Migrating Tauri Apps

Tauri Migration Guide

This skill covers migrating Tauri applications to v2 stable from either v1 or v2 beta.

Migration Paths

Automated Migration

Both migration paths support automated migration via the Tauri CLI:

# Install latest CLI first
npm install @tauri-apps/cli@latest

# Run migration
npm run tauri migrate
# or: yarn tauri migrate | pnpm tauri migrate | cargo tauri migrate

IMPORTANT: The migrate command automates most tasks but is NOT a complete substitute for manual review. Always verify changes after running.

V1 to V2 Migration

Configuration File Changes

BREAKING: Top-Level Structure Changes

Before (v1):

{
  "package": {
    "productName": "my-app",
    "version": "1.0.0"
  },
  "tauri": {
    "bundle": { ... },
    "allowlist": { ... }
  }
}

After (v2):

{
  "productName": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "mainBinaryName": "my-app",
  "identifier": "com.example.myapp",
  "app": { ... },
  "bundle": { ... }
}

Key Renames

BREAKING: New Required Field

Add mainBinaryName matching your productName - this is no longer automatic:

{
  "productName": "My App",
  "mainBinaryName": "My App"
}

Bundle Configuration Reorganization

Platform-specific bundle configs moved under their platform key:

Before:

{
  "tauri": {
    "bundle": {
      "dmg": { ... },
      "deb": { ... }
    }
  }
}

After:

{
  "bundle": {
    "macOS": {
      "dmg": { ... }
    },
    "linux": {
      "deb": { ... }
    }
  }
}

Updater Configuration

If using the app updater, add to bundle config:

{
  "bundle": {
    "createUpdaterArtifacts": "v1Compatible"
  }
}

Use "v1Compatible" for existing distributions to maintain backward compatibility.

BREAKING: Allowlist Replaced with Capabilities

The v1 allowlist system is completely replaced with a capability-based ACL system.

Creating Capabilities

Create JSON files in src-tauri/capabilities/:

src-tauri/capabilities/default.json:

{
  "identifier": "default",
  "description": "Default capabilities for the main window",
  "windows": ["main"],
  "permissions": [
    "core:default",
    "shell:allow-open",
    "dialog:allow-open",
    "fs:allow-read-text-file"
  ]
}

The tauri migrate command auto-generates capabilities from your v1 allowlist.

Cargo.toml Changes

Removed Features

These features no longer exist in v2:

• reqwest-client
• reqwest-native-tls-vendored
• process-command-api
• shell-open-api
• windows7-compat
• updater
• system-tray

New Features

• linux-protocol-body - Custom protocol request body parsing support

BREAKING: API Module Removal

The entire api module is removed. Functionality moved to plugins:

BREAKING: Rust API Changes

Removed APIs

Renamed Types/Methods

Menu API Changes

Before:

use tauri::{Menu, CustomMenuItem};
let menu = Menu::new()
    .add_item(CustomMenuItem::new("quit", "Quit"));

After:

use tauri::menu::{MenuBuilder, MenuItemBuilder};
let menu = MenuBuilder::new(app)
    .item(&MenuItemBuilder::with_id("quit", "Quit").build(app)?)
    .build()?;

Tray API Changes

Before:

use tauri::SystemTray;
SystemTray::new().with_menu(menu);

After:

use tauri::tray::TrayIconBuilder;
TrayIconBuilder::new()
    .menu(&menu)
    .on_menu_event(|app, event| { ... })
    .on_tray_icon_event(|tray, event| { ... })
    .build(app)?;

BREAKING: JavaScript API Changes

Package Renames

Core API Reduction

The core @tauri-apps/api package now only includes:

• core
• path
• event
• webviewWindow

All other APIs require plugin packages.

BREAKING: Plugin Migration

All formerly built-in APIs are now separate plugins:

Installing Plugins

# JavaScript
npm install @tauri-apps/plugin-fs

# Rust (add to Cargo.toml)
cargo add tauri-plugin-fs

Register plugins in your Rust code:

fn main() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .plugin(tauri_plugin_fs::init())
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error running app");
}

BREAKING: File System Plugin Changes

Function renames in @tauri-apps/plugin-fs:

BREAKING: Event System Changes

BREAKING: Windows Origin URL

Production Windows apps now serve from http://tauri.localhost instead of https://.

Impact: IndexedDB and cookies will reset unless you preserve the old behavior:

{
  "app": {
    "windows": [{
      "useHttpsScheme": true
    }]
  }
}

BREAKING: Environment Variables

Mobile Support Setup

To target mobile alongside desktop:

1. Update Cargo.toml:

[lib]
name = "app_lib"
crate-type = ["staticlib", "cdylib", "rlib"]

2. Rename src/main.rs to src/lib.rs:

#[cfg_attr(mobile, tauri::mobile_entry_point)]
pub fn run() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error running app");
}

3. Create new src/main.rs:

fn main() {
    app_lib::run();
}

V2 Beta to V2 Stable Migration

BREAKING: Core Permission Prefix

All core permissions now require the "core:" prefix:

Before (beta):

{
  "permissions": [
    "path:default",
    "event:default",
    "window:default"
  ]
}

After (stable):

{
  "permissions": [
    "core:path:default",
    "core:event:default",
    "core:window:default"
  ]
}

Simplified alternative: Use "core:default" to include all default core permissions:

{
  "permissions": ["core:default"]
}

BREAKING: Mobile Dev Server Configuration

The mobile development server no longer exposes across networks. Traffic tunnels directly from local machine to devices.

Before (beta):

const mobile = !!/android|ios/.exec(process.env.TAURI_ENV_PLATFORM);
export default {
  server: {
    host: mobile ? '0.0.0.0' : false
  }
};

After (stable):

const host = process.env.TAURI_DEV_HOST;
export default {
  server: {
    host: host || false
  }
};

Remove dependency on the internal-ip NPM package if previously used.

iOS Device Development: Requires additional steps. Use:

tauri ios dev --force-ip-prompt

Select the device's TUN address when prompted.

Migration Checklist

V1 to V2

• Run npm run tauri migrate
• Verify config structure changes (package -> top-level)
• Add mainBinaryName field
• Update bundle config structure
• Replace allowlist with capabilities
• Install required plugins
• Update Rust imports (Window -> WebviewWindow)
• Update JS imports (@tauri-apps/api/tauri -> core)
• Update FS function names if using fs plugin
• Update environment variable names
• Test event system behavior
• Verify Windows origin URL handling (IndexedDB/cookies)
• Update menu/tray code if used
• Remove deprecated Cargo features

V2 Beta to V2 Stable

• Run npm run tauri migrate
• Add core: prefix to permission identifiers (or use core:default)
• Update mobile dev server configuration
• Remove internal-ip package dependency if present
• Test iOS device development with --force-ip-prompt

Common Issues