Autonomi Desktop UI

Desktop application for managing Autonomi network nodes and file operations.

Built with Nuxt 3 + Vue 3 + Tauri 2.

Features

Node Management

• Add, start, stop, and remove nodes
• Real-time status with PID and uptime
• Auto-starts the node daemon on launch
• Dynamic port discovery (no manual configuration)

File Operations

• Upload files to the Autonomi network
• Download files by address
• Drag-and-drop upload
• Upload history persistence
• Optional Indelible server integration (Settings > Advanced)

Wallet

• Connect via WalletConnect (mobile/hardware wallets)
• ETH + ANT balance display on Arbitrum
• Split payment flow — private keys never leave your wallet

Architecture

Frontend (Nuxt 3 SPA)
  Pinia stores ── daemon-api.ts ── Tauri invoke ── daemon REST API (ant-core)
                   payment.ts ──── WalletConnect ── PaymentVault contract
                   files store ─── Tauri invoke ── ant-core data client
Backend (Tauri 2 / Rust)
  autonomi_ops.rs ── ant-core data client (file encrypt/upload/download)
  config.rs ──────── settings persistence, daemon port discovery
  lib.rs ─────────── daemon proxy, ensure_daemon_running

The node management daemon (ant-core) runs as a background process, auto-started by the GUI. It manages node binaries, process lifecycle, and exposes a REST API on localhost.

File operations use ant-core's data client with an external signer flow — the Rust backend encrypts and collects quotes, the frontend pays via the user's wallet, and the backend finalizes the upload.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Rust 1.75+
• Platform build tools:
  • Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools (C++ workload)
  • macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Linux: build-essential, libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev, libssl-dev, libayatana-appindicator3-dev

Development

# Install frontend dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode (starts both Nuxt dev server and Tauri)
npm run tauri dev

The app will open automatically. The node daemon is started on first launch.

Building

# Build for production
npm run tauri build

Produces platform-specific installers in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Project Structure

pages/              Vue pages (nodes, files, wallet, settings)
components/         Vue components (tiles, dialogs, sidebar, header)
stores/             Pinia stores (nodes, files, wallet, settings, toasts)
utils/              API clients (daemon, payment, indelible, wallet config)
composables/        Vue composables (wallet sync)
plugins/            Nuxt plugins (AppKit/WalletConnect)
assets/             CSS, contract ABIs
src-tauri/
  src/
    lib.rs          Tauri commands (config, daemon proxy, ensure_daemon_running)
    autonomi_ops.rs Data client (upload/download via ant-core)
    config.rs       Settings persistence, daemon port discovery

Testing Against a Local or Sepolia Network

The GUI can target a local devnet or Arbitrum Sepolia for E2E testing. Both modes auto-detect from a manifest file written by the devnet launcher in ant-client.

Option A: Local Devnet (Anvil)

Starts 25 P2P nodes with an embedded Anvil blockchain. No external accounts needed.

# Terminal 1: Start devnet from ant-client (wait for "=== Devnet is running! ===")
cd path/to/ant-client
cargo run --release --example start-local-devnet

# Terminal 2: Start GUI in devnet mode
$env:VITE_DEVNET="1"; npm run tauri:dev

The GUI detects the manifest, bypasses WalletConnect, and uses the devnet wallet directly. Sidebar shows "DEVNET".

Option B: Arbitrum Sepolia

Starts 25 P2P nodes that verify payments against existing Sepolia contracts. You can connect via WalletConnect or import a private key directly in Settings > Advanced.

Prerequisites:

• A wallet with Arbitrum Sepolia ETH (faucet: https://faucet.quicknode.com/arbitrum/sepolia)
• Test ANT tokens on the Sepolia token contract (0x4bc1aCE0E66170375462cB4E6Af42Ad4D5EC689C)

# Terminal 1: Start devnet from ant-client
cd path/to/ant-client
cargo run --release --example start-devnet-sepolia

# Terminal 2: Start GUI (Sepolia detected from manifest)
npm run tauri:dev

In the app: Settings > Advanced > Import Private Key > select "Arbitrum Sepolia" > paste key. Sidebar shows "SEPOLIA TESTNET".

How it works

The devnet launcher writes a devnet-manifest.json to the app config directory (~/.config/autonomi/ant-gui/). The GUI reads this on startup to configure bootstrap peers, EVM network, and contract addresses. The manifest is cleaned up when the devnet stops.

Payment modes

Uploads automatically select the payment method based on file size:

• Regular (wave-batch): Files under ~16MB (< 64 chunks). Pays per batch of chunks.
• Merkle tree: Files over ~16MB (>= 64 chunks). Single transaction for all chunks, lower gas.

Related

• ant-client — Node management daemon + data client library
• ant-node — Autonomi P2P network node

License

GPL-3.0