Five viewer commands (viewer_poll_file was added), both existing census tests, the wrapper-import shape of the frontend, controller rulings on CI scope / Box::leak / webviews, and a spike (§7) that reproduced every mechanism claim against tauri-build 2.6.0 in a throwaway worktree. One design change from the spike: stale autogenerated permissions are pruned selectively rather than by remove_dir_all, because tauri-build emits rerun-if-changed=permissions and wholesale regeneration would rebuild the crate on every cargo invocation. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
512 lines
38 KiB
Markdown
512 lines
38 KiB
Markdown
# App-command lockdown via Tauri AppManifest — design
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Date: 2026-09-22
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Status: approved in conversation (user); revised against the implemented viewer (`bf22910`) and
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the review rulings in "Decisions made during review"; plan at
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`docs/superpowers/plans/2026-09-22-app-manifest-lockdown.md`
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Follows: `2026-09-22-terminal-file-viewer-design.md` (the viewer windows this exists to confine)
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## Goal
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Make every application command (the `generate_handler!` list in `lib.rs`) permission-gated per
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window, so a `file-viewer-*` window can invoke exactly its five `viewer_*` commands and nothing
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else, and the `main` window keeps exactly what it invokes today. Close the residual risk the
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viewer spec records in its §6: "a compromised viewer window can still invoke other app commands,
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because `build.rs` does not restrict app commands per window."
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Non-goals: scoping arguments of app commands (the ACL only allows/denies command names; argument
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validation stays in Rust as today), changing any plugin grant, `removeUnusedCommands` (see §3.6).
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## 1. Current state (verified)
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- `app/src-tauri/build.rs` is `tauri_build::build()`, i.e. `try_build(Attributes::default())`
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with an empty `AppManifest` (tauri-build 2.6.0 `src/lib.rs:454`).
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- Versions from `Cargo.lock`: tauri 2.11.0, tauri-build 2.6.0, tauri-utils 2.9.0,
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tauri-codegen 2.6.0, tauri-macros 2.6.0. Everything below is read from those sources under
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`~/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-*/`.
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- 115 commands are registered in `generate_handler!` (`lib.rs:469-607`): the 109 that predate
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the viewer plus its six (`open_file_viewer`, `viewer_get_state`, `viewer_choose_file`,
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`viewer_read_file`, `viewer_poll_file`, `viewer_write_file`). All 115 are invoked from
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`app/src`, every one through an `export const` wrapper in `lib/tauri-commands.ts`, which is
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the only non-test file that imports `@tauri-apps/api/core` (the earlier direct
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`invoke("terminal_input")` in `hooks/useTerminal.ts` is gone; only a comment mentions it).
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No invoke name exists without a registration. None uses `#[command(rename = …)]`, so the
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invoke name is always the function identifier.
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- `capabilities/default.json` is `windows: ["main"]` and grants five plugin/core permissions.
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`capabilities/file-viewer.json` is `windows: ["file-viewer-*"]` and grants four core
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permissions. `tauri.conf.json` has no `app.security.capabilities` key, so every file under
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`capabilities/` is active (tauri-build `acl.rs:424-429`).
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- Both files already have an exact-set census test: `the_capability_grants_are_the_ones_that_were_reviewed`
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(`lib.rs:924`) for `default.json`, and `the_viewer_capability_grants_exactly_the_reviewed_windows_and_permissions`
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plus `the_default_capability_is_scoped_to_the_main_window_only` (`file_viewer/mod.rs:63,89`)
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for `file-viewer.json` and the `windows` lists. All three will fail as written the moment
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bare `allow-*` grants appear and are updated in the same change (§3.4).
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- The viewer's five `viewer_*` commands take `window: tauri::Window` and gate on the caller's
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label inside `commands/file_viewer_commands.rs`; `open_file_viewer` is main-only by the same
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mechanism. The `default.json` description, `file-viewer.json` description and `CLAUDE.md`
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(Backend Structure and Key Conventions) all currently describe app commands as ungated by
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capability and point at this spec as the pending fix; all three are rewritten here (§3.5).
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- The only other non-main window is the browser-view pop-out, label `browser-view-<id>`
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(`browser_view/popout.rs:71,104`), `WebviewUrl::External`. No capability names it and no
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capability has `remote`, so it has no IPC at all — before and after this change.
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- `gen/schemas/acl-manifests.json` and `gen/schemas/capabilities.json` are **tracked in git**
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and rewritten by tauri-build on every build; the app manifest will show up there as a
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reviewable diff.
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- CI (`.gitea/workflows/build-app-preview.yml`, `build-app.yml`) runs `npm run build`
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(`tsc && vite build`) and `tauri build`. It runs **neither `cargo test` nor `vitest`**. Any
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check that must hold on every merge therefore has to fail the *build*, not a test.
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## 2. Mechanism (tauri-build 2.6.0 / tauri-utils 2.9.0 / tauri 2.11.0)
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### 2.1 What `AppManifest::commands` generates
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```rust
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tauri_build::try_build(
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tauri_build::Attributes::new()
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.app_manifest(tauri_build::AppManifest::new().commands(&["check_docker", /* … */])),
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)
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```
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- `commands` takes `&'static [&'static str]` (`tauri-build/src/acl.rs:87-114`).
