Building Warp 12 on Windows (Parallels)

Initial Setup (One-time)

1. Install Prerequisites

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

# Install Chocolatey
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072
iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

# Install required tools
choco install nodejs-lts -y
choco install rustup.install -y
choco install visualstudio2022buildtools --package-parameters "--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools --includeRecommended --passive" -y

# Restart your terminal after this

2. Setup Workspace

# Navigate to shared Mac folder (adjust drive letter if needed)
cd Y:\Volumes\Code\Warp12

# Enable Yarn 4
corepack enable

# Install dependencies
yarn install

Building

Standard Windows Build (MSI + NSIS)

# From repo root
yarn tauri:build

# Or use the helper script
.\scripts\build-windows.ps1

Output:

apps/Warp12/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msi/*.msi - Windows Installer
apps/Warp12/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/*.exe - Self-extracting installer

Microsoft Store Build (MSIX)

# Build MSIX for Store submission
yarn build:windows:store

# Or use the helper script
.\scripts\build-windows-store.ps1

Output:

apps/Warp12/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/msix/*.msix - Store package

Test MSIX Locally

# Enable Developer Mode in Windows Settings first
# Then install the MSIX:
Add-AppxPackage "apps\Warp12\src-tauri\target\release\bundle\msix\Warp 12_0.5.40_x64_en-US.msix"

# To uninstall:
Get-AppxPackage *Warp* | Remove-AppxPackage

Common Issues

“tauri not recognized”

Problem: Tauri CLI not found

Solution:

# Ensure dependencies are installed
yarn install

# Use npx to run tauri
npx tauri --version

# Or run via yarn scripts
yarn tauri:build

Build fails with “linker not found”

Problem: Visual Studio Build Tools not installed

Solution:

choco install visualstudio2022buildtools --package-parameters "--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools --includeRecommended --passive" -y

Slow builds

Problem: Shared folder I/O overhead

Solution: Adjust Parallels settings:

Allocate 6+ CPU cores
Allocate 8+ GB RAM
Use “Plain” disk type (not “Expanding”)

Permission errors

Problem: Running from shared Mac folder

Solution:

# Run PowerShell as Administrator
# Or copy project to Windows drive (not recommended)

Quick Commands Reference

# Development server
yarn serve:bridge

# Build all libraries
yarn build:all

# Build Windows installers
yarn tauri:build

# Build Microsoft Store package
yarn build:windows:store

# Test locally
yarn tauri:dev

File Paths

When working in Windows with Parallels shared folders:

Location	Path
Workspace	`Y:\Volumes\Code\Warp12`
Build output	`apps\Warp12\src-tauri\target\release\bundle\`
MSI	`bundle\msi\`
NSIS	`bundle\nsis\`
MSIX	`bundle\msix\`

Performance Tips

# Use parallel Rust compilation
$env:CARGO_BUILD_JOBS = "6"

# Clear Rust build cache if needed
cd apps\Warp12\src-tauri
cargo clean

Signing MSIX (for Store submission)

# You need a code signing certificate
# Purchase from DigiCert, Sectigo, etc. or get from Microsoft Partner Center

# Sign the MSIX
signtool sign /fd SHA256 /a /f YourCert.pfx /p YourPassword `
  "apps\Warp12\src-tauri\target\release\bundle\msix\Warp 12_0.5.40_x64_en-US.msix"

Next Steps

After building:

Test the installer on a clean Windows machine
Submit MSIX to Microsoft Partner Center
Wait for certification (1-3 days)
Celebrate! 🎉