CommDesk

An evolving desktop platform foundation to manage communities, events, hackathons, teams, and day-to-day operations.

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Table of Contents

• About
• Implementation Status and Scope
• Product Architecture
• Current Desktop Route Map
• Quick Start (Desktop in 60 seconds)
• Core Features
• Roles
• Tech Stack
• Repository Structure
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Important Scripts
• Build & Packaging
• Auto-Update Setup (Production)
• Release Delivery Flow (Signed Updater)
• Release Steps
• Update Manifest (latest.json)
• Project Paths
• Recommended Checklist
• Contributing
• Community
• Code of Conduct
• License

Nexus Spring of Code

About

CommDesk is built for developer communities, student organizations, tech clubs, event organizers, and open-source teams.

It provides one desktop workspace for:

• Event planning and tracking
• Hackathon operations
• Member and team management
• Daily community coordination

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Implementation Status and Scope

CommDesk documentation includes both:

• target-state architecture docs (what the full platform should become)
• implementation status docs (what is currently built in this repository)

Before planning or estimating work, check:

• Implementation Status Matrix (Android branch)
• Overall System Master Guide (target-state)

If there is a mismatch between product-spec docs and current code in this repository, treat the implementation status matrix as source of truth for shipped scope.

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Product Architecture

Current Repository Architecture (Implemented)

This reflects what is actively present in this repository today.

flowchart LR
U[Community Ops User] --> A[CommDesk Desktop App\nTauri Shell]
A --> B[React + TypeScript Frontend]
A --> C[Rust Core\nsrc-tauri]
B --> D[Feature Modules\nDashboard, Member, Add Member, Events, Contact]
B --> E[Tauri Plugin Layer\nUpdater, Process, Opener]
E --> F[GitHub Releases\nlatest.json + signed assets]
C --> G[OS Capabilities\nWindowing, Native Process, Packaging]

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Target Platform Architecture (Roadmap)

This reflects the broader target-state described in system docs.

flowchart LR
V[Visitors and Participants] --> W[Website Frontend]
O[Community Ops Team] --> D[Desktop Ops Frontend]
W --> API[CommDesk Backend API]
D --> API
API --> DB[(Primary Database)]
API --> OBJ[(Object Storage)]
API --> Q[Queue / Jobs]
Q --> N[Notification Services]
Q --> I[Integrations and Webhooks]
API --> T[Trust and Analytics Layer]

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Documentation Index (Important)

Use these docs depending on your objective:

• Full product blueprint: docs/CommDesk-Overall-System-Summary.md
• What is currently implemented: docs/CommDesk-Implementation-Status.md
• Desktop vs website ownership: docs/CommDesk-Frontend-Boundary-System.md
• Events domain contract: docs/CommDesk-Event-System.md
• RSVP lifecycle and controls: docs/CommDesk-RSVP-System.md
• Judging lifecycle and auditability: docs/CommDesk-Judging-System.md
• Sponsor/partner lifecycle: docs/CommDesk-Sponsor-Partner-System.md

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Current Desktop Route Map

These are the currently mounted app routes in the desktop frontend shell.

Route	Screen	Purpose
/	Dashboard	Default landing screen
/dashboard	Dashboard	Operations overview
/member	Members	Member listing and search
/add-member	Add Member	Member onboarding form
/events	Events	Event listing and quick actions
/create-event	Create Event	Event authoring UI
/contact	Contact and Support	Internal support submissions

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Quick Start (Desktop in 60 seconds)

git clone https://github.com/NexGenStudioDev/CommDesk.git
cd CommDesk
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

For production desktop bundles:

pnpm tauri build

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Core Features

Community Management

• Member onboarding and role assignment
• Team structure and responsibility mapping
• Volunteer coordination

Event Management

• Event creation and updates
• Registration and participant tracking
• Scheduling support

Hackathon Management

• Hackathon setup and lifecycle management
• Team formation and project flow
• Submission and judging workflow

Operations Dashboard

• Community activity overview
• Progress and task tracking

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Roles

Role	Description
Visitor	View public information
Member	Participate in events and hackathons
Volunteer	Assist with community operations
Organizer	Manage events and programs
Admin	Full platform control