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- `app_manifest_permissions` (`acl.rs:265-335`) calls
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`tauri_utils::acl::build::autogenerate_command_permissions`, which for each command writes
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**into the source tree** at `src-tauri/permissions/autogenerated/<command>.toml`
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(`tauri-utils/src/acl/build.rs:289-317`):
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```toml
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[[permission]]
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identifier = "allow-<command with _ → ->"
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commands.allow = ["<command verbatim>"]
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[[permission]]
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identifier = "deny-<command with _ → ->"
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commands.deny = ["<command verbatim>"]
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```
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Naming: only `_` is replaced by `-` (`build.rs:290`). `viewer_read_file` →
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`allow-viewer-read-file`. Identifiers may not contain `_` (`identifier.rs:96-109`), so the
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kebab form is mandatory in capability files; the command name inside stays snake_case.
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- Then `permissions/**/*` is globbed too (default `permissions_path_pattern`), so any hand-written
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`.toml`/`.json` under `permissions/` is also part of the app manifest. **Stale files are never
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deleted**: a command dropped from `.commands()` leaves its `.toml` behind, still defining a
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permission a capability can reference. §3.2 handles this.
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- No app `default` permission set is generated (`acl.rs` has no such logic; only
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`InlinedPlugin` has `DefaultPermissionRule`).
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- The manifest is stored under key `__app-acl__` (`APP_ACL_KEY`, `tauri-utils/src/acl/mod.rs:50`)
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in `gen/schemas/acl-manifests.json`, copied to `OUT_DIR/acl-manifests.json`, and embedded by
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`generate_context!` (`tauri-codegen/src/context.rs:393-417`, `Resolved::resolve`).
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- The app manifest exists iff it has at least one permission, permission set or default
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(`acl.rs:400-443`, `has_app_manifest`). `.commands(&[])` is the same as no manifest.
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### 2.2 How capabilities reference app permissions
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- Bare identifier, no prefix: `"allow-viewer-read-file"`. Resolution takes
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`permission_id.get_prefix().unwrap_or(APP_ACL_KEY)` (`resolved.rs:340-372`); `core:event:…`
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and `dialog:…` keep working unchanged.
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- `windows` / `webviews` are glob patterns via `glob::Pattern` (`resolved.rs:199-208`,
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matched in `authority.rs:460-461`), so `"file-viewer-*"` is valid. Labels are **not**
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validated against configured windows at build time (no such check in tauri-build or
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tauri-codegen).
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- `local` defaults to `true`; both the bundled `tauri://localhost` document and the Vite
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`devUrl` count as local (`webview/mod.rs:1698-1740`, `is_local_url`: tauri protocol, or
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relative to `devUrl`/`frontendDist`). The viewer's `viewer.html` is served the same way as
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`index.html`, so it is local in both dev and release.
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### 2.3 Runtime enforcement
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`Webview::on_message` (`tauri-2.11.0/src/webview/mod.rs:1794-1849`):
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```rust
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// we only check ACL on plugin commands or if the app defined its ACL manifest
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if (plugin_command.is_some() || has_app_acl_manifest)
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&& request.cmd != crate::ipc::channel::FETCH_CHANNEL_DATA_COMMAND
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&& invoke.acl.is_none()
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{ /* reject */ }
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```
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- **Today** (`has_app_acl_manifest == false`): app commands skip the ACL entirely. That is the
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hole.
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- **With a manifest**: `resolve_access` (`ipc/authority.rs:439-471`) must return an allow whose
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capability `windows`/`webviews` glob matches the caller and whose context matches the origin.
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Otherwise the invoke is rejected **before** the `generate_handler!` closure runs; the
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`#[command]` wrappers do no allow/deny logic of their own.
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- **Unlisted command = denied.** A registered command with no `allow-*` permission anywhere never
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enters `allowed_commands`, so `resolve_access` returns `None`. Debug message:
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`"<cmd> not allowed. Command not found"`. There is no build-time warning for this case.
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- **Listed but not registered** = a permission nobody can use; no build error. If granted and
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invoked, the handler's fallthrough returns "unhandled" — harmless, but §3.2 rejects it anyway.
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- **`deny-*` is global.** `resolve_access` tests `denied_commands.get(cmd).map(..).is_some()`,
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which is true for any deny entry regardless of window or origin. Never grant a `deny-*` in the
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viewer capability expecting it to stay confined; the design uses allow-lists only, and the
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build check bans `deny-*` outright.
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- Denial text: debug builds get `resolve_access_message` (`authority.rs:229-437`), e.g.
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`"<cmd> not allowed. Permissions associated with this command: allow-<slug>"` or
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`"<cmd> not allowed on window \"file-viewer-3\", … allowed on: [windows: \"main\", …]"`.
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Release builds get `"Command <cmd> not allowed by ACL"`. The frontend's `refusalText.ts`
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wrapper-stripping already tolerates the `invoke failed:`/`Error:` prefixes.
