Runner and application version compatibility

build.runner accepts a program string or an object:

{
  "build": {
    "runner": {
      "cmd": "dotnet",
      "cwd": "..",
      "args": ["--verbosity", "minimal"]
    }
  }
}

The default command is dotnet, the explicit MSBuild counterpart of TAURI®’s default cargo. An explicit --runner replaces the entire configured runner, including cwd/args. Relative cwd resolves from the configuration directory, corresponding to Tauri’s backend directory. Optional cwd/args may be absent or null; cmd is required in an object. Unknown object fields follow upstream’s permissive RunnerConfig parser; malformed known fields fail configuration.

Runner arguments follow the command verb and precede generated arguments. build and AOT dev use publish; managed dev uses run. Watched managed dev uses watch --no-hot-reload --project <project> run, followed by runner arguments. Strings with spaces remain single arguments. Configuration reload re-resolves the runner, and CLI overrides retain precedence. The managed/AOT development child and build runner exit codes are propagated. Argument/cwd tests launch a real child through all three CLI paths, including the NativeAOT CLI on Windows/Linux. The macOS CLI suite also exercises runner, hook, NativeAOT application build and development lifecycle paths; this is separate from publishing the CLI executable itself as NativeAOT.

bundle.windows.wix.version overrides the application version. Otherwise the pinned Tauri conversion uses numeric build metadata first, then numeric prerelease, as the optional fourth component: 1.2.3-4 and 1.2.3+4 both become 1.2.3.4. Non-numeric or oversized fourth components fail instead of being silently removed. The limits are 255 for major/minor and 65535 for patch/build. A semantic beta such as 1.2.3-beta.1 therefore needs an explicit numeric WiX version. These are the pinned MSI rules; this does not redefine NSIS versions.

Executable resource versions follow the separate tauri-build contract: numeric build metadata supplies the fourth component, while prerelease and nonnumeric or oversized metadata do not. Thus 1.2.3+42 becomes 1.2.3.42, but 1.2.3-beta.1 becomes 1.2.3.0. All four upstream resource-version tests are ported alongside the two MSI tests and twelve RunnerConfig tests.

The application version may be a semantic version or a path to a JSON file containing a string version, resolved from the configuration directory. The CLI watches that file; direct MSBuild builds also resolve it before assembly metadata generation and add it to watch inputs. NativeAOT embeds the resolved version without a runtime file read. The native-version.mjs integration checks the app metadata and file-version attribute on Windows/Linux, and the actual Windows PE version fields. Run it from the repository root with node tests/frontend-bindings/native-version.mjs. Installer installation acceptance remains a separate check. That script selects only Windows/Linux RIDs; it does not validate macOS metadata. macOS packaging writes the application version to CFBundleShortVersionString, and bundle.macOS.bundleVersion (or the application version when omitted) to CFBundleVersion. These are plist strings, not the Windows MSI/resource-version conversions above.

Configuration patches and hooks

Platform configuration uses RFC 7396 merge patch. Repeated --config inputs are composed in order while retaining null deletion instructions, then applied once to the base/platform result. This follows the pinned CLI’s merge_patches; it is different from applying each CLI input directly to the configuration. The composed patch, including null values, is forwarded as TAURI_CONFIG to hooks and build/development runners. Configuration restart refreshes it in both managed and AOT development; effective configuration remains the MSBuild input.

String or object beforeBuildCommand and beforeBundleCommand hooks always finish before publication/bundling continues. beforeDevCommand runs in the background unless its object sets wait: true. A background hook that succeeds does not stop development; one that fails terminates the development runner and returns the hook’s exit code. Cancellation still returns 130 through the CLI. Default hook cwd is the frontend/project directory, and an explicit relative cwd resolves from the backend/config directory. Windows shell scripts preserve cmd quoting, including executable and argument paths containing spaces.

The regression harness launches real hooks and runners, checks composed patch data, success/failure, ordering, cwd and process cleanup. CLI NativeAOT execution is distinguished from the deliberately short probe runner: the hook tests do not pretend the probe itself is a published application.

On macOS, configuration overlays use macos in their filenames (netwiv.macos.conf.json and accepted Tauri/JSON5/TOML equivalents), while capability platform filters use "macOS". Hooks receive TAURI_ENV_PLATFORM=darwin, TAURI_ENV_FAMILY=unix and TAURI_ENV_ARCH=aarch64 or x86_64. The CLI accepts both Apple target triples and .NET RIDs. Standalone bundle must use the same target spelling as the preceding build because that spelling selects the output directory. See the macOS workflow.

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