IPC Reference

Tabby uses specta and tauri-specta to generate type-safe TypeScript bindings from Rust command definitions. This ensures the frontend and backend share a single source of truth for all IPC contracts.

How It Works

1. Rust commands are defined in src-tauri/src/commands/ as thin #[tauri::command] handlers
2. specta introspects the Rust types and generates TypeScript definitions
3. tauri-specta wires the generated bindings to Tauri's invoke system
4. The generated file lands at src/contracts/tauri-bindings.ts

WARNING

tauri-bindings.ts is auto-generated. Do not edit it manually.

Transport Boundary

The transport boundary sits between the frontend and backend:

Frontend Store  ->  Transport Client  ->  tauri-bindings.ts (invoke)
                                              |
                                        Tauri IPC bridge
                                              |
                                     commands/ (Rust handler)
                                              |
                                     mapping/ (DTO <-> domain)
                                              |
                                     application/ (service)

Frontend Side

• src/app-shell/clients/ -- createTauriShellClients factory produces typed clients (WorkspaceClient, SettingsClient, RuntimeClient)
• Clients call generated functions from tauri-bindings.ts
• Snapshot mappers in each feature's application/ folder convert DTOs into internal read models

Backend Side

• src-tauri/src/commands/ -- thin handlers that deserialize DTOs, delegate to application services, and return response DTOs
• src-tauri/src/mapping/dto_mappers.rs -- maps between tabby-contracts DTOs and domain types
• Application services work only with domain types, never with DTOs

DTO Crate

tabby-contracts (at src-tauri/crates/tabby-contracts/) defines all transport types:

• Command DTOs -- WorkspaceCommandDto, SettingsCommandDto, RuntimeCommandDto, GitCommandDto
• View DTOs -- WorkspaceViewDto, SettingsViewDto, RuntimeViewDto
• Event structs -- emitted via Tauri events for push-based updates
• Value object re-exports -- re-exports types from tabby-kernel that cross the IPC boundary

Events

The backend pushes state updates to the frontend via Tauri events:

Event	Payload	Trigger
Workspace snapshot	WorkspaceViewDto	Tab/pane structural changes
Runtime snapshot	RuntimeViewDto	Runtime status or CWD changes
Settings snapshot	SettingsViewDto	Preferences updates
Terminal output	Raw bytes + pane ID	PTY read loop (high-frequency)

Frontend stores subscribe to these events and update their local read models.

DTO Boundary Rule

Generated DTOs from tauri-bindings.ts must only appear in:

• Transport clients (app-shell/clients/)
• Snapshot mappers (each feature's application/snapshot-mappers.ts)

They must never appear in:

• Zustand stores
• Domain models
• UI components

This keeps the frontend decoupled from the wire format.