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### 2.4 Build-time failure modes
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- Unknown bare permission in a capability file (typo, or a command missing from the manifest):
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`validate_capabilities` (`tauri-build/src/acl.rs:353-392`) bails with
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`Permission <id> not found, expected one of …`; `build()` exits 1. This also fires for any
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bare identifier when there is no app manifest at all.
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- Capabilities inlined in `tauri.conf.json` are *not* validated there and fail later in
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`generate_context!` as a panic (`failed to resolve ACL`). Keep capabilities as files.
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- Duplicate capability identifiers across files are an error (`build.rs:204-244`).
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- A bad glob in `windows` is a resolve-time error.
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- The build script's CWD is `src-tauri`; the `./permissions/autogenerated` path is relative to it.
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### 2.5 Dev vs release
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Enforcement is identical. `cfg(debug_assertions)` changes only the error text and whether the
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raw ACL map is retained for messages (`authority.rs:29-30, 77-101`). `tauri dev` versus `tauri
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build` differs only in `custom-protocol`, which does not touch the ACL. A command missing from a
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capability is therefore caught the first time anyone opens the affected screen in `tauri dev`,
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with a message naming the permission.
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## 3. Design
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### 3.1 Capability files
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`capabilities/default.json` (unchanged `windows: ["main"]`) gains one bare `allow-<slug>` entry
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per main-window command — 110: the 109 that predate the viewer plus `open_file_viewer`. The
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existing five plugin/core grants stay exactly as they are. The `description` is amended (§3.5).
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`capabilities/file-viewer.json` (exists, `windows: ["file-viewer-*"]`, four core grants)
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gains exactly `allow-viewer-get-state`, `allow-viewer-choose-file`, `allow-viewer-read-file`,
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`allow-viewer-poll-file`, `allow-viewer-write-file`, beside its four core grants.
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No permission sets, no `default`, no hand-written files under `permissions/`. The project's
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existing test already refuses `*:default` aliases because they expand to sets the file does
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not spell out; the same rule applies to app permissions. Enumeration is the point.
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Assignment of every command (110 go to **main**; nothing but the viewer's five goes to
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**file-viewer**). The rule is a function, not a table: a command whose name starts with
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`viewer_` belongs to `file-viewer-*`, every other command belongs to `main`
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(`command_census::expected_windows`, §3.2). The table is the rule applied to today's list:
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| Group (`lib.rs` comment) | Commands | Window |
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|---|---|---|
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| Docker | `check_docker`, `check_image_exists`, `build_image`, `get_container_info` | main |
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| Projects | `list_projects`, `add_project`, `remove_project`, `update_project`, `start_project_container`, `stop_project_container`, `rebuild_project_container`, `reconcile_project_statuses` | main |
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| Notes | `list_notes`, `save_note`, `delete_note` | main |
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| Migration | `get_container_staleness`, `migrate_project_to_base`, `confirm_migration`, `rollback_migration`, `get_migration_state` | main |
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| Auth bridge | `set_auth_bridge_enabled`, `get_auth_bridge_status` | main |
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| Browser view | `set_browser_view_enabled`, `get_browser_view_status`, `check_browser_view_support`, `install_browser_view_support`, `install_browser_view_browser`, `open_browser_view_popout`, `close_browser_view_popout`, `get_browser_view_popout_state`, `set_browser_view_popout_always_on_top`, `open_page_in_container_browser`, `set_container_page_viewport`, `get_container_page_state`, `close_container_page`, `set_browser_view_match_window`, `get_browser_view_match_window` | main |
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| Claude token | `acquire_claude_token`, `submit_claude_token_code`, `cancel_claude_token`, `has_claude_token`, `clear_claude_token`, `sweep_claude_token_snapshots` | main |
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| Settings | `get_settings`, `update_settings`, `pull_image`, `detect_aws_config`, `inspect_ca_cert_path`, `list_aws_profiles`, `detect_host_timezone` | main |
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| Settings export/import | `export_settings`, `preview_settings_import`, `apply_settings_import` | main |
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| Terminal | `open_terminal_session`, `terminal_input`, `terminal_resize`, `close_terminal_session`, `paste_image_to_terminal`, `upload_host_file_to_terminal`, `start_audio_bridge`, `send_audio_data`, `stop_audio_bridge` | main |
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| Files | `list_container_files`, `download_container_backup`, `download_container_file`, `upload_files_to_container`, `read_container_file`, `rename_container_path`, `create_container_directory` | main |
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| AWS | `aws_sso_refresh` | main |
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| Updates | `get_app_version`, `check_for_updates`, `check_image_update` | main |
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| Help | `get_help_content` | main |
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| URL open | `open_url_external` | main |
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| Install helper | `detect_install_options`, `run_docker_install` | main |
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| Web terminal | `start_web_terminal`, `stop_web_terminal`, `get_web_terminal_status`, `regenerate_web_terminal_token` | main |
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| STT | `get_stt_status`, `start_stt`, `stop_stt`, `build_stt_image`, `pull_stt_image`, `transcribe_audio` | main |
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| Gateway | `get_gateway_status`, `start_gateway`, `stop_gateway`, `check_gateway_health`, `build_gateway_image`, `pull_gateway_image`, `set_gateway_api_key`, `clear_gateway_api_key`, `get_gateway_auth_token`, `regenerate_gateway_auth_token` | main |
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| Inspect | `list_claude_sessions`, `resume_session_command`, `list_container_capabilities`, `list_scheduled_tasks`, `add_scheduled_task`, `update_scheduled_task`, `get_scheduled_task_log`, `set_scheduled_task_enabled`, `run_scheduled_task_now`, `remove_scheduled_task`, `get_scheduler_notifications`, `clear_scheduler_notifications` | main |
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| Terminal file viewer | `open_file_viewer` | main |
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| Terminal file viewer | `viewer_get_state`, `viewer_choose_file`, `viewer_read_file`, `viewer_poll_file`, `viewer_write_file` | file-viewer |
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Windows other than main: `browser-view-*` (pop-out) invokes nothing and must stay listed in no
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capability — the pane's iframe inside main is a remote origin and has no IPC either. The web
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terminal is a WebSocket server, not IPC, and is unaffected.
