Platform Support Skill

Overview

Develop Storybook components for desktop applications (Tauri and Electron) with platform-specific guidance, IPC mocking patterns, and architectural best practices for maximum testability.

This skill provides comprehensive documentation on integrating Storybook with Tauri (full support) and Electron (partial support with workarounds).

What This Skill Provides

Platform Compatibility Guide

Understand support levels for each platform:

• Web: Full support (100%)
• Tauri: Full support (100%) - Excellent compatibility
• Electron: Partial support (~60%) - Requires architectural patterns

Tauri Support

Complete guidance for Tauri applications:

• Development workflow: Parallel dev servers
• IPC mocking: Mock Tauri API calls in stories
• Component architecture: Dependency injection patterns
• Testing strategies: Unit, integration, and E2E testing

Electron Support

Limitations documentation and workarounds:

• What works: Pure UI components, design systems
• What doesn't work: Direct Electron module imports, IPC in iframes
• Architectural solutions: Container/presentational pattern
• Testing alternatives: E2E tests with Playwright

Best Practices

Platform-agnostic component patterns:

• Dependency injection for IPC calls
• Container/presentational separation
• Mock providers for stories
• Type-safe API abstractions

Tauri Support - Full Compatibility ✅

Why It Works

Tauri and Storybook work excellently together:

• Separate processes: No conflicts between Storybook and Tauri runtime
• Independent development: Develop UI without Tauri rebuilds
• Parallel dev servers: Run both simultaneously
• Full testing: All components testable in Storybook

Development Workflow

Run Tauri and Storybook in parallel:

# Terminal 1: Tauri development server
npm run tauri dev
# Runs on http://localhost:5173

# Terminal 2: Storybook
npm run storybook
# Runs on http://localhost:6006

# Terminal 3: Tests in watch mode
npm run test:watch

Component Architecture Pattern

Best Practice: Dependency Injection

Keep components Tauri-agnostic by injecting IPC functionality:

// ✅ Good: Testable component
interface ApiClient {
  readFile: (path: string) => Promise<string>;
  writeFile: (path: string, content: string) => Promise<void>;
}

function FileEditor({ apiClient }: { apiClient: ApiClient }) {
  const [content, setContent] = useState('');

  const handleSave = async () => {
    await apiClient.writeFile('file.txt', content);
  };

  return <textarea value={content} onChange={(e) => setContent(e.target.value)} />;
}

// In Tauri app: Inject real API
<FileEditor apiClient={tauriApiClient} />

// In Storybook: Inject mock API
<FileEditor apiClient={mockApiClient} />

IPC Mocking in Storybook

Create mock providers for Tauri API calls:

// .storybook/tauri-mocks.ts
export const mockTauriApi = {
  invoke: async (cmd: string, args?: any) => {
    switch (cmd) {
      case 'read_file':
        return 'Mock file content';
      case 'write_file':
        return { success: true };
      default:
        return null;
    }
  },
};

// In story
export const WithTauriAPI: Story = {
  decorators: [
    (Story) => {
      if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
        window.__TAURI__ = mockTauriApi;
      }
      return <Story />;
    },
  ],
};

Project Structure

Recommended structure for Tauri + Storybook:

tauri-app/
├── src/
│   ├── components/           # UI components (testable)
│   │   ├── Button.tsx
│   │   ├── Button.stories.tsx
│   │   ├── FileEditor.tsx
│   │   └── FileEditor.stories.tsx
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── tauri.ts         # Tauri IPC abstraction
│   └── main.tsx
├── src-tauri/                # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   └── tauri.conf.json
├── .storybook/
│   ├── main.ts
│   ├── preview.ts
│   └── tauri-mocks.ts       # IPC mocks
└── package.json

Electron Support - Partial Compatibility ⚠️

Major Limitation

Iframe Incompatibility:

• Storybook renders stories in iframes
• Electron modules (ipcRenderer) are not available in iframe context
• Webpack electron-renderer target creates externals that fail

Impact:

• ❌ Components with direct electron imports won't work
• ❌ IPC calls cannot be tested in Storybook
• ❌ Main process code cannot be accessed

What Works ✅

1. Pure UI Components

Components without Electron dependencies work perfectly:

// ✅ Works perfectly
function Button({ variant, onClick }) {
  return (
    <button className={`btn-${variant}`} onClick={onClick}>
      Click Me
    </button>
  );
}

2. Design System Components

UI libraries work without issues:

// ✅ Works - Material UI, shadcn/ui, etc.
import { Card } from '@mui/material';

function ProfileCard({ name, bio }) {
  return <Card>{/* UI content */}</Card>;
}

3. State Management

Redux, Zustand, Context API all work:

// ✅ Works
function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return <button onClick={() => setCount(c => c + 1)}>{count}</button>;
}

What Doesn't Work ❌

// ❌ Won't work in Storybook
import { ipcRenderer } from 'electron';

function FileReader() {
  const readFile = () => {
    ipcRenderer.invoke('read-file', '/path/to/file');
  };
  // This will fail in Storybook iframe
}

Architectural Solution: Container/Presentational Pattern

Separate concerns to maximize testability:

