Title:	Native Desktop App Framework for 'R'
Version:	1.0.4
Description:	Build native Windows desktop applications using 'R' and 'WebView2'. Provides a robust 'R6'-based event loop, asynchronous background task management via 'mirai' and 'callr', and a native 'Win32' message bridge for seamless 'R'-to-user-interface communication without listening ports or network overhead. Allows 'R' developers to create professional, standalone desktop tools with modern web-based user interfaces while maintaining a pure 'R' backend.
OS_type:	windows
License:	MIT + file LICENSE
Encoding:	UTF-8
Language:	en-US
URL:	https://github.com/Janakiraman-311/RDesk, https://janakiraman-311.github.io/RDesk/
BugReports:	https://github.com/Janakiraman-311/RDesk/issues
SystemRequirements:	Windows 10 or later, 'Rtools44' or later (https://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/Rtools/), Microsoft 'WebView2' Runtime (https://developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/webview2/)
RoxygenNote:	7.3.3
Imports:	R6, jsonlite, digest, processx, callr, mirai (≥ 1.0.0), base64enc, zip, stats, utils, parallel
Suggests:	testthat (≥ 3.0.0), withr, fs, knitr, rmarkdown, devtools, renv, broom, ggplot2, dplyr, rstudioapi, pkgdown
VignetteBuilder:	knitr
Config/testthat/edition:	3
NeedsCompilation:	yes
Packaged:	2026-03-27 16:55:56 UTC; Janak
Author:	Janakiraman G [aut, cre], Serge Zaitsev [cph] (Author of webview library (src/webview/webview.h)), Niels Lohmann [cph] (Author of nlohmann/json (inst/include/nlohmann/json.hpp)), Microsoft Corporation [cph] (WebView2 SDK (src/webview2_sdk/))
Maintainer:	Janakiraman G <janakiraman.bt@gmail.com>
Repository:	CRAN
Date/Publication:	2026-03-31 15:50:02 UTC

Create and launch a native desktop application window from R.

Description

Provides bidirectional native pipe communication between R and the UI.

Methods

Public methods

• App$new()

• App$on_ready()

• App$on_close()

• App$check_update()

• App$register_hotkey()

• App$set_tray_menu()

• App$clipboard_write()

• App$clipboard_read()

• App$on_message()

• App$send()

• App$load_ui()

• App$set_size()

• App$set_position()

• App$set_title()

• App$minimize()

• App$maximize()

• App$restore()

• App$fullscreen()

• App$always_on_top()

• App$set_menu()

• App$dialog_open()

• App$dialog_save()

• App$dialog_folder()

• App$message_box()

• App$dialog_color()

• App$notify()

• App$loading_start()

• App$loading_progress()

• App$loading_done()

• App$toast()

• App$set_tray()

• App$remove_tray()

• App$service()

• App$quit()

• App$get_dir()

• App$run()

• App$clone()

Method new()

Create a new RDesk application

Usage

App$new(title, width = 1200L, height = 800L, www = NULL, icon = NULL)

Arguments

Returns

A new App instance

Method on_ready()

Register a callback to fire when the window is ready

Usage

App$on_ready(fn)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method on_close()

Register a callback to fire when the user attempts to close the window

Usage

App$on_close(fn)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method check_update()

Check for application updates from a remote URL

Usage

App$check_update(version_url, current_version = NULL)

Arguments

Returns

A list with update status and metadata

Method register_hotkey()

Register a global keyboard shortcut (hotkey)

Usage

App$register_hotkey(keys, fn)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method set_tray_menu()

Set the native system tray menu

Usage

App$set_tray_menu(items)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method clipboard_write()

Write text to the system clipboard

Usage

App$clipboard_write(text)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method clipboard_read()

Read text from the system clipboard

Usage

App$clipboard_read()

Returns

Character string from clipboard or NULL

Method on_message()

Register a handler for a UI -> R message type

Usage

App$on_message(type, fn)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method send()

Send a message from R to the UI

Usage

App$send(type, payload = list())

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method load_ui()

Load an HTML file into the window

Usage

App$load_ui(path = "index.html")

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method set_size()

Set the window size dynamically

Usage

App$set_size(width, height)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method set_position()

Set the window position dynamically

Usage

App$set_position(x, y)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method set_title()

Set the window title dynamically

Usage

App$set_title(title)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method minimize()

Minimize the window to the taskbar

Usage

App$minimize()

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method maximize()

Maximize the window to fill the screen

Usage

App$maximize()

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method restore()

Restore the window from minimize/maximize

Usage

App$restore()

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method fullscreen()

Toggle fullscreen mode

Usage

App$fullscreen(enabled = TRUE)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method always_on_top()

Set the window to stay always on top of others

Usage

App$always_on_top(enabled = TRUE)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method set_menu()

Set the native window menu

Usage

App$set_menu(items)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method dialog_open()

Open a native file-open dialog

Usage

App$dialog_open(title = "Open File", filters = NULL)

Arguments

Returns

Selected file path (character) or NULL if cancelled

Method dialog_save()

Open a native file-save dialog

Usage

App$dialog_save(title = "Save File", default_name = "", filters = NULL)

Arguments

Returns

Selected file path (character) or NULL if cancelled

Method dialog_folder()

Open a native folder selection dialog

Usage

App$dialog_folder(title = "Select Folder")

Arguments

Returns

Selected directory path (character) or NULL if cancelled

Method message_box()

Show a native message box / alert

Usage

App$message_box(message, title = "RDesk", type = "ok", icon = "info")

Arguments

Returns

The button pressed (character: "ok", "cancel", "yes", "no")

Method dialog_color()

Open a native color selection dialog

Usage

App$dialog_color(initial_color = "#FFFFFF")

Arguments

Returns

Selected hex color code or NULL if cancelled

Method notify()

Send a native desktop notification

Usage

App$notify(title, body = "")

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method loading_start()

Show a loading state in the UI

Usage

App$loading_start(
  message = "Loading...",
  progress = NULL,
  cancellable = FALSE,
  job_id = NULL
)

Arguments

Method loading_progress()

Update progress on an active loading state

Usage

App$loading_progress(value, message = NULL)

Arguments

Method loading_done()

Hide the loading state in the UI

Usage

App$loading_done()

Method toast()

Show a non-blocking toast notification in the UI

Usage

App$toast(message, type = "info", duration_ms = 3000L)

Arguments

Method set_tray()

Set or update the system tray icon

Usage

App$set_tray(label = "RDesk App", icon = NULL, on_click = NULL)

Arguments

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method remove_tray()

Remove the system tray icon

Usage

App$remove_tray()

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method service()

Service this app's pending native events

Usage

App$service()

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method quit()

Close the window and stop the app's event loop.

Usage

App$quit()

Returns

The App instance (invisible)

Method get_dir()

Get the application root directory (where www/ and R/ are located).

Usage

App$get_dir()

Returns

Character string path.

Method run()

Start the application - opens the window

Usage

App$run(block = TRUE)

Arguments

Method clone()

The objects of this class are cloneable with this method.

Usage

App$clone(deep = FALSE)

Arguments

Examples

# Safe logical check (unwrapped)
app_dir <- system.file("templates/hello", package = "RDesk")
if (nzchar(app_dir)) {
  message("Built-in app directory: ", app_dir)
}

if (interactive()) {
  app <- App$new(title = "Car Visualizer", width = 1200, height = 800)
  
  app$on_ready(function() {
    message("App is ready!")
  })
  
  # Handle messages from UI
  app$on_message("get_data", function(payload) {
    list(cars = mtcars[1:5, ])
  })
  
  # Start the app
  app$run()
}

Wrap a message handler to run asynchronously with zero configuration

Description

async() is the simplest way to make an RDesk message handler non-blocking. Wrap any handler function with async() and RDesk automatically handles background execution, loading states, error toasts, and result routing.

async() transforms a standard RDesk message handler into a background task. The UI remains responsive while the task runs. When finished, a result message (e.g., get_data_result) is automatically sent back to the UI.

Usage

async(
  fn,
  app = NULL,
  loading_message = "Working...",
  cancellable = TRUE,
  error_message = "Error: "
)

Arguments

Details

To ensure the background worker has access to all application logic, RDesk automatically sources every .R file in the application's ⁠R/⁠ directory before executing the task. It also snapshots currently loaded packages (excluding system packages) to recreate the environment.

Value

A wrapped handler function suitable for app$on_message().

Examples

if (interactive()) {
  app$on_message("filter_cars", async(function(payload) {
    mtcars[mtcars$cyl == payload$cylinders, ]
  }, app = app))
}

Build a self-contained distributable from an RDesk application

Description

Build a self-contained distributable from an RDesk application

Usage

build_app(
  app_dir = ".",
  out_dir = file.path(tempdir(), "dist"),
  app_name = NULL,
  version = NULL,
  r_version = NULL,
  include_packages = character(0),
  portable_r_method = c("extract_only", "installer"),
  runtime_dir = NULL,
  overwrite = FALSE,
  build_installer = FALSE,
  publisher = "RDesk User",
  website = "https://github.com/Janakiraman-311/RDesk",
  license_file = NULL,
  icon_file = NULL,
  prune_runtime = TRUE,
  dry_run = FALSE
)

Arguments

Value

Path to the created zip file, invisibly.

Examples

# Prepare an app directory (following scaffold example)
app_path <- file.path(tempdir(), "MyApp")
rdesk_create_app("MyApp", path = tempdir())

# Perform a dry-run build (fast, no external binaries downloaded)
build_app(app_path, out_dir = tempdir(), dry_run = TRUE)

Run a task in the background

Description

Automatically switches between 'mirai' (persistent daemons) and 'callr' (on-demand processes).

Usage

rdesk_async(
  task,
  args = list(),
  on_done = NULL,
  on_error = NULL,
  timeout_sec = NULL,
  app_id = NULL
)

Arguments

Value

Invisible job ID.

Examples

# Fast, non-interactive task check (safe to unwrap)
rdesk_jobs_pending()

if (interactive()) {
  # Run a long-running computation in the background
  rdesk_async(
    task = function(n) { Sys.sleep(2); sum(runif(n)) },
    args = list(n = 1e6),
    on_done = function(res) message("Task finished: ", res),
    on_error = function(err) message("Task failed: ", err$message)
  )
}

Automatically check for and install app updates

Description

rdesk_auto_update is a high-level function designed for bundled (standalone) applications. It checks a remote version string, compares it with the current version, and if a newer version is found, it downloads and executes the installer silently before quitting the current application.

Usage

rdesk_auto_update(
  version_url,
  download_url,
  current_version,
  silent = FALSE,
  app = NULL
)

Arguments

Value

Invisible TRUE if update was applied, FALSE otherwise.

Cancel a running background job

Description

Cancel a running background job

Usage

rdesk_cancel_job(job_id)

Arguments

Value

Invisible TRUE if cancelled, FALSE if not found.

Close the native window process

Description

Close the native window process

Usage

rdesk_close_window(proc)

Arguments

Create a new RDesk application

Description

Scaffolds a professional RDesk application with a modern dashboard layout. The app includes a sidebar for filters, KPI cards, and an asynchronous ggplot2 charting engine fueled by mtcars (default).

Usage

rdesk_create_app(
  name,
  path = tempdir(),
  data_source = NULL,
  viz_type = NULL,
  use_async = NULL,
  theme = "light",
  open = TRUE
)

Arguments

Value

Path to the created app directory, invisibly.

Examples

if (interactive()) {
  # Create the Professional Hero Dashboard in a temporary directory
  rdesk_create_app("MyDashboard", path = tempdir())
}

# The following demonstrates just the return value without opening a window
# (Fast and safe - no \dontrun needed for this specific logical check)
path <- file.path(tempdir(), "TestLogic")
if (!dir.exists(path)) {
  # This is just a placeholder example of how to call the function safely
  message("Scaffold path will be: ", path)
}

Convert a data frame to a list suitable for JSON serialization

Description

Convert a data frame to a list suitable for JSON serialization

Usage

rdesk_df_to_list(df)

Arguments

Value

A list with 'rows' (list of lists) and 'cols' (character vector)

Generate a base64-encoded error plot

Description

Generate a base64-encoded error plot

Usage

rdesk_error_plot(message = "Error generating plot")

Arguments

Value

A base64-encoded PNG string

Check if the app is running in a bundled (standalone) environment

Description

Check if the app is running in a bundled (standalone) environment

Usage

rdesk_is_bundle()

Value

TRUE if running in a bundle, FALSE otherwise

List currently pending background jobs

Description

List currently pending background jobs

Usage

rdesk_jobs_list()

Value

A data.frame with job ID, started time, backend, and app ID.

Check if any background jobs are pending

Description

Check if any background jobs are pending

Usage

rdesk_jobs_pending()

Value

Number of pending jobs.

Log a message to the app's log file

Description

Log a message to the app's log file

Usage

rdesk_log(
  message,
  level = "INFO",
  app_name = Sys.getenv("R_APP_NAME", "RDeskApp")
)

Arguments

Resolve the bundled log directory for an app

Description

Resolve the bundled log directory for an app

Usage

rdesk_log_dir(app_name = Sys.getenv("R_APP_NAME", "RDeskApp"))

Create an IPC message router

Description

Create an IPC message router

Usage

rdesk_make_router()

Value

A list with register() and dispatch() methods

Construct a standard RDesk IPC message envelope

Description

Construct a standard RDesk IPC message envelope

Usage

rdesk_message(
  type,
  payload = list(),
  version = getOption("rdesk.ipc_version", "1.0")
)

Arguments

Value

A list representing the standard JSON envelope

Open a native window pointing to a URL

Description

Open a native window pointing to a URL

Usage

rdesk_open_window(
  url,
  title = "RDesk",
  width = 1200,
  height = 800,
  www_path = ""
)

Arguments

Value

A processx process object

Parse a hotkey string into modifiers and virtual key codes

Description

Parse a hotkey string into modifiers and virtual key codes

Usage

rdesk_parse_hotkey(keys)

Arguments

Value

List with modifiers and vk

Parse and validate an incoming RDesk IPC message

Description

Parse and validate an incoming RDesk IPC message

Usage

rdesk_parse_message(raw_json)

Arguments

Value

A list containing the validated message components, or NULL if invalid

Convert a ggplot2 object to a base64-encoded PNG string

Description

Convert a ggplot2 object to a base64-encoded PNG string

Usage

rdesk_plot_to_base64(plot, width = 6, height = 4, dpi = 96)

Arguments

Value

A base64-encoded PNG string or a fallback error plot

Poll background jobs

Description

This is called internally by the main event loop to check if any background tasks have finished. Handles both mirai and callr backends.

Usage

rdesk_poll_jobs()

Read all pending stdout lines from the launcher without blocking

Description

Read all pending stdout lines from the launcher without blocking

Usage

rdesk_read_events(proc)

Arguments

Value

A list of parsed JSON events

Generate a unique request ID for dialog round-trips

Description

Generate a unique request ID for dialog round-trips

Usage

rdesk_req_id()

Value

A character string ID

Resolve a source-tree launcher binary directory

Description

Resolve a source-tree launcher binary directory

Usage

rdesk_resolve_launcher_bin_dir(project_root)

Resolve the www directory for an app

Description

Resolve the www directory for an app

Usage

rdesk_resolve_www(www_dir)

Arguments

Value

Normalized absolute path to a valid www directory

Sanitize an app name for filesystem-safe bundled log paths

Description

Sanitize an app name for filesystem-safe bundled log paths

Usage

rdesk_sanitize_log_component(x)

Internal success message

Description

Internal success message

Usage

rdesk_scaffold_success_msg(name, app_dir, data_source, viz_type, use_async)

Send a JSON command to the launcher process over stdin

Description

Send a JSON command to the launcher process over stdin

Usage

rdesk_send_cmd(proc, cmd, payload = list(), id = NULL)

Arguments

Service all active RDesk applications

Description

Processes native OS events for all open windows. Call this periodically if you are running apps with block = FALSE.

Usage

rdesk_service()

Start the mirai daemon pool

Description

Called once at App$run() startup when rdesk.async_backend is "mirai".

Usage

rdesk_start_daemons()

Value

Invisible number of workers started.

Stop the mirai daemon pool

Description

Called at App$cleanup().

Usage

rdesk_stop_daemons()

Validate build inputs before starting the process

Description

Validate build inputs before starting the process

Usage

rdesk_validate_build_inputs(
  app_dir,
  extra_pkgs,
  build_installer = FALSE,
  portable_r_method = c("extract_only", "installer"),
  runtime_dir = NULL
)

Arguments