Desktop Brand Builder logo

Desktop Brand Builder

OrganizationPopular
QwenLM
desktop-brand-builder

Generate a branded Qwen Code desktop package from the Tauri desktop shell using a minimal brandId and logo. Use when the user wants a custom, white-label, or rebranded desktop client, installer, DMG/EXE/AppImage/deb, or one-click brand build on top of packages/desktop.

Overview

PublisherQwenLM
Repositoryqwen-code
Skill namedesktop-brand-builder
Stars
28.4K
Forks
3.2K
Bundled files
1
LicenseApache-2.0
Links
  • Markdown instructions

    A SKILL.md file the model loads on demand, so it only costs tokens when a request actually matches.

  • Works with any LLM

    AI skills are plain Markdown, not provider-specific code, so this works with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model.

  • 1 bundled files

    Scripts, templates, and references the model can read while it works. Files are read-only and never executed.

  • Open source

    Published by QwenLM on GitHub. Read the source before you install it.

Installation

Install the Desktop Brand Builder AI skill in TypingMind to use it with any LLM, or drop it into another agent that reads SKILL.md.

1

Install in TypingMind

TypingMind installs a skill straight from its GitHub folder — it reads SKILL.md, bundles the resource files, and stores the result locally.

  1. Open the app and go to Plugins → Skills.
  2. Choose "Install from GitHub".
  3. Paste the skill folder URL below and confirm.
    https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code/tree/main/packages/desktop/.agents/skills/desktop-brand-builder
  4. Enable the skill in any chat where you want it available.
Plugins → Skills → Add skill → From GitHub URL, then paste the folder URL and press Continue.
2

Install in another agent

Any agent that reads the Agent Skills format can use this skill — copy the folder into that agent's skills directory.

Claude Code — .claude/skills
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code.git /tmp/qwen-code
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/qwen-code/packages/desktop/.agents/skills/desktop-brand-builder .claude/skills/desktop-brand-builder
Restart Claude Code after copying so it picks up the new skill.

Use it in TypingMind

Enable Desktop Brand Builder in any TypingMind chat and the model takes it from there. Its name and description sit in the system prompt, and the moment a request matches, the model loads the full instructions itself — you never invoke it by hand, and it costs no tokens until it is actually used.

The model loads Desktop Brand Builder on its own as soon as a request matches it.

Works with any AI model

AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so Desktop Brand Builder is not tied to the model it was written for. Install it once in TypingMind and use it with GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama, or a local model you run yourself — all on your own API keys.

  • Loaded only when it is needed

    The system prompt carries just the name and description. The instructions are fetched on the first matching request, so an idle skill costs nothing.

  • Switch models mid-chat

    Because the skill is instructions rather than code, changing model does not break it — the next model reads the same SKILL.md.

Skill instructions

This is the SKILL.md content the model loads. Read it before installing — a skill is instructions your model will follow.

Desktop Brand Builder (Tauri shell)

Goal

Create a branded desktop package from packages/desktop with the least user input possible. The user should usually provide only:

text
brandId: acme-ai
logo: /absolute/path/to/logo.png
website: https://acme.ai

website is optional. Do not ask for app name, app id, artifact name, copyright, or updater endpoints unless the user explicitly asks to override them.

This skill replaces the Electron-era brand builder that lived in the older, since-deleted Electron packages/desktop (removed in PR 9085, before this Tauri shell took over that path). The Tauri shell is the only desktop implementation now; branding hooks are src-tauri/tauri.conf.json, src-tauri/icons/, and the bootstrap/ startup UI.

Input Rules

Required fields:

  • brandId: must match ^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$
  • logo: local file path; must exist; .png recommended (square, >= 1024px)

Optional overrides:

  • website
  • appName
  • appId (Tauri bundle identifier)
  • artifactPrefix
  • updaterEndpoints (JSON array; empty array disables in-app updates)
  • updaterPubkey (base64 public key; required when updaterEndpoints is non-empty — must match the TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY used to sign your updater artifacts)
  • target: mac, win, linux, or all

If required input is missing, ask once:

text
请提供:
brandId: 例如 acme-ai,只能小写字母、数字、短横线
logo: 本地 logo 文件路径(建议 1024x1024 PNG)
website: 可选

Once the required fields are present, proceed without a confirmation step.

