minirend – Cross‑Platform Web App Runtime

⚠️ EXPERIMENTAL – This project is under active development and APIs may change without notice. Use at your own risk.

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The tiny web ecosystem

Minibun - A tiny javascript bundler implementation.

minima-js - A tiny, fully-featured, zero-dependency JavaScript framework.

LLM Tiny Web - Optimized LLM instructions for writing tiny web code

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You build one native binary that:

• Opens a desktop window on major OSes
• Loads your HTML/CSS/JS app
• Provides a DOM‑like API, localStorage, fetch (basic), and WebGL hooks
• Bundle custom C libraries with JS interop
• Supports graphic via OpenGL & WebGPU (wip)

Requirements

• Git
• Node.js (for the configurator UI)
• PowerShell (Windows)
• A C toolchain is bundled via Cosmopolitan's cosmocc (downloaded automatically)

Dependencies

• Cosmopolitan Libc – build‑once, run‑anywhere C runtime
• Sokol – cross‑platform graphics abstraction (handles D3D11, Metal, OpenGL, WebGPU backends automatically)
• QuickJS – embeddable JavaScript engine
• Lexbor – fast HTML/CSS parsing and DOM construction

Feature Comparison

Feature	minirend	Neutralino.js	Electron	Wails
Rendering backend	Custom C DOM	OS WebView	Chromium + Node.js	OS WebView + Go
App size / footprint	Tiny	Tiny	Large	Medium
Win, Mac, Linux Builds	✅	✅	✅	✅
Built‑in dev tooling	✅	✅	✅	✅
JS, HTML, CSS Support	✅ + C	✅	✅	✅ + Go
Single Cross-platform Binary	✅	❌	❌	❌
Custom Web Renderer	✅	❌	❌	❌
Native UI integration	❌ (wip)	✅ (basic)	✅	✅

Folder Layout

minirend/
├── app/              # Your web app (HTML/JS/CSS)
├── build_scripts/    # Build scripts & configurator UI
│   └── configurator/ # Web-based build configurator
├── src/              # Runtime source code
│   ├── minirend.h    # Public API header
│   └── platform/     # Platform-specific implementations
├── third_party/      # Dependencies (auto-downloaded)
├── minirend.js       # Development server
└── Makefile

Quick Start

1. Start the configurator

node minirend.js

This opens the configurator UI in your browser at http://localhost:4173/.

Or build from command line

# Unix/macOS/Git Bash
./build_scripts/build

# Windows
build_scripts\build.cmd

Create Your App

1. Put your web sources in app/:

   • app/index.html – main HTML file
   • app/main.js – main JavaScript entry

2. Use browser‑style JS APIs provided by the runtime:

   • console.log, localStorage, sessionStorage
   • requestAnimationFrame, performance.now
   • fetch (basic http:// support)

Build Output

After building:

• dist/minirend (Unix) or dist/minirend.exe (Windows) – the runtime executable
• dist/app/ – copied from your root app/ directory

You can distribute dist/ as a portable package: run the binary next to the app/ folder on any supported OS.

Run Your App (Dev Mode)

For rapid iteration you can also run directly from the project root (after building):

./minirend                 # Unix/macOS/Git Bash
./minirend app/index.html app/main.js

On Windows PowerShell/cmd, run minirend.exe from the build directory.

Status

minirend is experimental and intentionally small:

• DOM APIs are minimal and focused on common UI use cases
• WebGL is exposed via Sokol's cross-platform graphics abstraction
• Networking and storage are thin wrappers over the host OS via Cosmopolitan

See src/ and Makefile for deeper integration details.

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Feature Completeness

JavaScript Runtime (QuickJS)

Feature	Status
ES6+ syntax / modules	✅
console.log/warn/error/info	✅
requestAnimationFrame / cancelAnimationFrame	✅
performance.now()	✅
Promise / async-await	✅
setTimeout / setInterval	❌

HTML Parsing (Lexbor)

Feature	Status
Document parsing	✅
DOM tree construction	✅
querySelector / querySelectorAll	✅
createElement / appendChild	✅
getElementById	❌
innerHTML / textContent	❌
Attribute get/set	✅ (native)

CSS Parsing (Lexbor)