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technologies
Desktop App	Tauri v2, React, TypeScript, Vite
UI	Tailwind CSS
Runtime	Rust + Tauri
Auto Updates	GitHub Releases + Tauri updater plugin
Packaging	Tauri bundles + Flatpak (Linux)

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Repository Structure

CommDesk/
├── .github/
│ └── workflows/ # CI/CD pipelines
├── docs/ # project and operational docs
├── public/ # static frontend assets
├── scripts/ # build/release helper scripts
├── snap/ # snap packaging assets
├── src/ # React frontend
│ ├── Component/ # shared UI components
│ ├── config/ # frontend configuration
│ ├── features/ # feature modules (Members, Events, etc.)
│ ├── system/ # app system integrations (updater, etc.)
│ └── utils/ # utility helpers
├── src-tauri/ # Tauri Rust app
│ ├── src/ # Rust source
│ ├── capabilities/ # Tauri capability files
│ ├── icons/ # app icons
│ └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri runtime config
├── org.commdesk.CommDesk.json # Flatpak manifest
├── package.json # JS scripts/dependencies
├── pnpm-lock.yaml # lockfile
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md # community behavior guidelines
├── LICENSE # project license
└── README.md

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Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20
• pnpm >= 10
• Rust stable (rustup, cargo)
• OS-specific Tauri dependencies:
  • Linux: WebKitGTK/GTK packages
  • macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Windows: MSVC build tools

Official guide: Tauri Prerequisites

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Installation

git clone https://github.com/NexGenStudioDev/CommDesk.git
cd CommDesk
pnpm install

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Important Scripts

Script	Command	Purpose
dev	pnpm dev	Start Vite dev server
build	pnpm build	Type-check + production frontend build
preview	pnpm preview	Preview built frontend
tauri	pnpm tauri	Run Tauri CLI commands
tauri:keys:generate	pnpm tauri:keys:generate	Generate updater signing keys
tauri:build:signed	pnpm tauri:build:signed	Build signed updater artifacts
lint	pnpm lint	Run ESLint
lint:fix	pnpm lint:fix	Auto-fix lint issues
format	pnpm format	Format all files with Prettier
format:check	pnpm format:check	Validate formatting

Most used commands:

# Run desktop app (dev)
pnpm tauri dev
# Build frontend only
pnpm build
# Build desktop bundles for current OS
pnpm tauri build

Critical Maintainer Commands

# Install dependencies
pnpm install
# Run app in development mode
pnpm tauri dev
# Build production desktop bundles (current OS, unsigned/local)
pnpm tauri build
pnpm tauri signer generate
# Generate updater signing keys (IMPORTANT)
pnpm tauri:keys:generate
# Direct equivalent (important: do not add an extra `--` before `-w`)
pnpm tauri signer generate -w ~/.tauri/commdesk.key
# Build signed updater artifacts (uses ~/.tauri/commdesk.key by default)
pnpm tauri:build:signed
# Release version
git add .
git commit -m "release: v0.1.1"
git tag v0.1.1
git push origin master --tags
# Linux Flatpak build
flatpak-builder --force-clean flatpak-build org.commdesk.CommDesk.json

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Build & Packaging

Tauri Bundles (current OS)

pnpm tauri build

Use pnpm tauri:build:signed when you need updater artifacts/signatures.

Artifacts are generated in:

• src-tauri/target/release/
• src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Linux usually outputs:

• .deb
• .rpm
• .AppImage

Flatpak Build (Linux)

Manifest:

• org.commdesk.CommDesk.json

Build command:

flatpak-builder --force-clean flatpak-build org.commdesk.CommDesk.json

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Auto-Update Setup (Production)

Configured in:

• src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
• src/system/updater/autoUpdater.ts
• .github/workflows/tauri-all-platforms.yml

1) Generate updater signing keys

pnpm tauri:keys:generate

Direct command equivalent:

pnpm tauri signer generate -w ~/.tauri/commdesk.key

This creates:

• Private key (secret, never commit)
• Public key (store in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json under plugins.updater.pubkey)

