Windows

nsh apps also run on Windows. The Windows backend draws them in Win32 windows with Direct2D and lays out text with DirectWrite; the core, the reactive graph, the renderer, Taffy layout and the nsh/ui/mobile components are the same as on iOS and Android, so one bundle runs everywhere. On Windows, Platform.OS is "windows" and the desktop={{…}} props apply.

#Requirements

• Windows 10 1809 or later, or Windows 11.
• The WebView2 Runtime for web views. It comes with Windows 11 and with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10; without it a WebView shows a placeholder.
• Media Foundation codecs for the video formats your app plays (videos play through Windows’ own media stack).
• To build nsh’s Windows runtime (from a checkout, or cargo xtask dist on Windows): Visual Studio Build Tools with the C++ workload, the Windows SDK and LLVM (for QuickJS’ bindings).

#Running an app

On Windows, nsh run opens the app in a window (1200×800 by default), with hot reload, logs in the terminal and the error overlay as on the other targets:

nsh run my-app                 # --target windows is the default on Windows

In a checkout, nsh run builds the development host (nsh-windows-host.exe) first; the distribution made on Windows ships it in runtime\windows\. Ctrl-C closes the window, and closing the window ends nsh run; the host never outlives nsh, however it ends. The host also runs a built bundle on its own:

nsh build my-app --release -o build
dist\nsh\runtime\windows\nsh-windows-host --bundle build\bundle.nshc --size 390x844   # in a checkout: target\debug\nsh-windows-host

--size is the window’s size in points (<width>x<height>).

#Packaging

nsh package my-app --target windows [--run]

Writes a directory and the same as an archive:

out\<Name>\
  <Name>.exe             the executable (nsh's release runner), with the app's icon
  nsh\bundle.nshc         your app, compiled
  nsh\assets\…           the assets it imports
  nsh\app.json           the window title, the app id, the version and the appearance
out\<Name>.zip

The executable finds nsh\ next to itself; copy the whole directory (or unpack the .zip) wherever the app should live: nothing is installed. The icon from nsh.json is embedded in the executable (Explorer and the taskbar show it) without any extra tools; packaging on another system keeps the default icon. The app id groups the app’s windows in the taskbar. --run launches the app after packaging it. The executable is not signed: sign it with your own certificate (signtool) to distribute it.

#Embedding in a Win32 app

The nsh-platform-windows crate (from the nsh repository) gives a Rust Win32 app AppView: one nsh engine in a child window of a window of yours. Each AppView is independent; several can run at once.

use std::rc::Rc;
use nsh_platform_windows::{
    windows::{self, Win32::{Foundation::HWND, System::Ole::OleInitialize, UI::WindowsAndMessaging::MoveWindow}},
    AppOptions, AppView, AssetBase, Bundle,
};

/// Called on the thread that runs your message loop, with your window.
fn embed(parent: HWND) -> windows::core::Result<Rc<AppView>> {
    // Once per thread: COM and OLE (the clipboard, image decoding).
    unsafe { OleInitialize(None)? };
    let view = AppView::new(
        Some(parent),
        AppOptions {
            asset_base: Some(AssetBase::Directory("app/assets".into())),
            app_id: "com.example.host".into(),
            ..AppOptions::default()
        },
    )?;
    // register native components here, before loading
    let code = std::fs::read_to_string("app/bundle.js").expect("bundle");
    view.load(Bundle::source(code).into());
    Ok(view)
}

// On WM_SIZE of `parent`:
// unsafe { MoveWindow(view.hwnd(), 0, 0, width, height, true) };

The view is a child window: your message loop runs it, and you place it with MoveWindow on its hwnd() when the parent resizes. AppView::load replaces whatever ran; stop (or destroying the window) ends the app. asset_base tells it where asset:/ URIs resolve (AssetBase::Directory or AssetBase::Http). Bytecode bundles (bundle.nshc) load with unsafe { Bundle::bytecode(bytes) } (or Bundle::read_trusted(path), unsafe too): QuickJS bytecode is trusted input, so only load it from your own app’s files. A standalone window is nsh_platform_windows::run_app(source, options).

Native components are registered with AppView::register_component; see Native components.

#What differs on Windows

The environment is a desktop’s: the safe area and the keyboard height are 0, Platform.constants.interfaceIdiom is "desktop" and Platform.Version is "10.0" (on Windows 11 too: Windows kept the version number). Dark mode follows Settings > Personalization > Colors live, fontScale() the Text size setting, reduce motion the animation effects setting and the locale the user’s regional format. See Device and environment.

#Keyboard

Keys	Do
Return	In an Input, what submitBehavior says: submit (onSubmitEditing), submit and leave the field, or a new line (multiline inputs)
Shift+Return, Alt+Return	A new line in a multiline input whose return submits (Ctrl+Return submits)
Tab, Shift+Tab	The next / previous text field, within the newest modal; the field’s text is selected, as in Windows’ dialogs
Escape	Leaves the focused field; else clears a text selection, then goes back or asks the newest modal to close
Alt+Left, Browser Back key, mouse back button	Go back (also from a field)
Ctrl+arrows, Home / End, Ctrl+Home / End, with Shift; Ctrl+Backspace / Delete	Move, select and delete by word and line in a field, as in every Windows app
Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y, Ctrl+X / C / V / A; Shift+Delete, Ctrl+Insert, Shift+Insert	Undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, select all (a secure field refuses cut and copy); Ctrl+A / Ctrl+C select and copy selectable text
Arrows; Page Up / Down, Space, Shift+Space; Home / End, Ctrl+Home / End	Scroll the scroll view around the focused view or under the mouse by a line, a page, to the start / end (not while a field has the focus)
F11, Alt+F4	Full screen, close the window (nsh package and nsh run apps)
Ctrl+R, F5	Reload the latest build (nsh run)

Shortcuts work with any keyboard layout (on a Cyrillic or Greek one, Ctrl+C is the key that types C on a US layout). A return that commits an input method’s composition (Chinese, Japanese, …) never submits. onKeyPress reports what React Native reports: the typed text, "Enter", "Backspace", and "Escape"; pasted text is not reported.

Different, or not supported:

• WebView is a WebView2 child window: nsh content drawn over it (a dialog, a sheet) is hidden under it. source.baseUrl for HTML, scrollEnabled and allowsBackForwardNavigationGestures are not supported.
• Video: the formats the installed codecs decode; no poster; the control bar always shows with controls.
• Zooming scroll views (zoomTo, the zoom props); the scroll indicator cannot be dragged.
• mixBlendMode and backdropFilter are drawn, but not inside a view that has a filter or a 3D transform; borderCurve: "continuous" draws circular corners.
• Text: head and middle ellipses on a single line only (more lines get a tail ellipsis); color emoji from COLR fonts only; small caps only where the font has them.
• Text inputs: no context menu; keyboard types and autofill do not apply; Tab moves between text fields.
• Accessibility (UI Automation): headers’ titles and buttons, dialogs and toasts are not exposed; headings report level 1.
• Input accessory views and the status bar (no desktop equivalent).

#See also

• CLI: nsh run --target windows, nsh package --target windows
• Packaging
• Platform-specific code