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The Rust label checks in the viewer commands (`open_file_viewer` main-only; `viewer_*`
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caller's-own-label-only) stay. The ACL says *which* window may call; the label check says *whose*
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registry entry it operates on. They are not redundant.
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### 3.2 `build.rs`: manifest derived from `generate_handler!`, checked against capabilities
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The manifest must not be a second hand-maintained list. The logic lives in a new
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`src/command_census.rs` — plain functions over strings and `serde_json::Value`, no reference to
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the crate — that is compiled into **both** the build script (`#[path = "src/command_census.rs"]
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mod command_census;` in `build.rs`) and the test build (`#[cfg(test)] mod command_census;` in
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`lib.rs`), so the parser the build uses is the parser the tests test and the two cannot drift.
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Its surface:
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```rust
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pub fn registered_commands(lib_rs: &str) -> Option<Vec<String>>; // handler list, in order, duplicates kept
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pub fn allow_permission(command: &str) -> String; // "viewer_read_file" → "allow-viewer-read-file"
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pub fn expected_windows(command: &str) -> &'static [&'static str]; // "viewer_*" → ["file-viewer-*"], else ["main"]
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pub struct CapabilityFile { pub name: String, pub windows: Vec<String>, pub bare: Vec<String> }
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pub fn capability_file(name: &str, json: &str) -> Result<CapabilityFile, String>;
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pub fn check(commands: &[String], files: &[CapabilityFile]) -> Vec<String>; // every violation, or empty
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```
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`build.rs` becomes:
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1. `registered_commands` is the line-based extraction the existing
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`every_command_is_registered_exactly_once` test uses today (`lib.rs:849-870`), moved
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verbatim; that test calls it too. `println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=…")` for `src/lib.rs`,
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`src/command_census.rs` and the `capabilities` directory.
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2. **Fail closed on an empty or malformed parse.** An empty list makes `.commands(&[])` a no-op
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and silently restores today's unguarded state, so `check` reports (and `build.rs` exits 1 on)
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an empty list, a name outside `[a-z0-9_]+`, or a duplicate.
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3. Delete every `permissions/autogenerated/<name>.toml` whose `<name>` is not a registered
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command before calling tauri-build, so a command removed from `lib.rs` cannot leave a stale
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permission behind. **Not** `remove_dir_all`: tauri-build emits
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`cargo:rerun-if-changed=permissions` (spike §7.I), so regenerating every file on every build
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would give them fresh mtimes and re-run the build script — and recompile the crate — on
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every `cargo` invocation forever. Live files are left alone; tauri-utils only rewrites them
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when their content changes (`write_if_changed`, `acl/build.rs:308`), so the build settles.
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Also refuse anything under `permissions/` other than `autogenerated/`: tauri-build globs
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hand-written permission files into the manifest, which would be a second source of grants
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that the census does not see. Add `app/src-tauri/permissions/autogenerated/` to
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`.gitignore`; the reviewable artifact is `gen/schemas/acl-manifests.json`, already tracked.
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4. Read every `capabilities/*.json` with `capability_file` (bare = identifiers without `:`;
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scoped-object grants are read by their `identifier`), and `check` asserts:
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- every registered command's `allow-<slug>` appears in **exactly one** capability file
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(missing → names the command and the `windows` of the file it belongs in; more than one →
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names the files);
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- every bare identifier is `allow-<slug>` of a registered command (a typo is named; tauri's
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own `validate_capabilities` would also fail, but its message dumps every generated
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`allow-*`/`deny-*` identifier);
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- no bare `deny-*` (global, §2.3) and nothing else bare that is not `allow-*` (so no bare
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`default`);
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- the file that grants a command has `windows` equal to `expected_windows(command)` — the
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"which side does this belong to" rule decided in one place, and the reason the `viewer_*`
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naming prefix is now load-bearing.
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All violations are reported together, so ten forgotten grants are one build failure.
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5. `tauri_build::try_build(Attributes::new().app_manifest(AppManifest::new().commands(leaked)))`
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where `leaked: &'static [&'static str]` comes from `Box::leak` (ruling: acceptable; the
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process is short-lived and it is two lines), propagating the error the way
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`tauri_build::build()` does (print and exit 1).