Derived Defaults

Infer missing values deterministically:

  • appName: title-case the hyphen-separated brandId; acme-ai becomes Acme AI
  • artifactPrefix: title-case the hyphen-separated brandId and join with hyphens; acme-ai becomes Acme-AI
  • appId: if website has a valid host, reverse the host labels and append .desktop; https://acme.ai becomes ai.acme.desktop
  • fallback appId: app.<brandId>.desktop
  • updaterEndpoints: empty by default. A branded build must never poll the official Qwen Code updater feed, and the official feed must never update a branded build. Only set endpoints when the user supplies their own feed.

Workflow

Work in an isolated build clone so the working repository stays clean:

bash
BUILD_ROOT="$PWD/brand-builds/<brandId>-<timestamp>"
mkdir -p "$BUILD_ROOT"
git clone --branch main --single-branch \
  https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code.git \
  "$BUILD_ROOT/qwen-code"
cd "$BUILD_ROOT/qwen-code"
git checkout -B brand-<brandId> origin/main

If the clone or checkout fails, stop and report the failure. Do not continue as if brand-<brandId> was created.

Create a temporary brand.json in the build directory:

json
{
  "brandId": "acme-ai",
  "logo": "/absolute/path/to/logo.png",
  "website": "https://acme.ai",
  "appName": "Acme AI",
  "appId": "ai.acme.desktop",
  "artifactPrefix": "Acme-AI",
  "updaterEndpoints": [],
  "updaterPubkey": ""
}

Install dependencies. The brand script itself only needs the desktop package's own node_modules, but npm run build:runtime shells out to the repo root (which uses cross-env and other root devDependencies), so the root install is also required before packaging:

bash
# Root dependencies (needed by build:runtime → cross-env, esbuild, etc.)
npm install

# Desktop package dependencies
cd packages/desktop
npm install --workspaces=false
cd ../..

Then run this skill's bundled brand creation script with plain Node (the script has no dependencies beyond Node >= 18):

bash
node packages/desktop/.agents/skills/desktop-brand-builder/scripts/brand-create.mjs \
  --shell-root /absolute/path/to/qwen-code/packages/desktop \
  --config /absolute/path/to/brand.json

The agent should not hand-edit tauri.conf.json, icon files, or bootstrap brand strings when this bundled script is available. The bundled script is the source of truth for patching config and generating resources.

What the script does:

  1. Patches src-tauri/tauri.conf.json: productName, identifier, bundle.shortDescription, and plugins.updater.endpoints. When updaterEndpoints is empty it also clears bundle.createUpdaterArtifacts and blanks the official plugins.updater.pubkey (set to empty string rather than deleted, because the updater plugin requires the field); a brand supplying its own feed must supply its own pubkey.
  2. Regenerates the full icon set from the logo via npx --yes @tauri-apps/cli icon <logo> (falls back to a warning if the CLI cannot run; in that case copy the logo over src-tauri/icons/icon.png manually and tell the user the remaining sizes are stale).
  3. Patches the bootstrap UI: page title, brand heading, startup strings in bootstrap/index.html and bootstrap/bootstrap.js, and replaces bootstrap/qwen-code-logo.svg usage with the brand logo.

Package with the current host target unless the user requested a target:

bash
cd packages/desktop
npm run build:runtime --workspaces=false
npx tauri build            # current platform

Cross-compile: build:runtime bundles the Node runtime for the platform indicated by QWEN_DESKTOP_TARGET (defaults to the host). When targeting a different platform you must re-run build:runtime with the env var set before each tauri build --target, otherwise the packaged artifact contains a wrong-arch Node binary and fails at launch with an exec format error:

bash
# Cross-compile: set QWEN_DESKTOP_TARGET and re-run build:runtime per target
QWEN_DESKTOP_TARGET=aarch64-apple-darwin npm run build:runtime --workspaces=false
npx tauri build --target aarch64-apple-darwin   # explicit macOS arm64

For target: all, iterate build:runtime → tauri build per target; run only targets supported by the current machine or CI environment. Do not claim cross-platform artifacts were produced unless the files exist. Artifacts land under packages/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/ for the host target, or src-tauri/target/<triple>/release/bundle/ when --target <triple> is used.

