All tests run on an 8-year-old MacBook Air.
All results from shipping 7 Mac apps as a solo developer. No sponsored opinion.
Tauri's IPC — how the frontend and backend communicate — is more flexible than it looks. Here's what I actually use across 7 apps.
The default: Tauri commands
rust#[tauri::command]
async fn do_something(input: String) -> Result {
process(input).await
}
typescriptconst result = await invoke('do_something', { input: 'hello' })
This is the right default for 90% of use cases. Request-response, typed, clean. Use this until you have a reason not to.
When commands aren't enough: events
Commands are request-response. Events are push — backend to frontend, no request needed.
rust// Backend pushes update
app_handle.emit("sync-progress", SyncUpdate {
file: "photo.jpg".to_string(),
progress: 42
}).ok();
typescript// Frontend listens
await listen('sync-progress', (event) => {
updateProgressBar(event.payload.progress)
})
Use events for: progress updates, background task status, real-time data, anything where the backend initiates communication.
Targeting specific windows
For multi-window apps, emit to a specific window:
rustapp_handle
.get_webview_window("settings")
.unwrap()
.emit("settings-updated", payload)
.ok();
The channel API for streaming data
Tauri v2 added a channel API for streaming large amounts of data efficiently:
rustuse tauri::ipc::Channel;
[tauri::command]
async fn stream_data(on_event: Channel) -> Result<(), AppError> {
for chunk in get_chunks() {
on_event.send(chunk)?;
}
Ok(())
}
Better than emitting hundreds of individual events. More efficient for large data transfers.
What I don't use
Unix sockets, named pipes, shared memory — these exist but add complexity without benefit in a Tauri context. The command + event system covers everything I've needed across 7 apps.
The only case I'd reach for lower-level IPC: if the Tauri IPC overhead became measurable. It hasn't.
The pattern I follow
User action → invoke command → return result
Background work → emit events → frontend updates UI
Large data stream → channel API
Three patterns. That's the whole IPC layer.
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