-tray",
    "tauri:build:productivity": "tauri build --features clipboard,notifications,system-tray",
    "tauri:build:web": "tauri build --features deep-links,notifications",
    "tauri:build:multiwindow": "tauri build --features window-manager,notifications,system-tray"
  }
}

Then use them:

npm run tauri:dev:productivity
npm run tauri:build:web

Custom Cargo Features (Advanced)

If you need more complex feature combinations, you can still define custom features in src-tauri/Cargo.toml:

[features]
# Custom combinations
productivity = ["clipboard", "notifications", "system-tray"]
web-integration = ["deep-links", "notifications"]
multi-window = ["window-manager", "notifications", "system-tray"]

# Individual features (already defined)
clipboard = ["dep:tauri-plugin-clipboard-manager", "dep:image", "dep:base64", "dep:chrono"]
notifications = ["dep:tauri-plugin-notification"]
window-manager = []  # Built into Tauri core
# ... etc