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Because this runs inside the build script, it fails `cargo check`, `cargo test`, `tauri dev`
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and CI's `tauri build` alike — the one place a check is guaranteed to run on every merge (§1).
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`serde_json` is already a dependency and is added to `[build-dependencies]` (already in
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`Cargo.lock`, so `--offline` still resolves).
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Why "exactly one" rather than "at least one": today no command is shared between windows, and
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a command that genuinely needs both is a design change worth a visible edit to
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`expected_windows`, not a silent widening.
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### 3.3 Frontend check (vitest)
|
||
|
||
`app/src/test/capabilities.test.ts`, following `icon-config.test.ts`'s pattern of reading
|
||
`src-tauri/` files with `readFileSync`. The earlier draft split invoke literals by directory;
|
||
that is wrong for the tree as built, because the viewer does not call `invoke` itself — it
|
||
imports wrappers from the shared `lib/tauri-commands.ts` (`viewerGetState`, `viewerChooseFile`
|
||
in `ViewerApp.tsx`; `viewerReadFile`, `viewerPollFile`, `viewerWriteFile` in `EditorPane.tsx`).
|
||
So the test follows imports instead:
|
||
|
||
- **Only `lib/tauri-commands.ts` may import `@tauri-apps/api/core`** (true today for every
|
||
non-test file). That is what makes the rest of the test complete: no other file can invoke.
|
||
- Build the wrapper map from `tauri-commands.ts`: each `export const NAME = …` chunk contains
|
||
exactly one `invoke<…>("<literal>"` (115 wrappers, 115 commands today). A chunk with zero or
|
||
more than one literal, or a non-literal first argument, fails the test.
|
||
- The **viewer closure** is the transitive set of relative imports from `src/viewer/main.tsx`
|
||
(`.ts`/`.tsx`, tests excluded, `.css` ignored). Today it reaches `lib/tauri-commands`,
|
||
`lib/types`, `components/ui/{Button,StatusIndicator,unavailable}` and
|
||
`components/projects/home/filePreview`, none of which import a wrapper except the two viewer
|
||
files. `V` = commands of the wrappers those files import; `M` = commands of the wrappers
|
||
imported by every other non-test file under `src/`.
|
||
- Assert `M ∩ V = ∅`; `allow-<slug>(V)` **equals** the bare set of `file-viewer.json` (no
|
||
over-grant to the untrusted window); `allow-<slug>(M)` is a **subset** of the bare set of
|
||
`default.json`; and every wrapper's command is in exactly one of the two files (a cheap mirror
|
||
of the Rust rule, so a developer running only vitest sees the same failure).
|
||
- `default.json`'s five plugin/core grants and `file-viewer.json`'s four core grants are
|
||
asserted as exact lists, the same census style as the Rust tests.
|
||
|
||
This is the test that turns "a forgotten command silently breaks a feature at runtime" into a
|
||
red test on the developer's machine for the *window* dimension: the Rust build check (§3.2)
|
||
proves every command is granted in the file its name says it belongs in; this one proves the
|
||
code that runs in each window only reaches wrappers that window is granted.
|
||
|
||
### 3.4 Rust test updates
|
||
|
||
- `lib.rs` `the_capability_grants_are_the_ones_that_were_reviewed`: split `listed` into prefixed
|
||
and bare. The prefixed census stays the exact five-element list. The bare set must equal
|
||
`allow_permission` over the registered commands whose `expected_windows` is `["main"]`
|
||
(110 today). Keep the `:default` and `store:` refusals.
|
||
- `file_viewer/mod.rs` `the_viewer_capability_grants_exactly_the_reviewed_windows_and_permissions`:
|
||
the exact list becomes the four core grants plus `allow-viewer-get-state`,
|
||
`allow-viewer-choose-file`, `allow-viewer-read-file`, `allow-viewer-poll-file`,
|
||
`allow-viewer-write-file`. `the_default_capability_is_scoped_to_the_main_window_only` is
|
||
unchanged.
|
||
- New `lib.rs` test `the_generated_app_manifest_matches_the_handler_list`: `cargo test` runs
|
||
`build.rs`, so `gen/schemas/acl-manifests.json` is fresh; assert its `__app-acl__` entry's
|
||
permission identifiers equal `allow-<slug>` ∪ `deny-<slug>` over the registered set exactly.
|
||
This is the end-to-end proof that the parse in `build.rs` produced what tauri embedded,
|
||
independent of the parser it shares with §3.2.
|
||
- `every_command_is_registered_exactly_once` is unchanged apart from calling
|
||
`command_census::registered_commands` instead of its inline copy.
|
||
- `command_census.rs` carries its own unit tests for `check` (missing grant, duplicate grant,
|
||
typo, `deny-*`, wrong file, empty list, bad name) — these are the tests that make the build
|
||
check trustworthy, and they run under `cargo test` without needing a failing build.
