feat: add support for external server mode with Docker integration #376
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- Introduced a new `docker-compose.dev-server.yml` for running the backend API in a container, enabling local Electron to connect to it. - Updated `dev.mjs` to include a new option for launching the Docker server container. - Enhanced the UI application to support external server mode, allowing session-based authentication and adjusting routing logic accordingly. - Added utility functions to check and cache the external server mode status for improved performance. - Updated various components to handle authentication and routing based on the server mode.
📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughThis pull request introduces external Docker server mode support to the Electron application, enabling it to connect to a backend API running in a Docker container instead of using an embedded server. The changes include detection mechanisms via IPC, conditional control flow to skip embedded server startup, modified authentication for session-based auth, and developer tooling to run the Docker container locally. Changes
Sequence Diagram(s)sequenceDiagram
participant Electron Main
participant Renderer
participant HTTP Client
participant External Server
participant IPC Bridge
Electron Main->>Electron Main: Check SKIP_EMBEDDED_SERVER
alt External Server Mode
Electron Main->>External Server: Poll /api/health
External Server-->>Electron Main: 503 (not ready)
Note over Electron Main: Retry with backoff
External Server-->>Electron Main: 200 (healthy)
Electron Main->>Renderer: Create window<br/>Set PORT/VITE_SERVER_URL env vars
Renderer->>IPC Bridge: window.electronAPI.isExternalServerMode()
IPC Bridge->>Electron Main: ipcMain.invoke('auth:isExternalServerMode')
Electron Main-->>IPC Bridge: true
IPC Bridge-->>Renderer: Promise resolves true
Renderer->>HTTP Client: checkExternalServerMode()
HTTP Client->>IPC Bridge: window.electronAPI.isExternalServerMode()
IPC Bridge-->>HTTP Client: true
HTTP Client->>HTTP Client: Cache result
HTTP Client-->>Renderer: true
Renderer->>Renderer: Set needsSessionAuth = true
Renderer->>Renderer: Skip to /login<br/>(session-based auth)
Renderer->>External Server: API requests to localhost:3008
External Server-->>Renderer: Responses
else Default Mode (Embedded Server)
Electron Main->>Electron Main: Generate/Load API key
Electron Main->>Electron Main: Find available port
Electron Main->>Electron Main: Start embedded server
Electron Main->>Renderer: Create window
Renderer->>Renderer: Set needsSessionAuth = false
Renderer->>Renderer: Assume API-key auth ready
end
Estimated code review effort🎯 4 (Complex) | ⏱️ ~50 minutes Possibly related PRs
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Pre-merge checks and finishing touches✅ Passed checks (3 passed)
✨ Finishing touches
📜 Recent review detailsConfiguration used: defaults Review profile: CHILL Plan: Pro 📒 Files selected for processing (7)
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**/*.{ts,tsx}📄 CodeRabbit inference engine (CLAUDE.md)
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🧠 Learnings (1)📚 Learning: 2025-12-30T01:02:07.114ZApplied to files:
🧬 Code graph analysis (4)apps/ui/src/main.ts (2)
apps/ui/src/routes/__root.tsx (3)
dev.mjs (1)
scripts/launcher-utils.mjs (1)
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🔇 Additional comments (14)
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Summary of ChangesHello @webdevcody, I'm Gemini Code Assist1! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed! This pull request significantly enhances the development workflow by introducing an "external server mode" for the Electron application. This mode allows developers to run the backend API within a Docker container while the Electron UI runs locally, connecting to the containerized backend. This setup facilitates a more isolated and consistent development environment for the backend, while still leveraging the rapid iteration capabilities of local Electron development. The changes include new Docker Compose configurations, updates to the Electron application's authentication and routing logic to accommodate this new mode, and modifications to development scripts for easy launching. Highlights
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Code Review
This pull request introduces a new external server mode, allowing the Electron app to connect to a backend running in a Docker container. The changes are well-structured, including a new Docker Compose file for the server, updates to the development launcher scripts, and modifications to the Electron main and renderer processes to handle the new authentication and routing logic.
My review focuses on improving maintainability and type safety. I've pointed out a few areas for improvement:
- In
apps/ui/src/routes/__root.tsx, there's some duplicated logic that can be refactored. - In
scripts/launcher-utils.mjs, a hardcoded port number could be extracted into a constant. - In
apps/ui/src/lib/http-api-client.ts, a type assertionas anyis used, which could be avoided by updating the relevant type definition.
Overall, this is a solid implementation of a useful new development feature.
| const api = window.electronAPI as any; | ||
| if (api?.isExternalServerMode) { |
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The use of as any to access isExternalServerMode indicates that the type definition for window.electronAPI (likely ElectronAPI) is missing this new property. While this works, it bypasses TypeScript's type safety. To improve maintainability and type safety, the ElectronAPI interface should be updated to include the optional isExternalServerMode method. This would remove the need for the type assertion.
| // Check if we need session-based auth (web mode OR external server mode) | ||
| const needsSessionAuth = !isElectronMode() || isExternalServerMode() === true; |
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This logic to define needsSessionAuth is duplicated from line 250. To improve maintainability and avoid potential inconsistencies, this constant should be defined only once at the top of the RootLayoutContent component and then reused in both the useEffect hook and this rendering logic.
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| // Wait for the server to become healthy | ||
| log('Waiting for server to be ready...', 'yellow'); | ||
| const serverPort = 3008; |
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The port number 3008 is hardcoded here. This value is also used when launching Electron on lines 987-988. Using a hardcoded "magic number" in multiple places makes the code harder to maintain.
To improve maintainability, please define a constant for this port at the top of the launchDockerDevServerContainer function and use it in all relevant places.
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I'll keep an eye on this cve |
docker-compose.dev-server.ymlfor running the backend API in a container, enabling local Electron to connect to it.dev.mjsto include a new option for launching the Docker server container.Summary by CodeRabbit
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