DevWP

A pure-Rust desktop application (Dioxus) for simplified local WordPress development using Docker, Nginx, and PHP-FPM.

What changed in the Dioxus migration

DevWP was previously a Tauri app (Rust backend + React/TypeScript renderer). It is now a single Rust binary built with Dioxus desktop:

• All React components became Dioxus RSX components; there is no Node/TypeScript toolchain (no Vite, bun, vitest, biome) and no IPC — the UI calls the backend functions directly.
• The window is frameless with a custom in-app title bar (drag to move, minimize/maximize/close) instead of the native window toolbar.
• All shared state lives in process-wide SyncSignals so background threads (docker streaming, certificate regeneration) can safely mutate it.
• The Tailwind v4 CSS bundle is prebuilt and committed (src/assets/style.css); rebuild with scripts/build-css.sh after changing classes.
• All fonts are embedded in the binary (no external asset loading, identical behaviour in dev and packaged builds).
• Packaging uses cargo-packager instead of Tauri bundling.

Features

• Easy Site Management: Create and manage local WordPress sites with a simple GUI
• Docker Integration: Isolated environments with Nginx, PHP-FPM, MariaDB, and Redis
• WP-CLI Support: Run WP-CLI commands directly from the interface
• Development Tools: Mailpit for email testing
• Xdebug Support: Toggle PHP debugging on/off
• Multisite Support: WordPress multisite configurations
• Cross-Platform: Windows, macOS, and Linux support
• ARM Support: Native ARM builds for Apple Silicon and Linux (ARM64)

Prerequisites

For Using the App

• Docker Desktop (or any Docker daemon) - the app talks to the Docker Engine API directly via Bollard; the docker/docker compose CLI is not required

For Development (Building from Source)

• A running Docker daemon (the docker compose CLI is only needed to provision the stack for integration tests and CI)
• Rust - stable toolchain
• Linux: libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev (and libappindicator3-dev, librsvg2-dev, patchelf for packaging)

Installation

Pre-built Binaries

Download from GitHub Releases. See the release notes for platform-specific installation instructions.

Arch Linux (AUR)

# Using yay
yay -S devwp
# Manual installation
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/devwp.git
cd devwp
makepkg -si

Development Setup

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/SpiZeak/DevWP.git
cd DevWP
# Set up trusted SSL certificates with mkcert (eliminates browser warnings)
./scripts/setup-certs.sh
# Run the app (starts Docker services on launch)
cargo run

Commands

Task	Command
Run (dev)	cargo run
Build (release)	cargo build --release
Test	cargo test
Integration tests	cargo test --test integration (needs Docker)
Lint	cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
Format	cargo fmt --all -- --check / cargo fmt
Rebuild CSS	scripts/build-css.sh
Package installers	cargo install cargo-packager --locked && cargo packager --release

Architecture

┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Dioxus RSX UI (Rust) │
│ custom title bar, │
│ components/ (site_list, │
│ create_site, services, …) │
│ reads/writes SyncSignals │
└─────────────┬──────────────┘
│ direct function calls (no IPC)
┌─────────────┴──────────────┐
│ backend/ (pure Rust fns) │
│ docker, lifecycle, │
│ settings, site, system, │
│ utils, wp_cli, xdebug │
└─────────────┬──────────────┘
│ docker / filesystem
┌─────────────┴──────────────┐
│ compose stack (nginx/php/ │
│ mariadb/redis/mailpit) │
└────────────────────────────┘

State files live in .devwp-tauri/ (sites.json, settings.json); the webroot defaults to ~/www.

Packaging

cargo-packager produces the release artifacts; configuration lives in [package.metadata.packager] in Cargo.toml. Artifact naming (single devwp name everywhere):

• Linux: devwp_<version>_x86_64.AppImage, devwp_<version>_amd64.deb (+ _aarch64/_arm64 variants)
• Windows: devwp_<version>_x64-setup.exe, devwp_<version>_x64_en-US.msi
• macOS: DevWP_<version>_aarch64.dmg, DevWP_<version>_x86_64.dmg

Usage

Command Line

The same binary doubles as a CLI: run it without arguments for the GUI, or with a subcommand to script everything the GUI can do (sites, services, WP-CLI, Xdebug, settings).

devwp init # set up state, webroot, start the stack
devwp site create shop --wp-title Shop # create a site + install WordPress
devwp wp shop.test plugin list # WP-CLI inside the site's container
devwp services status # container/health/version table
devwp xdebug on # enable Xdebug, restart php
devwp doctor # environment health report

See docs/cli-reference.md for the full command reference (syntax, options, exit codes, and scripting recipes).

Creating a Site

1. Launch DevWP and click "New Site"
2. Enter a domain name (.test is added automatically)
3. Configure options like web root and multisite settings
4. Click "Create" - DevWP handles the rest!

Managing Sites

• Access: Click site URLs to open in browser
• WP-CLI: Use the terminal icon to run WordPress commands
• Delete: Remove sites completely (includes cleanup)

Available Services

Service	Port	URL	Purpose
Nginx	80	https://site.test	Web server
Mailpit	8025	http://localhost:8025	Email testing

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• App won't start: Ensure Docker Desktop is running
• Sites not loading: Check ports 80/443 aren't in use by other services
• Permission errors: Run DevWP as administrator for hosts file modifications
• Container issues: Use the container status panel to restart services
• UI doesn't reflect CSS changes: run scripts/build-css.sh and commit src/assets/style.css

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

CI runs cargo fmt --check, cargo clippy -- -D warnings and cargo test (unit + integration against the real compose stack).

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.