Build Desktop Apps in Minutes: Electron + React + TypeScript + Tailwind Starter Kit

#electron #react #typescript

Every time I start a new Electron project, I waste hours setting up the same boilerplate. Webpack config, React integration, TypeScript setup, getting Tailwind to work with Electron's quirks...

So I built a starter kit that gives you all of this out of the box.

What's Included

⚡ Electron — latest version, properly configured
⚛️ React 18 — with hot reload that actually works in Electron
📝 TypeScript — strict mode, proper types for main/renderer
🎨 Tailwind CSS — fully configured, JIT mode
🧩 shadcn/ui — beautiful, accessible components ready to use
📦 Auto-updater — ship updates to your users seamlessly

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/p32929/electron-shadcn-typescript.git my-app
cd my-app
npm install
npm run dev

That's it. You'll have a running desktop app in under 2 minutes.

Why This Over electron-forge or electron-builder Templates?

Most Electron templates give you a bare bones setup. You still need to:

Configure a UI framework
Set up a component library
Add styling solution
Configure hot reload properly

This template does ALL of that. You clone it and start building features immediately.

Real World Usage

I've used this template to build several production apps. The shadcn/ui integration means your desktop app looks modern from day one — not like a 2010 web app stuffed into a window.