Feature	Status
Stylesheet parsing	✅
Selector matching	✅
Inline style reading	✅
Computed style resolution	✅
CSS variables	❌
Media queries	❌

HTML/CSS Rendering (Clay & stb_truetype)

Feature	Status
Box model layout	✅
Text rendering	✅
Flex / Grid layout	✅
Background / borders	✅
CSS transforms	✅
DOM-to-texture compositing	✅

Windowing (Sokol)

Feature	Status
Window creation	✅
High-DPI support	✅
Fullscreen toggle	✅
Window resize events	✅
Mouse cursor control	✅
Window title / icon	✅
Clipboard access	✅
File drop	✅

Input

Feature	Status
Mouse events (click, move, wheel)	✅
Pointer events	✅
Keyboard events (keydown/keyup)	✅
Text input (char events)	✅
Focus / blur events	✅
Event bubbling / capture	✅
Pointer capture	✅
Touch events	❌
Gamepad	❌

Audio

Feature	Status
Native audio backend (sokol_audio)	✅
Web Audio API bindings	✅
AudioContext	✅
Audio playback	✅
Audio spatialization	✅

WebGL 1.0 / 2.0

Feature	Status
Context creation (webgl/webgl2)	✅
Buffers
createBuffer / deleteBuffer	✅
bindBuffer / bufferData / bufferSubData	✅
Shaders
createShader / compileShader / deleteShader	✅
shaderSource / getShaderParameter / getShaderInfoLog	✅
Programs
createProgram / linkProgram / useProgram	✅
attachShader / detachShader / deleteProgram	✅
getProgramParameter / getProgramInfoLog	✅
Attributes
getAttribLocation / bindAttribLocation	✅
enableVertexAttribArray / disableVertexAttribArray	✅
vertexAttribPointer / vertexAttribIPointer	✅
vertexAttribDivisor	✅
Uniforms
getUniformLocation	✅
uniform[1234][if]	✅
uniform[1234]fv	✅
uniformMatrix[234]fv	✅
getActiveUniform / getActiveAttrib	✅
Drawing
drawArrays / drawElements	✅
drawArraysInstanced / drawElementsInstanced	✅
VAO (WebGL2)
createVertexArray / bindVertexArray / deleteVertexArray	✅
Textures
createTexture / bindTexture / deleteTexture	✅
activeTexture	✅
texParameteri / texParameterf	✅
generateMipmap	✅
texImage2D / texSubImage2D	✅
copyTexImage2D / copyTexSubImage2D	✅
Framebuffers
createFramebuffer / bindFramebuffer / deleteFramebuffer	✅
framebufferTexture2D / framebufferRenderbuffer	✅
checkFramebufferStatus	✅
Renderbuffers
createRenderbuffer / bindRenderbuffer / deleteRenderbuffer	✅
renderbufferStorage / renderbufferStorageMultisample	✅
State
enable / disable / isEnabled	✅
viewport / scissor / depthRange	✅
clearColor / clearDepth / clearStencil / clear	✅
blendFunc / blendFuncSeparate	✅
blendEquation / blendEquationSeparate / blendColor	✅
depthFunc / depthMask	✅
cullFace / frontFace	✅
colorMask	✅
pixelStorei	✅
stencilFunc / stencilOp / stencilMask	✅
Read
readPixels	✅
Query
getParameter / getError	✅
getContextAttributes	✅
getSupportedExtensions / getExtension	✅
WebGL2 Specific
Uniform buffer objects (UBO)	✅
Transform feedback	✅
Sync objects	✅
Sampler objects	✅
Query objects	✅

WebGPU

Feature	Status
GPUAdapter / GPUDevice	❌
GPUBuffer / GPUTexture	❌
GPURenderPipeline / GPUComputePipeline	❌
GPUCommandEncoder / GPURenderPassEncoder	❌
GPUShaderModule (WGSL)	❌
GPUBindGroup / GPUBindGroupLayout	❌
GPUQueue	❌

Note: Sokol's internal WebGPU backend is present but no JavaScript bindings are exposed.

