build_app() now copies the developer’s currently
running R installation as the app runtime by default
(runtime_dir = NULL). Previously it downloaded a fixed R
4.4.2 portable build which caused crashes in distributed apps when
packages had been compiled for a newer R version (e.g. 4.5.x via
renv). The version mismatch between the downloaded runtime
and the bundled packages produced a cryptic shared-library ABI error on
launch.
Added rdesk_detect_r_home() (internal) which
resolves the developer’s R installation path via R.home()
with a clear error if it is not found.
Added rdesk_copy_r_runtime() (internal) which
selectively copies bin/, library/,
etc/, modules/, and include/ from
the source R installation into the bundle staging directory.
The legacy download behaviour is preserved for CI environments or
air-gapped scenarios via runtime_dir = "download". A
warning is printed advising users to prefer the default to avoid version
mismatch.
RDesk 1.0.4
(2026-04-01) — First CRAN Release 🎉
CRAN compliance fixes
Replaced all \dontrun{} with
if(interactive()){} or \donttest{} as
appropriate. Functions that open native windows are now wrapped in
if(interactive()){}.
Executable R code chunks added to all six vignettes and verified to
run cleanly under R CMD check.
All file-writing operations now default to tempdir().
No default paths write to the user’s home filespace.
on.exit() added immediately after every
setwd() and options() call inside
build_app().
Replaced all installed.packages() calls with
requireNamespace() or system.file().
Added copyright holders for all vendored third-party code to
Authors@R with cph roles: Serge Zaitsev
(webview.h), Niels Lohmann (nlohmann/json), Microsoft Corporation
(WebView2 SDK). Created inst/COPYRIGHTS.
Enhanced Native Dialogs: Implemented
app$dialog_folder(), app$message_box()
(OK/Yes/No/Cancel with icons), and app$dialog_color().
System Integration:
Recursive Menus: Native Win32 menu bars now support
arbitrarily deep nesting and checkable items.
System Tray Context Menus: Added
app$set_tray_menu() for native right-click
interaction.
Global Hotkeys: Added
app$register_hotkey() for system-wide keyboard
shortcuts.
Clipboard: Added app$clipboard_read()
and app$clipboard_write().
Lifecycle & Stability Hardening:
Anti-Zombie Watchdog: Native launcher now
auto-terminates if the parent R process dies.
Single-Instance Lock: Prevents running multiple
copies of the same application.
Close Interception: Added
app$on_close() to intercept or cancel window exit
attempts.
Persistent Logging: Success and error logs are now
written to %LOCALAPPDATA%/RDesk.
Auto-Updater: Added app$check_update()
to detect and link to remote application updates.
renv integration: The RDesk development environment
and built bundles are now lockable via renv.lock for
reproducible distribution.
Bug fixes
Fixed COM reference count leaks and Unicode path handling in the
native launcher.
Resolved R6 namespace collisions during complex application
initialization.
Hardened build_app(dry_run = TRUE) for rapid
environment validation.
Fixed plot rendering synchronization in background worker
pools.
RDesk 0.9.0 (2026-03-19)
Breaking changes
Removed httpuv dependency entirely. Apps built with earlier versions
must be rebuilt with the new launcher.
New features
Zero-port native IPC architecture using WebView2
PostWebMessageAsString and stdin/stdout pipe.
Virtual hostname mapping via SetVirtualHostNameToFolderMapping – app
assets load from disk with no HTTP server.
Three-tier async engine: async() wrapper, rdesk_async(), and direct
mirai access. 5.9x faster task startup vs callr alone.
Loading overlay system with progress bar, cancellation, and toast
notifications built into the framework.
build_app() now supports build_installer = TRUE for InnoSetup
Windows installer generation.
rdesk_create_app() scaffold generates a complete working app
structure ready to run.
GitHub Actions CI/CD with three workflows: R-CMD-check, build-app,
and release.
Comprehensive error logging – crash.log and rdesk_startup.log
written on failure. Native Windows popup on crash.
System tray, native menus, file dialogs, toast notifications.
Bug fixes
Fixed bundled dialog, tray, notify, and IPC command handling in
App.R so packaged apps no longer try to write to a null
window process handle.
Hardened launcher shutdown, notification handling, request IDs,
menu/tray updates, and save-dialog Unicode handling across the native
C++ launcher and window.R.
Fixed bundled stub logging and stdout handling so packaged apps
preserve IPC while still writing crash diagnostics.
Fixed scaffolded apps and demo apps so bundled mode no longer sinks
stdout, app paths resolve more reliably, and generated tests/plots use
safer defaults.
Fixed build_app() package bundling, temp cleanup,
empty-directory copies, and added explicit portable-R strategies via
portable_r_method and runtime_dir.
Fixed GitHub Actions bundled-app workflows to use explicit installer
runtime provisioning and current setup actions.
Fixed COM reference count leak in C++ launcher on shutdown.
Replaced hardcoded personal paths with dynamic environment variable
lookups in build.R.
Fixed duplicate publisher parameter in build_app() signature.
Corrected R-CMD-check YAML quoting for args and error-on
fields.
Removed dead httpuv private fields from App R6 class.
Fixed @export tags
incorrectly placed on private R6 methods.
Unicode path handling hardened using MultiByteToWideChar throughout
C++ launcher.
Internal changes
IPC message envelope standardised with id, type, version, payload,
timestamp fields across R and JavaScript.
Version centralised via getOption(“rdesk.ipc_version”).
CI guard added – headless environments skip native window init.
mirai daemon pool pre-warmed at App\(run()
and shut down cleanly at App\)cleanup().