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Developer Setup

Web Browser Extension​

Install browser extension​

git clone https://gitlab.com/localnative/localnative.git
cd localnative-browser-extension/app
npm i -g web-ext
web-ext run --verbose # firefox

Setup browser extension host binary​

  • Download and run the desktop application from release archive

    this will create ~/LocalNative/bin directory containing the host binary

  • or use cargo install localnative_cli, and find the binary at ~/.cargo/bin/localnative-web-ext-host

  • or build from source, via cargo

cd localnative-rs/localnative_cli
cargo build

If build succeed, the web extension host debug executable location is

localnative-rs/target/debug/localnative-web-ext-host

Setup native messaging manifest to point to extension host binary​

  • Copy manifest json template file app.localnative.json from localnative-browser-extension/host to your browser's specific manifest location
  • Change the host path in app.localnative.json to where localnative-web-ext-host binary is from previous step
Firefox example manifest file​

~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/app.localnative.json

{
  "name": "app.localnative",
  "description": "Local Native Host",
  "path": "PREFIX/localnative/localnative-rs/target/debug/localnative-web-ext-host",
  "type": "stdio",
  "allowed_extensions": [
    "localnative@example.org"
  ]
}
Chromium example manifest file​

~/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/app.localnative.json

{
  "name": "app.localnative",
  "description": "Local Native Host",
  "path": "PREFIX/localnative/localnative-rs/target/debug/localnative-web-ext-host",
  "type": "stdio",
  "allowed_origins": [
    // use this ID if you install from chrome web store,
    // or add/change to what the actual ID is if you "LOAD UNPACKED" from source.
    "chrome-extension://oclkmkeameccmgnajgogjlhdjeaconnb/"
  ]
}

Database​

If above things are correctly setup, localnative.sqlite3 database file is created at the directory ~/.ssb/localnative.sqlite3 the first time you click the web ext popup.

hint to see what localnative-web-ext-host went wrong:

RUST_BACKTRACE=1 chromium-browser
RUST_BACKTRACE=1 web-ext run --verbose

You can use DB Browser for SQLite to explore the database.

Desktop​

Rust GUI using Iced​

see tutorial

Tauri (Svelte frontend) — recommended desktop target​

cd localnative-tauri
yarn install
yarn dev          # vite dev
yarn build        # vite build (production)
yarn check        # svelte-check type check

Tauri uses yarn (yarn.lock is the committed lockfile).

Electron - only Mac and GNU/Linux - deprecated​

cd localnative-electron
npm i
npm run build
npm run dev

Mobile​

Android​

iOS​

Flutter (Android / iOS / macOS)​

cd localnative-flutter
make setup        # install Rust targets + flutter_rust_bridge_codegen
make bridge       # regenerate Dart↔Rust bindings
make run-android  # or run-ios / run-macos

See localnative-flutter/SETUP.md for prerequisites (Flutter SDK, NDK, Xcode).

Import / Export​

Local Native ships dedicated CLI binaries (in localnative_cli) for moving notes in and out of the local SQLite database. Both operate on the database at the default location (~/.ssb/localnative.sqlite3).

Import from another service​

Supported formats: pocket (HTML export), omnivore (JSON), raindrop (CSV), plinky (JSON). Notes are de-duplicated by URL, so re-running an import is safe.

cd localnative-rs
cargo run -p localnative_cli --bin localnative-import -- --format pocket path/to/export.html

Export to Markdown​

Exports each note as an individual .md file with YAML frontmatter. An optional search query filters which notes are exported.

cd localnative-rs
cargo run -p localnative_cli --bin localnative-export -- --output ./exported-notes
cargo run -p localnative_cli --bin localnative-export -- --output ./exported-notes --query rust

Script​

There are scripts to bump version and release

script
├── release-appimage
├── release-mac
├── release-web-ext-host
└── set-version