Desktop App

roots is built with Tauri 2 and runs as a native macOS application. The desktop version is the recommended way to use roots.

Why Desktop?

• No CORS proxy — connects directly to service APIs
• Native performance — lightweight Rust backend
• OAuth deep linking — roots:// protocol for seamless Microsoft sign-in
• Persistent storage — credentials stored in Tauri's secure store
• Small footprint — typically under 15 MB

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

brew tap konradmichalik/tap
brew install --cask roots

Update with brew upgrade --cask roots. Homebrew automatically removes the macOS quarantine attribute.

Manual Download

1. Download from GitHub Releases
2. Open the .dmg and drag to Applications
3. Remove the quarantine attribute so macOS allows the unsigned app:

   xattr -cr /Applications/Roots.app

macOS Gatekeeper

roots is not notarized through Apple. When installing manually, you must remove the quarantine attribute with the command above. Homebrew handles this automatically.

Building from Source

Prerequisites: Node.js 18+ and Rust toolchain.

git clone https://github.com/konradmichalik/roots.git
cd roots
npm install
npm run tauri:build

The built app is located in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Tauri Backend

The desktop app uses these Tauri plugins:

Plugin	Purpose
plugin-http	HTTP requests without CORS restrictions
plugin-store	Persistent key-value storage
plugin-shell	Open external URLs in the browser
plugin-deep-link	Handle roots:// OAuth callbacks

There is one custom Tauri command (http_post_form) used for OAuth token exchange. It sends application/x-www-form-urlencoded POST requests, which the plugin-http module doesn't natively support.