// ✅ Presentational Component (testable in Storybook)
interface FileListProps {
  files: string[];
  isLoading: boolean;
  error?: string;
  onRefresh: () => void;
}

function FileList({ files, isLoading, error, onRefresh }: FileListProps) {
  if (isLoading) return <Spinner />;
  if (error) return <ErrorMessage message={error} />;

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={onRefresh}>Refresh</button>
      <ul>
        {files.map(file => <li key={file}>{file}</li>)}
      </ul>
    </div>
  );
}

// ❌ Container Component (not testable in Storybook)
function FileListContainer() {
  const [files, setFiles] = useState<string[]>([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false);

  const loadFiles = async () => {
    setLoading(true);
    const result = await window.api.readDir('/path');
    setFiles(result);
    setLoading(false);
  };

  return <FileList files={files} isLoading={loading} onRefresh={loadFiles} />;
}

In Storybook, test the presentational component:

export const Default: Story = {
  args: {
    files: ['file1.txt', 'file2.txt', 'file3.txt'],
    isLoading: false,
    onRefresh: fn(),
  },
};

export const Loading: Story = {
  args: {
    files: [],
    isLoading: true,
    onRefresh: fn(),
  },
};

export const Error: Story = {
  args: {
    files: [],
    isLoading: false,
    error: 'Failed to load files',
    onRefresh: fn(),
  },
};

Testing Strategy for Electron

Use multiple testing approaches:

1. Storybook: Test presentational components (60% of UI)
2. Vitest: Test business logic and utilities
3. Playwright/Spectron: E2E tests for full application flow

# Storybook: UI component testing
npm run storybook

# Vitest: Unit tests
npm run test

# Playwright: E2E tests with Electron
npm run test:e2e

Best Practices for Multi-Platform Components

1. Abstraction Layer Pattern

Create platform-agnostic API clients:

// api/client.ts
export interface FileSystemClient {
  readFile: (path: string) => Promise<string>;
  writeFile: (path: string, content: string) => Promise<void>;
  listFiles: (dir: string) => Promise<string[]>;
}

// api/tauri-client.ts
export const tauriClient: FileSystemClient = {
  readFile: (path) => invoke('read_file', { path }),
  writeFile: (path, content) => invoke('write_file', { path, content }),
  listFiles: (dir) => invoke('list_files', { dir }),
};

// api/electron-client.ts
export const electronClient: FileSystemClient = {
  readFile: (path) => window.api.readFile(path),
  writeFile: (path, content) => window.api.writeFile(path, content),
  listFiles: (dir) => window.api.listFiles(dir),
};

// api/mock-client.ts (for Storybook)
export const mockClient: FileSystemClient = {
  readFile: async () => 'Mock content',
  writeFile: async () => {},
  listFiles: async () => ['file1.txt', 'file2.txt'],
};

2. Context Provider Pattern

Use React Context to inject platform APIs:

// contexts/PlatformContext.tsx
const PlatformContext = createContext<FileSystemClient>(mockClient);

export function PlatformProvider({ client, children }) {
  return (
    <PlatformContext.Provider value={client}>
      {children}
    </PlatformContext.Provider>
  );
}

export function usePlatform() {
  return useContext(PlatformContext);
}

// In component
function FileViewer() {
  const platform = usePlatform();
  const [content, setContent] = useState('');

  useEffect(() => {
    platform.readFile('file.txt').then(setContent);
  }, []);

  return <pre>{content}</pre>;
}

In Storybook:

export const Default: Story = {
  decorators: [
    (Story) => (
      <PlatformProvider client={mockClient}>
        <Story />
      </PlatformProvider>
    ),
  ],
};

3. Feature Detection Pattern

Check for platform capabilities:

function isElectron() {
  return typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.api !== undefined;
}

function isTauri() {
  return typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.__TAURI__ !== undefined;
}

function useFileSystem() {
  if (isTauri()) return tauriClient;
  if (isElectron()) return electronClient;
  return mockClient; // Fallback for Storybook/web
}

Platform-Specific Storybook Configuration

For Tauri Projects

Add to .storybook/preview.ts:

import { mockTauriApi } from './tauri-mocks';

export const decorators = [
  (Story) => {
    if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
      window.__TAURI__ = mockTauriApi;
    }
    return <Story />;
  },
];

For Electron Projects

Add to .storybook/preview.ts:

import { mockElectronApi } from './electron-mocks';

export const decorators = [
  (Story) => {
    if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
      window.api = mockElectronApi;
    }
    return <Story />;
  },
];

References

Tauri Documentation

• Setup Guide: tauri/setup_guide.md - Complete Tauri + Storybook integration guide
• IPC mocking patterns
• Development workflow examples
• Project structure recommendations

Electron Documentation

• Limitations Guide: electron/limitations.md - Known issues and workarounds
• Container/presentational pattern examples
• Testing strategy recommendations
• Architectural solutions

Summary

Platform	Support Level	Storybook Works	IPC Testable	Recommended Pattern
Web	100%	✅ Yes	N/A	Standard components
Tauri	100%	✅ Yes	✅ Yes (mocking)	Dependency injection
Electron	~60%	⚠️ Partial	❌ No (E2E only)	Container/presentational

Key Takeaway:

• Tauri: Use dependency injection, mock IPC in stories
• Electron: Separate presentational components, use E2E for containers
• Both: Create platform-agnostic abstractions for maximum testability