Build From Source

This guide covers building CoreLayer from source for development or when pre-built binaries aren't available.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Version
Node.js	>= 22
pnpm	>= 9
Rust	Latest stable
Platform tools	See Tauri prerequisites

Platform-Specific Requirements

Windows:

Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools
Windows SDK

macOS:

Xcode Command Line Tools

Linux:

Various system libraries (see Tauri docs)

Clone and Install

git clone https://github.com/alvinluo-tech/CoreLayer.git
cd CoreLayer
pnpm install

Development Mode

Run the full app in development mode with hot reload:

pnpm dev

This starts:

The daemon on port 3001
The Vite dev server for the frontend
The Tauri app with hot reload

Build for Production

pnpm build

This will:

Build the daemon sidecar
Build the Tauri app with production optimizations
Output platform-specific installers

Build Individual Components

Daemon only

pnpm build:daemon

Daemon sidecar (for packaging)

pnpm build:daemon:sidecar

Frontend only (web mode)

pnpm dev:web

Project Structure

CoreLayer/
├── frontend/              # Tauri + React frontend
│   ├── src/               # React source
│   └── src-tauri/         # Rust native code
├── daemon/                # Node.js backend
├── packages/              # Shared packages
│   ├── types/             # TypeScript types
│   ├── model-gateway/     # AI model routing
│   ├── mcp-client/        # MCP connections
│   ├── tool-registry/     # Tool management
│   ├── permission-guard/  # Safety system
│   ├── runtime-core/      # Runtime management
│   ├── runtime-protocol/  # Protocol definitions
│   └── execution-environment/ # Execution abstraction
├── skills/                # Built-in skill definitions
├── scripts/               # Build scripts
└── supabase/              # Database migrations

Troubleshooting

pnpm install fails:

Ensure Node.js 22+ and pnpm 9+ are installed
Try pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

Tauri build fails:

Verify Rust toolchain is installed: rustc --version
Check platform-specific prerequisites
See Tauri troubleshooting

Daemon won't start:

Check port 3001 is not in use
Verify database permissions
Check daemon logs for errors

Next Steps

System Overview — understand the architecture
Daemon — daemon details

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