Development Setup

Prerequisites

• macOS 13+ on Apple Silicon
• Node.js 18+
• Python 3.10+
• Git

Clone and Install

git clone https://github.com/fabriziosalmi/silicondev.git
cd silicondev

# Frontend
npm install

# Backend
cd backend
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -c constraints.txt -e ".[dev]"
cd ..

Run Development Mode

npm run dev

This runs concurrently:

1. dev:renderer — Vite dev server on port 5173
2. dev:electron — waits for Vite, compiles TypeScript, launches Electron

The backend is started as a subprocess by the Electron main process. It binds to 127.0.0.1 on port 8000 by default; if 8000 is busy it scans 8001–8099 for a free port and signals the chosen port to Electron via stdout (SILICON_PORT=<port>).

Build

npm run build

Compiles:

1. Renderer: TypeScript check + Vite production build to dist/renderer/
2. Main: TypeScript compilation to dist/main/

Package for Distribution

npm run package

1. Builds frontend and main process
2. Builds backend via PyInstaller (backend/spec/silicon_server.spec)
3. Packages everything with electron-builder into release/

Output: .dmg and .zip in release/.

Backend Development

Run the backend standalone:

cd backend
source .venv/bin/activate
uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000

Tests

cd backend
pytest

Uses pytest-asyncio for async endpoint tests. Test files are in backend/tests/.

Linting

cd backend
black app/ tests/
isort app/ tests/

Frontend uses TypeScript strict mode. The build fails on type errors.

Key Directories

Path	Purpose
src/main/	Electron main process
src/renderer/src/	React application
src/renderer/src/components/	UI components
src/renderer/src/api/client.ts	API client
src/renderer/src/context/	React context providers
backend/app/	FastAPI application
backend/app/api/	API route handlers
backend/app/engine/	MLX engine service
backend/app/rag/	RAG service
backend/app/mcp/	MCP integration
backend/tests/	Backend tests
resources/	App icon, entitlements
assets/	Screenshots