|
||
|
||
### 3.5 Documentation updates (same change)
|
||
|
||
- `capabilities/default.json` `description` (the threat model of record): replace the sentence
|
||
run that begins "App commands stay ungated by capability in both files" and ends "not yet
|
||
built" with the closed state: `build.rs` declares an `AppManifest`, so every app command is
|
||
ACL-gated per window; the bare `allow-*` entries are the complete list of app commands the
|
||
main window may call and are cross-checked by `build.rs` against `generate_handler!` (the
|
||
build fails on a missing, misspelled, duplicated or misfiled grant); the `file-viewer-*`
|
||
windows are confined to `capabilities/file-viewer.json`; `deny-*` is global in tauri 2.11.0
|
||
and is therefore banned by the same check; the pop-out remains capability-less; and the
|
||
Rust label gates in `file_viewer_commands.rs` stay because the ACL says *which* window and
|
||
the label says *whose* entry. Amend the opening "verified against tauri 2.11.0's `PLUGINS`
|
||
table" framing so it no longer implies app commands are outside this file.
|
||
- `capabilities/file-viewer.json` `description`: replace "app commands need no entry here and
|
||
are gated by label inside `commands/file_viewer_commands.rs`" with: the five `allow-viewer-*`
|
||
grants are the only app commands this window can reach, the label gate is still what stops
|
||
window A acting on window B's entry, and `build.rs` refuses any other bare grant here.
|
||
- `CLAUDE.md` "Key Conventions" (`CLAUDE.md:598-600`): the bullet saying
|
||
`capabilities/default.json` grants plugin commands only and app commands "do not need an
|
||
entry there" becomes false. Replace with: a new command needs (1) `#[tauri::command]`, (2) a
|
||
`generate_handler!` entry, (3) an `allow-<kebab-name>` entry in the one capability file for
|
||
the window that calls it (`viewer_*` → `file-viewer.json`, everything else →
|
||
`default.json`); `cargo check`/`tauri build` fail otherwise, and
|
||
`src/test/capabilities.test.ts` fails if the code that runs in a window imports a wrapper that
|
||
window is not granted. Note the `_`→`-` rule, that `deny-*` is off-limits, and that
|
||
`permissions/autogenerated/` is generated and ignored.
|
||
- `CLAUDE.md` Backend Structure (`CLAUDE.md:179-180`): the `file_viewer/` bullet's "residual
|
||
risk … the AppManifest lockdown spec closes it" becomes "closed by `build.rs`'s
|
||
`AppManifest`"; add one bullet for `build.rs` + `command_census.rs`.
|
||
- `file_viewer/mod.rs` module doc: one sentence that `file-viewer-*` is also the capability
|
||
glob, so labels are minted only here.
|
||
- `.gitignore`: `app/src-tauri/permissions/autogenerated/`.
|
||
|
||
### 3.6 Deliberately not done
|
||
|
||
- `build.removeUnusedCommands` stays off. It compiles out commands no capability grants
|
||
(`tauri-macros/src/command/handler.rs:92-142`), but only when the CLI sets
|
||
`REMOVE_UNUSED_COMMANDS`, so `cargo test` and `tauri build` would compile different handler
|
||
lists, and it matches on the function identifier rather than a `rename`. The §3.2 check gives
|
||
the same guarantee at build time without a second code path.
|
||
- No `permissions/*.toml` written by hand, no permission sets. Every grant is a literal
|
||
`allow-<slug>` string in a capability file, so the census tests stay a flat string compare.
|
||
- No `webviews` patterns: this app has one webview per window.
|
||
|
||
## 4. Migration risks
|
||
|
||
| Risk | Where it bites | How it is caught |
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| A registered command is left out of `default.json` | Runtime: that feature's invoke rejected with `not allowed. Permissions associated with this command: allow-…` (release: `Command … not allowed by ACL`) | `build.rs` §3.2 fails the build before any binary exists; the vitest §3.3 fails locally |
|
||
| Typo in an `allow-*` string | Build | tauri's `validate_capabilities` and the §3.2 check, both at build time |
|
||
| Parser regression yields an empty command list | Would silently restore the unguarded state | §3.2 step 2 panics on empty; §3.4 asserts `acl-manifests.json` has the full set |
|
||
| Stale `permissions/autogenerated/<cmd>.toml` after a command is removed | A capability could still reference a dead permission and validate | §3.2 step 3 deletes the directory every build; the directory is gitignored |
|
||
| A `deny-*` added "for the viewer only" | Denies the command for main too (global) | §3.2 rejects any bare `deny-*` |
|
||
| `file-viewer.json` grants a main-only command | The viewer window gains reach | §3.2 `expected_windows` assertion and §3.3 equality check |
|
||
| Main-window code imports a `viewer*` wrapper (or the viewer imports a main one) | Runtime denial in that window | §3.3 `M ∩ V = ∅` and the per-side set checks |
|
||
| A future window label that happens to match `file-viewer-*` | Inherits the viewer grants | Labels are minted only in `file_viewer/`; note in that module's doc comment |
|
||
| Existing census tests (`lib.rs:924`, `file_viewer/mod.rs:63`) | Fail as written once bare grants appear | Updated in the same commit (§3.4) |
|
||
| Capability grants and `build.rs` land in different commits | Bare grants without a manifest fail the build; a manifest without grants builds but denies every command at runtime | One commit carries `build.rs`, both capability files and the census-test updates (plan Task 2) |
|
||
| `gen/schemas/acl-manifests.json` churn in diffs | Noise | Accepted; it is the reviewable evidence of what got embedded |
|
||
| Frontend invoked via a computed name | Un-auditable | §3.3 fails on a non-literal `invoke` argument |
|
||
|
||
Dev vs release: no behavioural difference (§2.5), so `tauri dev` is a faithful rehearsal. The
|
||
only visible difference is the error text.
