How to Bundle, Manage, and Self-Update a CLI Sidecar Binary in Tauri v2
A developer building a Tauri v2 desktop app has shared a detailed walkthrough on bundling external CLI binaries — specifically the reverse-proxy client frpc — as sidecars within the application. The process involves declaring the binary in tauri.conf.json and placing platform-specific named files so Tauri can automatically load the correct one at runtime. The guide covers spawning the sidecar via tauri_plugin_shell, storing the process handle for clean termination, and avoiding the common mistake of treating a successful spawn as proof the process is functional. To confirm real connectivity, the author polls frpc's admin API with exponential backoff, only marking the app as connected after a healthy response. The post also outlines a self-update flow that downloads a new binary, verifies its SHA256 checksum, and atomically swaps the old file — all without requiring a full app reinstall.
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