Blogging Desktop Server (bDS)

Desktop-first blogging workspace built with Electron + TypeScript + React + SQLite (Drizzle), with filesystem-based content as source of truth.

Current State (February 2026)

Implemented and actively used:

• Offline-first by default with full local editing, preview, and git-based workflows; all online features are optional
• Multi-project workflow with active project switching and optional custom data paths
• Post management (draft/published/archived), pagination, filtering, full-text search, canonical URL handling
• Media pipeline with import, metadata sidecars, thumbnails, linked-media references, and cleanup tooling
• Tag management including merge/rename/sync from content
• WordPress WXR import pipeline (analysis, import definitions, execution/progress)
• Preview server with local assets only, Liquid templates, macro processing, archive routes, sitemap generation
• Git integration (status, diff, history, fetch/pull/push, init, .gitignore ensure, LFS prune)
• Metadata diff tooling for comparing filesystem metadata vs database metadata
• AI chat persistence layer (conversations/messages/model metadata) with OpenCode integration support
• Task system for progress reporting across long-running operations

Architecture

src/
├── main/
│   ├── database/        # Drizzle schema, migrations, connection
│   ├── engine/          # Core business logic (no UI)
│   │   ├── PostEngine
│   │   ├── MediaEngine
│   │   ├── PostMediaEngine
│   │   ├── ProjectEngine
│   │   ├── MetaEngine
│   │   ├── TagEngine
│   │   ├── PreviewServer
│   │   ├── Import* engines
│   │   ├── GitEngine
│   │   ├── MetadataDiffEngine
│   │   ├── ChatEngine / OpenCodeManager
│   │   └── TaskManager
│   ├── ipc/             # IPC handlers; bridges renderer to engines
│   ├── shared/          # Shared contracts/types (Electron API)
│   └── main.ts          # Electron app + menu + window lifecycle
└── renderer/
        ├── components/      # UI (editor, sidebars, panels, modals, views)
        ├── store/           # Zustand app state
        ├── macros/          # Macro authoring/runtime support
        └── App.tsx          # App composition + event wiring

Data Model & Storage

• Primary DB: {userData}/bds.db
• Projects: stored in DB with an active project
• Per-project data:
  • default/internal: {userData}/projects/{projectId}/
  • optional custom dataPath (posts/media/meta/thumbnails live together)
• Filesystem remains source of truth for post/media files; DB is query/index/state layer

Typical per-project folders:

{projectDataDir}/
├── posts/
├── media/
├── meta/
└── thumbnails/

Menu / Shortcuts (Cross-Platform)

Key shortcuts (defined as CmdOrCtrl):

• CmdOrCtrl+N New post
• CmdOrCtrl+I Import media
• CmdOrCtrl+S Save
• CmdOrCtrl+1 Posts view
• CmdOrCtrl+2 Media view
• CmdOrCtrl+B Toggle sidebar
• CmdOrCtrl+J Toggle panel
• CmdOrCtrl+Shift+P Publish selected
• CmdOrCtrl+Shift+V Preview active post in browser

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm

Install

npm install

Run (Development)

# Runs main TypeScript watch, Vite dev server, and Electron together
npm run dev

Alternative renderer+Electron flow:

npm start

Tests

npm test
npm run test:watch
npm run test:coverage

Build

# Generates drizzle artifacts, builds main process and renderer
npm run build

# Package app directory only (no installer)
npm run package

# Package distributables for all supported systems
npm run dist

# Package by target platform
npm run dist:mac
npm run dist:win
npm run dist:linux

Distribution Notes

• Custom protocol bds:// is declared in electron-builder metadata for packaged apps.
• macOS signing/notarization is scaffolded via scripts/notarize.mjs and runs when these env vars are set:
  • APPLE_ID
  • APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD
  • APPLE_TEAM_ID

Database Utilities

npm run db:generate
npm run db:migrate
npm run db:studio

License

MIT