|
||
|
||
## 5. Testing and manual verification
|
||
|
||
Automated (all must be green):
|
||
- `cd app/src-tauri && cargo test --offline`: §3.4 tests plus the existing census tests.
|
||
- `cd app && npx vitest run src/test/capabilities.test.ts` and the full `npm run test`.
|
||
- `npx tsc --noEmit`, `cargo clippy --offline` clean, `npm run build`.
|
||
- Negative checks, each done once by hand and then reverted, to prove the checks bite:
|
||
(a) remove one `allow-*` from `default.json` → `cargo check --offline` fails naming the
|
||
command; (b) misspell one → fails naming it; (c) add `deny-check-docker` → fails; (d) move
|
||
`allow-viewer-read-file` into `default.json` → fails the `expected_windows` assertion;
|
||
(e) import `listProjects` from `lib/tauri-commands` in `src/viewer/ViewerApp.tsx` → vitest
|
||
fails; (f) temporarily make `registered_commands` return `Some(vec![])` → the build fails
|
||
on the empty-list rule rather than building an unguarded app.
|
||
|
||
Manual (`npm run tauri dev`, then a release `tauri build` on Linux for the AppImage):
|
||
1. Cold start: projects list, Docker status, settings, help all render (each is an app command
|
||
on the main window).
|
||
2. Open a terminal, type, resize, paste an image, drop a file — the terminal group.
|
||
3. Files tab: list, view, rename, upload, save-to-host; Backup.
|
||
4. Browser view: enable, pop out, resize, close pop-out; in the pop-out's devtools,
|
||
`window.__TAURI_INTERNALS__?.invoke("list_projects")` must reject (remote origin, no
|
||
capability) exactly as before this change.
|
||
5. File viewer: click a path → window opens, reads, "Choose" list when ambiguous, edits, saves,
|
||
conflict banner, live reload on an external change (that is `viewer_poll_file`); then in
|
||
the viewer's devtools run
|
||
`window.__TAURI_INTERNALS__.invoke("list_projects")` and
|
||
`…invoke("read_container_file", {...})` — both must reject with
|
||
`not allowed on window "file-viewer-1"`. From the main window's devtools,
|
||
`invoke("viewer_read_file")` must reject likewise.
|
||
6. Settings export/import, gateway, STT, web terminal, scheduler tabs — one action each.
|
||
7. Watch the app log for `not allowed` during the whole pass; any occurrence is a missed grant.
|
||
|
||
## 6. Open questions — resolved
|
||
|
||
1. **CI test steps: out of scope** (controller ruling). CI runs no test suite (§1). The
|
||
build-time check (§3.2) covers the security property on every merge because it runs inside
|
||
`tauri build`; the vitest half (§3.3) and the `cargo test` half (§3.4) only run on a
|
||
developer's machine. Recommendation to the user, not part of this change: add
|
||
`cd app && npm run test` and `cd app/src-tauri && cargo test` steps to
|
||
`build-app-preview.yml` after the dependency install.
|
||
2. **`Box::leak` in `build.rs`: acceptable** (controller ruling; either was allowed). Chosen
|
||
over a generated include file because it is two lines, needs no `OUT_DIR` plumbing, and the
|
||
build script exits immediately afterwards.
|
||
3. **No `webviews` patterns** (controller ruling). One webview per window; `windows` globs
|
||
only.
|
||
|
||
## Decisions made during review
|
||
|
||
Checked against the tree at `bf22910` (the completed viewer) and the tauri-build 2.6.0 /
|
||
tauri-utils 2.9.0 / tauri 2.11.0 sources pinned by `Cargo.lock`. The user-approved goal
|
||
(allow-lists only, one file per window, the build fails rather than a feature breaking at
|
||
runtime) is unchanged. What changed:
|
||
|
||
1. **Five viewer commands, not four (§3.1).** The implemented viewer polls with
|
||
`viewer_poll_file`, so `file-viewer.json` gets five `allow-viewer-*` grants and `default.json`
|
||
gets 110, for 115 registered commands.
|
||
2. **The window rule is a function (§3.2).** `expected_windows(command)` (`viewer_*` →
|
||
`file-viewer-*`, else `main`) replaces both the "no `viewer_*` in main / only `viewer_*` in
|
||
the viewer file" policy assertion and the `SHARED` list. A command that must be callable from
|
||
both windows is an edit to that function, which is the visible design change the earlier
|
||
draft wanted; the extra list was a second place to say the same thing.
|
||
3. **The check logic is a module, not inline `build.rs` (§3.2, §3.4).** A build script cannot
|
||
be unit-tested, and the empty-list, typo, `deny-*` and wrong-file rules are exactly the code
|
||
whose failure mode is "builds an unguarded app". `command_census.rs` is compiled into both
|
||
`build.rs` and the test build, so the rules get ordinary `cargo test` coverage and the
|
||
handler-list parser the census test already used becomes the one the build uses.
|
||
4. **The vitest test follows imports, not directories (§3.3).** The viewer never calls `invoke`;
|
||
it imports wrappers from the shared `lib/tauri-commands.ts`. So the test computes the
|
||
viewer's transitive import closure from `viewer/main.tsx` and takes the wrappers that closure
|
||
imports; a directory split would have put every viewer command in the "main" bucket and
|
||
proved nothing.
|
||
5. **Both census tests change, not one (§3.4).** The viewer feature added its own exact-set
|
||
test in `file_viewer/mod.rs`; the earlier draft only knew about the `lib.rs` one.
|
||
6. **`gen/schemas/*.json` is committed with the change.** It is tracked, tauri-build rewrites it
|
||
on every build, and after this change it contains the `__app-acl__` manifest and the
|
||
resolved grants — the reviewable evidence of what the binary embeds. Expect a large diff:
|
||
`desktop-schema.json` and `linux-schema.json` gain an enum entry per generated permission
|
||
(about 12 lines per command, ~2,700 lines across the two files for 115 commands).
|
||
9. **Stale-permission cleanup is selective, not `remove_dir_all` (§3.2 step 3).** Found by the
|
||
spike: wholesale regeneration would re-run the build script on every `cargo` call.
|
||
7. **Atomicity (§4).** A bare `allow-*` in a capability file with no app manifest is a build
|
||
error (`Permission allow-… not found`), and a manifest with no grants builds an app in which
|
||
every command is denied. `build.rs`, both capability files and the census-test updates are
|
||
therefore one commit; the shared module and its tests land before it, and the end-to-end
|
||
manifest test, the vitest and the docs after it.
|
||
8. **Spike (see §7).** Every claim in §2 that the design leans on was reproduced in a throwaway
|
||
worktree before the plan was written.
|
||
|
||
## 7. Spike results (2026-09-22, throwaway worktree at `bf22910`, then removed)
|
||
|
||
Environment: tauri-build 2.6.0 / tauri 2.11.0 / tauri-utils 2.9.0 from `Cargo.lock`,
|
||
`cargo check --offline` with the shared `target/` dir; each run ~3 s (only `triple-c`
|
||
recompiles). A fresh worktree needs `app/dist` to exist (`npm run build`) or
|
||
`generate_context!` panics on `frontendDist` before any ACL code runs.
|
||
|
||
| # | Experiment | Result |
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| A | Untouched tree | Builds. `acl-manifests.json` has only plugin keys (`core`, `core:*`, `dialog`, `opener`); no `__app-acl__`. |
|
||
| B | `build.rs` with `AppManifest::new().commands(Box::leak(…))` for three names | Builds. `permissions/autogenerated/{check_docker,list_projects,viewer_read_file}.toml` written (`allow-check-docker` / `deny-check-docker`, `commands.allow = ["check_docker"]`, header `# Automatically generated - DO NOT EDIT!`). `acl-manifests.json` gains `__app-acl__` with the six identifiers. `desktop-schema.json` and `linux-schema.json` each gain 36 lines (enum entries). `capabilities.json` unchanged until a file references a grant. Nothing else written. |
|
||
| C | Bare `allow-check-docker`, `allow-list-projects` in `default.json`; `allow-viewer-read-file` in `file-viewer.json` | Builds. `gen/schemas/capabilities.json` shows the grants under each capability. |
|
||
| D | Bare `allow-does-not-exist` | **Fails** (exit 101): `Permission allow-does-not-exist not found, expected one of allow-check-docker, …` — one ~10 KB line listing every identifier, no fuzzy hint. Hence the project's own check with a readable message. |
|
||
| E | Typo `allow-check-dokcer` | Fails, same shape. |
|
||
| F | Bare `deny-check-docker` in `file-viewer.json` | **Builds** and appears in `capabilities.json` — tauri does not object; only §3.2's ban does. |
|
||
| G | Drop `list_projects` from the manifest list, keep its grant | **Builds**: the stale `list_projects.toml` is still globbed. After deleting `permissions/autogenerated`, fails with `Permission allow-list-projects not found`. Stale files are real. |
|
||
| H | Original `tauri_build::build()` plus one bare grant | **Fails**: `Permission allow-check-docker not found, expected one of core:default, …`. The message goes to the build script's **stdout** (`println!`). Capability grants cannot land before the manifest. |
|
||
| I | Rerun semantics | tauri-build emits `cargo:rerun-if-changed=capabilities` unconditionally (`acl.rs:427`) and `=permissions` when the dir exists (`acl.rs:300-305`). Editing a capability file alone re-runs the script and refreshes `gen/schemas`. Writing a `.toml` makes the *next* run re-run once more, then it settles because `write_if_changed` leaves unchanged files alone. |
|
||
| J | Signatures | `AppManifest::commands(mut self, commands: &'static [&'static str]) -> Self` (`acl.rs:100`); `AppManifest` is `Copy`, so no owned alternative — `Box::leak` it is. `try_build(Attributes) -> anyhow::Result<()>`; `build()` prints `{error:#}` and `exit(1)`. |
|