Use SurrealDB with Tauri (WIP)

This example repo shows how to use SurrealDB as a sidecar application with Tauri.

WARNING: This example will not work out of the box. The required binaries are not included. Follow the instructions below to get the binaries.

Tested on Linux with SurrealDB 1.0.0.

By default SurrealDB will be exposed on http://127.0.0.1:8877.

Get the binaries

To keep this clean, small and safe no binaries are included in this repo. Follow these stops to obtain them and put them in the right location.

First create the bin directory:

mkdir <PROJECT_ROOT>/src-tauri/bin

Download SurrealDB from the official release page. For Linux on an amd64 architecture that would be surreal-v1.0.0.linux-amd64.tgz.

Unpack to <PROJECT_ROOT>/src-tauri/bin and rename surreal to surreal-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.

The correct file name may vary on your system. Run rustc -Vv | grep host | cut -f2 -d' ' to get the correct suffix for your system. More information here

If you intend to add more platforms just add the correct binaries for each platform with the suffix of choice.

Once the binaries are in place you should be good to go.

Run the project

Make sure that all binaries are in <PROJECT_ROOT>/src-tauri/bin with the correct suffixes.

First install npm dependencies:

npm install

After that you are good to go to run:

npm run tauri dev

Alternatively you can switch to the src-tauri directory and run with cargo instead:

cargo tauri dev

Sidecar vs. Embedded

SurrealDB can be used in an embedded mode witch works great with Tauri. It may be preferrable to use the database in server mode. That way both the back end and the frond end have client access to the database using their native client drivers, and you won't need to worry about any kind of IPC channels.

It's a good consideration and also demonstrates the powerful option of bundling any binary you like with your Tauri app.

Using side cars might work great on the Linux desktop but it may be a bad choice for windows or Mac OS due to firewall restrictions. In this case we open port 8877 on localhost which might trigger some pop-ups.

Another consideration is the use of sidecar binaries on mobile platforms once Tauri supports them. It remains to be seen if this is a viable option in those environments.

Other Resources:

• Example repo on using SurrealDB in embedded mode with Tauri IPC
• Tauri v2 shell plugin: Current Version - Version 2 seems to do things a little different. Once the release comes closer I'll try to update the example.

Roadmap & TODO:

• A more visual demonstration on the front end (console.log only for now)
• Using SurrealDB from both back end and front end.
• CLI options for tauri
• Add script to auto-add binaries
• Test on Windows and Mac OS (volunteers with Macs needed :) )
• Optional: Persistent password storage using OS keyring

Known issues

Unable to access the database after changing the password

Once SurrealDB is created with a password you may need to stick to that password. If you forgot the password just delete the database: rm -rf /tmp/test.db

App crashes on reload due to LOCK file

SurrealDB is configured to use persistent storage located in /tmp/test.db. When npm or cargo reload after a code change it may be too quick and the lock file is still present.

In a real world scenario I'd recommend to re-try a few times in that case. But for the sake of simplicity I didn't include it in the example.