Native UI Integration (via Sokol)

Application Identity & Branding

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Window title bar icon	✅	—	✅	sapp_set_icon
Taskbar/dock icon	✅	✅	✅	Runtime-settable
Built-in default icon	✅	✅	✅	Rainbow 'S' fallback
Favicon (HTML5 target)	✅	✅	✅	Browser tab icon
Executable/bundle icon	❌	❌	❌	Requires OS resources at build time
Dock badge (count)	—	❌	—	macOS-specific, not exposed
Taskbar progress	❌	—	—	Windows-specific, not exposed
Taskbar overlay icon	❌	—	—	Windows-specific, not exposed
Jump lists	❌	—	—	Windows-specific, not exposed
Dock menu	—	❌	—	macOS-specific, not exposed

Note: macOS has no window title bar icon; sapp_set_icon changes the dock icon instead.

Window Management

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Window creation	✅	✅	✅	Single window only
Window title	✅	✅	✅	sapp_set_window_title
Fullscreen toggle	✅	✅	✅	sapp_toggle_fullscreen
Window resize events	✅	✅	✅	SAPP_EVENTTYPE_RESIZED
Minimize (iconify) events	✅	✅	✅	SAPP_EVENTTYPE_ICONIFIED
Restore events	✅	✅	✅	SAPP_EVENTTYPE_RESTORED
Focus/unfocus events	✅	✅	✅	SAPP_EVENTTYPE_FOCUSED/UNFOCUSED
Quit request handling	✅	✅	✅	sapp_request_quit, sapp_cancel_quit
Programmatic minimize	❌	❌	❌	Not exposed by Sokol
Programmatic maximize	❌	❌	❌	Not exposed by Sokol
Window position get/set	❌	❌	❌	Not exposed by Sokol
Window size set	❌	❌	❌	Read-only via sapp_width/height
Multiple windows	❌	❌	❌	Sokol limitation
Always-on-top	❌	❌	❌	Not exposed by Sokol
Borderless/frameless	❌	❌	❌	Not exposed at runtime

Display & Rendering

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
High-DPI support	✅	✅	✅	sapp_dpi_scale
DPI scale query	✅	✅	✅	Per-frame updates
VSync	✅	✅	✅	Configured at startup
MSAA sample count	✅	✅	✅	Configured at startup
Frame duration query	✅	✅	✅	sapp_frame_duration
Multi-monitor support	❌	❌	❌	Not exposed by Sokol

Mouse & Cursor

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Mouse click detection	✅	✅	✅	Left, middle, right buttons
Mouse move tracking	✅	✅	✅	Absolute coordinates
Mouse scroll (wheel)	✅	✅	✅	X and Y axis
Show/hide cursor	✅	✅	✅	sapp_show_mouse
Lock/capture mouse	✅	✅	✅	sapp_lock_mouse (FPS-style)
Custom cursor type	✅	✅	✅	sapp_set_mouse_cursor
Custom cursor image	✅	✅	✅	sapp_bind_mouse_cursor_image
Mouse enter/leave	✅	✅	✅	Window boundary events

Clipboard

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Copy to clipboard	✅	✅	✅	sapp_set_clipboard_string
Paste from clipboard	✅	✅	✅	sapp_get_clipboard_string
Clipboard paste event	✅	✅	✅	SAPP_EVENTTYPE_CLIPBOARD_PASTED
Image clipboard	❌	❌	❌	Text only

File Operations

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Drag & drop files	✅	✅	✅	SAPP_EVENTTYPE_FILES_DROPPED
Get dropped file paths	✅	✅	✅	sapp_get_dropped_file_path
Native file dialogs	❌	❌	❌	Not provided
Native folder picker	❌	❌	❌	Not provided

Native Controls (WIP)

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Native text input	❌	❌	❌	Scaffolding only
Native button	❌	❌	❌	Scaffolding only
Native select/dropdown	❌	❌	❌	Scaffolding only
Native menus	❌	❌	❌	Not implemented
System tray	❌	❌	❌	Not implemented
Native message boxes	❌	❌	❌	Not implemented

Platform-Specific Access

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Raw window handle	✅ (HWND)	✅ (NSWindow)	✅ (X11 Window)	For native extensions
D3D11 device access	✅	—	—	sapp_d3d11_get_device
Metal device access	—	✅	—	sapp_metal_get_device
OpenGL context	✅	✅	✅	sapp_gl_get_framebuffer

Note: Native UI controls are currently scaffolding (src/platform/native_ui.h). Future versions may map HTML elements to real OS widgets.