Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing Budget, ensure you have:

• Node.js 18+ — Download from nodejs.org
• Git — For cloning the repository
• Rust — Required for the desktop app (rustup.rs)

Platform Specific Requirements

• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install)
• Windows: Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools and WebView2
• Linux: Build essentials and WebKit2GTK (see Tauri docs)

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Skyline-9/budgetzilla.git
cd budgetzilla

Browser Version

Install Dependencies

cd webapp
npm install

Development Mode

npm run dev

This starts a development server at http://localhost:5173 with hot reload.

Production Build

npm run build
npm run preview

The built files are in webapp/dist/ and can be served by any static file server.

Desktop App (Tauri)

Development

cd webapp
npm run tauri:dev

This starts the Vite dev server and opens the native application window.

Production Build

cd webapp
npm run tauri:build

Build artifacts are output to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Platform	Output Format
macOS	.app, .dmg
Windows	.msi, .exe
Linux	.deb, .AppImage

How the Build Works

Budgetzilla uses Tauri to bridge the web frontend with a native Rust backend:

1. Vite Build — Compiles the React application into static assets.
2. Rust Compilation — Compiles the native backend and bundles the assets.
3. Packaging — Creates platform-specific installers and bundles.

Data Storage

Browser Mode

Data is stored using OPFS (Origin Private File System). This means:

• Data persists across browser sessions.
• Private/incognito mode won’t persist data.
• Clearing browser data WILL delete your budget data.

Desktop App Mode

The desktop app stores data in the standard system application data folder:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/com.budgetzilla.app/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\com.budgetzilla.app\
• Linux: ~/.local/share/com.budgetzilla.app/

Troubleshooting

Browser Storage Issues

If data isn’t persisting:

1. Ensure you’re not in private/incognito mode
2. Check browser supports OPFS (Chrome, Edge, Firefox)
3. Check storage quota in browser settings

macOS Build Issues

# Full verbose rebuild
CLEAN=1 VERBOSE=1 ./build_mac_app.sh

App Icon Not Showing

killall Finder && killall Dock

Need Rust Toolchain

Only needed if you want to modify the build system:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh