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How to build?

To build Local Desktop from source code, you can follow these steps:

  1. Clone the source code repository:

    git clone https://github.com/localdesktop/localdesktop.github.io.git

  2. Make sure you already have Rust and Cargo installed. If not, please check the official Rust website for installation instructions. Then, you can install the xbuild tool:

    cargo install xbuild

    At the moment, you need to install a locally patched version of xbuild. Follow this instruction instead:

    cd patches/xbuild
    cargo install --path xbuild

  3. Build the project:

    x build --release --platform android --arch arm64 --format apk

Then you will find the APK file in target/x/release/android/localdesktop.apk.

FAQ​

Can I test a release-signed APK from a PR?​

Yes. Same-repository PRs targeting main produce a signed release APK artifact when they have exactly one app-release label: release:breaking, release:feature, release:bugfix, release:patch, release:improvement, or release:optimisation. Download the .apk workflow artifact from GitHub Actions and install it over the GitHub APK. Older artifacts may still download as .zip files.

PRs labeled release:docs do not build an APK.

Can I build on Termux?​

Yes.

For the simplest path, install Rust in Termux and run:

pkg i rust
cargo run

This uses the built-in Rust APK builder and writes localdesktop.apk in the project root.

If you want to use the patched xbuild pipeline on Termux, run:

bash scripts/build-termux.sh

This writes the APK to target/x/release/android/localdesktop.apk.

Can I build on Termux & proot-distro?​

Yes.