How to build an app for Kilne

Here is the short version for developers: if you can build a web app, you can build for Kilne.

What an app is

A Kilne app is a built web app, a folder with an index.html and whatever it loads, plus a small manifest that says what the app is called, which version it is, and which capabilities it asks for. The first-party apps use React, Vite, TypeScript and Tailwind, but anything that produces a static bundle works.

When you install it, Kilne puts it under your user folder, adds it to the launcher, and opens it in its own window.

Install with one command

kilne install ./my-app

You can also install from a .kilneapp file (a zipped bundle), from a URL, or by name from a catalog:

kilne install my-app.kilneapp
kilne install my-app@1.2.0

Before anything is written, Kilne prints the app’s name, where it came from, and what it asks for, and then asks Install? [y/N].

Permissions you can see

The Store shows the same review in plain English: “Use the camera”, “Read and write files”. If the app asks for more than the screen showed, the install stops. That check is built into the --allow flag, which the Store uses for exactly this reason.

Updates you can undo

kilne upgrade installs newer versions of your apps, and kilne rollback <name> returns you to the previous one. kilne remove keeps an app’s data; kilne purge removes the data too.

Host your own catalog

While you build, you can host your own catalog with kilne catalog build and kilne catalog serve, then add it as a development source with kilne sources add --development. See the command reference and packaging guide.

See real examples

Settings and the Store are both web apps running the same way yours will. Open them, and you are looking at what you can build.