Downpour

Downpour is a macOS-first Tauri desktop typing game in a pnpm monorepo. Words fall like rain in a neon city scene. Type words before impact, keep lives alive, and prevent the waterline from flooding the run.

Tech Stack

• Monorepo: pnpm workspaces
• Desktop shell/backend: Tauri v2 + Rust
• Frontend: React + Vite + TypeScript (strict)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Persistence: SQLite (rusqlite) in app data directory (downpour.db)

Workspace Layout

• apps/downpour-desktop: Tauri app + frontend
• packages/shared: shared TypeScript contracts + validators

Build-From-Source Install (macOS)

Downpour is currently distributed as a macOS build-from-source installation. The GitHub release does not include a notarized app bundle.

./install.sh will:

• verify or install Xcode Command Line Tools, Homebrew, Node.js >= 22, pnpm, and Rust
• install workspace dependencies with pnpm
• build Downpour.app locally from source
• copy Downpour.app into /Applications
• remove repo-local build artifacts after installation completes

The first build can take a few minutes on a fresh machine.

Install

git clone https://github.com/richer-richard/Downpour.git
cd Downpour
./install.sh

If you prefer to manage the toolchain manually, make sure these are available first:

• Node.js >= 22
• pnpm >= 10
• Rust stable toolchain (rustup)
• Xcode Command Line Tools

Refresh the built-in word corpus from SCOWL:

pnpm update:wordlist

This downloads SCOWL en_US.txt and en_US-large.txt, filters them into gameplay-safe lowercase words, and updates apps/downpour-desktop/src/assets/wordlists/.

Development (Tauri desktop app)

pnpm dev

This runs:

• frontend Vite dev server on http://localhost:1420
• Tauri desktop host via cargo tauri dev

Startup Smoke Checklist

After running pnpm dev, verify:

1. A native macOS window opens titled Downpour.
2. Start screen is visible (title + Start, Records, Settings buttons).
3. Press Start and confirm words are falling and HUD metrics update.

Lint

pnpm lint

Typecheck

pnpm typecheck

Build (Tauri)

pnpm build

This runs the repo-pinned Tauri build via pnpm --filter downpour-desktop tauri build.

Releases

• Releases are source-first and rely on GitHub's autogenerated source archives.
• Install a tagged release by downloading or cloning the release source and running ./install.sh.
• No notarized .app, .zip, or .dmg is attached to the release.

Optional test commands

Frontend tests:

pnpm --filter downpour-desktop test

Rust tests:

cargo test --manifest-path apps/downpour-desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Persistence Details

• DB file: <app_data_dir>/downpour.db
• Tauri commands:
  • get_records
  • save_record
  • get_best_wpm
  • set_best_wpm
  • reset_records
• SQLite settings:
  • PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL
  • PRAGMA synchronous=FULL
  • PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON

Controls

• Type letters: lock and progress falling words
• Backspace: rewind target progress
• Esc: pause/resume
• Missed words increase waterline and reduce lives
• Game ends when lives reach 0 or waterline reaches threshold

Troubleshooting

• If pnpm build fails with Tauri toolchain errors, verify:
  • xcode-select -p
  • rustc --version
  • pnpm --version
• If the app cannot open WebView resources, ensure Vite port 1420 is available.
• If you run frontend only (pnpm --filter downpour-desktop dev), Tauri commands fall back to browser localStorage stubs.
• If macOS warns on first launch after installation, open Downpour.app from Finder or allow it in System Settings.

Word Source

• Updater script: scripts/update-wordlists.mjs
• Upstream source: SCOWL generated word lists from https://github.com/en-wl/wordlist-diff
• License notice copied into apps/downpour-desktop/src/assets/wordlists/SCOWL-Copyright.txt