tauri-liquid-icon

A command-line utility to seamlessly integrate Icon Composer (.icon) assets into Tauri macOS applications. This tool automates the entire process of compiling liquid glass icons and configuring your Tauri project.

Features

• Compiles .icon files using Apple's actool to generate Assets.car
• Automatically updates Info.plist with the correct icon reference
• Configures tauri.conf.json to bundle the generated assets
• Full automation - no manual configuration needed
• Supports custom output paths and icon names

Requirements

• macOS (uses Apple's actool)
• Node.js 16 or higher
• Tauri project

Installation

Global Installation

npm install -g tauri-liquid-icon

Local Installation (per project)

npm install --save-dev tauri-liquid-icon

Or use directly with npx:

npx tauri-liquid-icon --icon ./Icon.icon --name AppIcon

Usage

Basic Usage

tauri-liquid-icon --icon <path-to-icon> --name <icon-name>

Example:

tauri-liquid-icon --icon ./Icon.icon --name AppIcon

Arguments

Required Arguments

• --icon, -i <path> - Path to your .icon file (Icon Composer asset)
• --name, -n <name> - Icon name to use (e.g., 'AppIcon', 'Icon')

Optional Arguments

• --output, -o <path> - Output directory for compiled assets (default: ./src-tauri/resources)
• --tauri-dir <path> - Tauri directory path (default: ./src-tauri)
• --min-target <version> - Minimum macOS deployment target (default: 14.0)
• --help, -h - Show help message

Examples

Standard Setup

tauri-liquid-icon --icon ./Icon.icon --name AppIcon

Custom Output Directory

tauri-liquid-icon -i ./assets/Icon.icon -n Icon -o ./src-tauri/icons

Specify Minimum macOS Version

tauri-liquid-icon -i ./Icon.icon -n AppIcon --min-target 13.0

Custom Tauri Directory Structure

tauri-liquid-icon -i ./Icon.icon -n AppIcon --tauri-dir ./tauri

As an npm Script

Add to your package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "setup-icon": "tauri-liquid-icon --icon ./Icon.icon --name AppIcon"
  }
}

Then run:

npm run setup-icon

What This Tool Does

1. Compiles your .icon file: Uses Apple's actool to compile the Icon Composer asset into an Assets.car file
2. Updates Info.plist: Adds or updates the CFBundleIconFile entry in your Info.plist
3. Updates Tauri config: Adds the Assets.car to your tauri.conf.json bundle resources
4. Provides feedback: Shows clear success/error messages throughout the process

Creating .icon Files

To create .icon files, use Apple's Icon Composer app available on macOS. Icon Composer allows you to create modern liquid glass icons with the new macOS visual style.

Troubleshooting

"actool: command not found"

This tool requires actool, which comes with Xcode Command Line Tools. Install it with:

xcode-select --install

Icon not appearing in built app

1. Ensure you've run the tool before building
2. Verify Assets.car exists in your output directory
3. Check that your tauri.conf.json includes the Assets.car in bundle.resources
4. Rebuild your Tauri application

Info.plist or tauri.conf.json not found

If your project structure is non-standard, use the --tauri-dir option to specify the correct path to your Tauri directory.

Project Structure

After running this tool, your project should have:

your-tauri-project/
├── src-tauri/
│   ├── Info.plist (updated with CFBundleIconFile)
│   ├── tauri.conf.json (updated with Assets.car in resources)
│   └── resources/
│       ├── Assets.car (compiled from your .icon file)
│       └── assetcatalog_generated_info.plist

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.