🏗️ CRANE

Desktop IDE for local Rust+Python development, powered by Qwen LLMs.

Features:

• ✅ Desktop app with construction crane icon 🏗️
• ✅ Splash screen: Recent projects or Create New
• ✅ Auto venv with UV (fast Python package manager)
• ✅ Default: Rust + Python (with UV)
• ✅ Containerized with Podman (safer, rootless) or other runtimes
• ✅ No npm unless cloning projects
• ✅ Full file system access to /mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/
• ✅ Auto git init on every project

---

Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

# Install Rust
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

# Install UV (fast venv manager)
pip install uv

# Install Podman (safer than Docker)
sudo apt install podman

# Optional: Podman
sudo apt install podman

2. Build & Run

cd /mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/crane-ide

# Build Rust backend
cargo build --release

# Start IDE
./run.sh

Expected output:

🏗️  Starting CRANE...
Starting backend (port 8002)...
Starting frontend...

3. Desktop Icon

The app creates a .desktop icon automatically:

# Icon location
~/.local/share/applications/crane.desktop

# Click on desktop (or launcher) to open
# It will show: 🏗️ CRANE

---

How It Works

Splash Screen (First View)

If projects exist:

🏗️ CRANE
────────────────
Recent Projects:
  [my-app] [rust] 💻 local
  [web]    [rust] 📦 podman
  
✨ New Project

Click a project → Opens it (workspace not yet wired) Click "+ New Project" → Shows creation form

Create New Project

Form options:

Project name: ___________

☐ Containerized (Podman/Docker)

When checked, select runtime:
  🔒 Podman (safer, rootless) — DEFAULT
  🐳 Podman

[✅ Create] [Cancel]

On submit:

1. Creates /mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/projects/{name}/
2. Runs cargo init --name {name}
3. Initializes git
4. Creates UV venv: .venv/
5. If containerized: Builds Podman image + runs container
6. Auto-commits: init: Create new Rust+Python project with UV
7. Back to splash screen with new project visible

---

Architecture

Backend (Rust, Axum)

/api/health → Check Podman/Docker/UV status
/api/projects → List all projects
/api/projects/create → Create new project (with containerization)

Auto-detects:

• Podman (preferred) → rootless, safer
• Podman → if Podman not found
• UV → for venv management

Frontend (React, Tauri)

Single splash view:

• Recent projects (scrollable list)
• Create button → modal form
• Containerization toggle
• Runtime selector (Podman | Docker)

Tech stack:

• React 18 (minimal, no extra deps)
• Tauri (native window, no Electron bloat)
• No npm in default workflow (only if cloning)

Container Support (Podman/Docker)

Containerfile (Podman native):

FROM rust:latest
RUN apt-get install -y python3.11 git uv
WORKDIR /workspace

Benefits of Podman over Docker:

• Rootless by default (no daemon, safer)
• Direct mount of /dev/shm for IPC
• Drop-in Docker replacement
• OCI-compatible

---

File Structure

/mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/crane-ide/
├── Cargo.toml (workspace: backend + Tauri)
├── backend/
│   ├── Cargo.toml (Axum server)
│   └── src/main.rs (project manager, containerization logic)
├── src-tauri/
│   ├── frontend/
│   │   ├── src/main.jsx (splash + create form)
│   │   ├── vite.config.js
│   │   └── package.json (React only, minimal)
│   └── src/main.rs (Tauri app shell)
├── .crane/
│   ├── containers/
│   │   ├── Containerfile (Podman recipe)
│   │   └── podman-run.sh (launch container)
│   └── init-project.sh (local venv setup)
├── run.sh (launcher: start backend + frontend)
├── README.md (this file)
└── .desktop (icon for application launcher)

---

Usage Workflow

Local Rust Project (Default)

# Open CRANE
# → Click "+ New Project"
# → Name: "my-app"
# → Uncheck "Containerized"
# → Click "Create"

# Result:
/mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/projects/my-app/
├── .git/
├── .venv/            # UV Python venv
├── Cargo.toml
├── Cargo.lock
└── src/
    └── main.rs

Develop:

cd /mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/projects/my-app
cargo build
cargo run

# For Python:
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install <package>
uv sync

Containerized Rust+Python Project

# Open CRANE
# → Click "+ New Project"
# → Name: "web-app"
# → Check "Containerized"
# → Select "🔒 Podman (safer, rootless)"
# → Click "Create"

# Result:
/mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/projects/web-app/
├── .git/
├── Containerfile     # Auto-created for Podman
├── Cargo.toml
└── src/main.rs

Run in container:

cd /mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/crane-ide
./podman-run.sh web-app

# Inside container:
# $ cargo build
# $ source .venv/bin/activate

---

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Create new project	Ctrl+Shift+N
Open recent project	Click in list
Toggle containerization	Click checkbox

---

Troubleshooting

"Podman not found"

sudo apt install podman

"UV not installed"

pip install uv

Desktop icon not appearing?

# Update desktop DB
update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/

# Or try opening directly:
/mnt/NOBILITY_VAULT/crane-ide/run.sh

Backend fails to start?

# Check port 8002 is free
lsof -i :8002

# Or use a different port (edit backend/src/main.rs)

---

Next Steps

1. Test splash screen: Create 2-3 test projects
2. Test containerization: Create one local, one Podman
3. Wire workspace editor: Click project → open file editor
4. Integrate Qwen routing: Wire backend to Qwen 14B/Coder models
5. Add GitHub/HF sync: Auto-create repos on project init

---

Architecture Notes

• No npm in default workflow ✅ (only for cloning existing web projects)
• Rust first ✅ (all projects default to Rust)
• Podman preferred ✅ (safer, rootless)
• UV for venv ✅ (100x faster than pip alone)
• Full filesystem access ✅ (ALLOWED_ROOTS in backend)
• Desktop icon ✅ (construction crane 🏗️ via .desktop file)

---

Built with 🦀 Rust + 🧠 Qwen + 🔒 Podman