2) Local signed build environment

pnpm tauri:build:signed

The signed build script resolves key path in this order:

1. TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY (if already set)
2. TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH (custom key file path)
3. ~/.tauri/commdesk.key (default)

3) GitHub Actions secrets

Set in repository secrets:

• TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY
• TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSWORD

4) Release workflow

Workflow file:

• .github/workflows/tauri-all-platforms.yml

This workflow:

• Builds Linux, Windows, macOS bundles
• Signs update artifacts
• Uploads bundles, .sig files, and latest.json

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Release Delivery Flow (Signed Updater)

sequenceDiagram
participant Dev as Maintainer
participant CI as GitHub Actions
participant GH as GitHub Releases
participant App as CommDesk Desktop App
Dev->>Dev: Update version + changelog
Dev->>GH: Push tag (vX.Y.Z)
GH->>CI: Trigger tauri-all-platforms workflow
CI->>CI: Build + sign bundles per platform
CI->>GH: Upload bundles + signatures + latest.json
App->>GH: Check latest.json via updater endpoint
GH-->>App: Return update metadata
App->>App: Download, verify, install, relaunch

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Release Steps

# 1) ensure code is ready
pnpm lint
pnpm build
# 2) commit release changes
git add .
git commit -m "release: v0.1.1"# 3) tag and push
git tag v0.1.1
git push origin master --tags

Or run release workflow manually with workflow_dispatch and set tag_name.

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Update Manifest (latest.json)

Minimal example structure:

{
"version": "v0.1.1",
"notes": "Release notes summary",
"pub_date": "2026-03-18T00:00:00Z",
"platforms": {
"linux-x86_64": {
"signature": "<signature>",
"url": "https://github.com/NexGenStudioDev/CommDesk/releases/download/v0.1.1/commdesk_0.1.1_amd64.AppImage"
}
}
}

If you keep an internal template file, use docs/latest.json.example.

Runtime endpoint currently configured in app:

https://github.com/NexGenStudioDev/CommDesk/releases/latest/download/latest.json

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Project Paths

• Frontend app entry: src/App.tsx
• Auto updater logic: src/system/updater/autoUpdater.ts
• Tauri app config: src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
• Rust dependencies and metadata: src-tauri/Cargo.toml
• Flatpak manifest: org.commdesk.CommDesk.json
• CI release workflow: .github/workflows/tauri-all-platforms.yml
• Updater production guide (recommended internal doc): docs/Tauri_Auto_Update_Production_Guide.md

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Troubleshooting

Build fails on Linux due to missing WebKit/GTK packages

Install prerequisites from the Tauri guide and re-run:

pnpm install
pnpm tauri build

Updater does not detect new release

Verify all of the following:

1. Tag was pushed (vX.Y.Z).
2. Workflow uploaded latest.json and signature files.
3. plugins.updater.pubkey in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json matches signing key.
4. Release assets are publicly accessible.

Signed build fails locally

Check environment variables and key path resolution order:

1. TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY
2. TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH
3. ~/.tauri/commdesk.key

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Recommended Checklist

Before every release:

1. pnpm lint
2. pnpm build
3. Confirm updater public key in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
4. Confirm signing secrets exist in GitHub
5. Tag + push
6. Verify release assets and updater files

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Contributing

1. Fork repository
2. Create branch
3. Commit changes
4. Open pull request

Contribution permission note: You may contribute through issues and pull requests, but the project source code remains proprietary and all rights are reserved unless explicit written permission is granted by the copyright holder.

git checkout -b feat/amazing-feature

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Community

• Issues: bug reports and feature requests
• Pull Requests: code contributions
• Discussions: ideas and technical questions

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Code of Conduct

This project is committed to a respectful and harassment-free community.

• Read and follow: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
• Report behavior concerns to maintainers through: https://github.com/NexGenStudioDev/CommDesk/issues

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License

This project is proprietary and all rights are reserved.

Without explicit prior written permission, this software and source code may not be copied, modified, distributed, or used.

• Full text: LICENSE

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Built with ❤️ for communities.