Signing and Updates

Branded builds are unsigned by default. The upstream release pipeline's signing secrets (Apple, Windows) and updater private key belong to the official Qwen Code releases only. For a brand that needs signed releases or in-app updates, set up separate credentials and a separate updater feed; do not reuse the upstream ones.

To generate a signing key pair for your updater feed:

bash
npx @tauri-apps/cli signer generate -w ~/.tauri/my-brand.key
# The .key file is the private key (set as TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY in
# your build CI). The corresponding .pub file contains the base64 public
# key — paste it into brand.json as updaterPubkey.

Validation

After packaging:

  1. Confirm the expected artifact exists under packages/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/ (or src-tauri/target/<triple>/release/bundle/ for cross-compile targets) (dmg/, nsis/, appimage/, or deb/).
  2. Compute sha256sum or shasum -a 256 for each artifact.
  3. On macOS, run hdiutil verify for generated DMG files.
  4. Report the artifact path, SHA-256, app name, app id, and build directory.

Failure Handling

  • Invalid brandId: show the regex and ask for a corrected value.
  • Missing logo: ask for a valid local path.
  • Missing bundled script: report that packages/desktop/.agents/skills/desktop-brand-builder/scripts/brand-create.mjs is missing, and include the expected command.
  • Already-branded shell-root: the script refuses to run when productName is no longer the default (Qwen Code Desktop). Start from a fresh clone — do not re-run the script in an already-patched tree.
  • Build failure: preserve the build directory, return the last useful error lines, and include the full log path or command that produced the failure.

Do not delete the build directory on failure. Never re-run brand-create in the same clone — the script is single-use. The "preserve the build directory" guidance is for post-mortem debugging, not for retrying the brand step. If the brand config was wrong, discard the clone and start fresh.

Bundled files

The model reads these on demand while the skill is loaded. They are exposed as readable files and are never executed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Desktop Brand Builder AI skill do?

Generate a branded Qwen Code desktop package from the Tauri desktop shell using a minimal brandId and logo. Use when the user wants a custom, white-label, or rebranded desktop client, installer, DMG/EXE/AppImage/deb, or one-click brand build on top of packages/desktop.

Why use Desktop Brand Builder on TypingMind?

Because you install it once and use it with any model. Desktop Brand Builder is plain Markdown rather than provider-specific code, so the same skill runs on GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model — and you can switch model mid-chat without it breaking. TypingMind runs on your own API keys, so you pay providers directly instead of a per-seat subscription, and your skills and chats stay in your own storage.

How do I install Desktop Brand Builder in TypingMind?

Open Plugins → Skills → Install from GitHub in TypingMind and paste https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code/tree/main/packages/desktop/.agents/skills/desktop-brand-builder. TypingMind reads its SKILL.md and bundles its files and installs it as a skill you can enable per chat.

Which AI models can use Desktop Brand Builder?

Any model you connect in TypingMind. AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and local models can all load this skill when a request matches it.

How many AI models can I use with Desktop Brand Builder?

As many as you like. As long as a model supports skills, you can use Desktop Brand Builder with it — GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama and more — all on TypingMind with your own API keys.

Is the Desktop Brand Builder AI skill free?

Yes. It is published on GitHub by QwenLM under the Apache-2.0 license. You only pay your own AI provider for the tokens you use.

What are AI skills?

An AI skill is a reusable instruction bundle that teaches an AI model how to do one specific task. It follows the open Agent Skills format: a SKILL.md file with a name and description, plus any scripts, templates or reference files the model may need. The model reads the instructions only when your request matches the skill, so an installed skill costs nothing until it is used.

How are AI skills different from plugins or MCP servers?

A plugin or MCP server gives a model new tools to call — code that runs somewhere and returns a result. An AI skill gives the model knowledge and process instead: how to approach a task, which steps to follow, what good output looks like. Skills are plain Markdown, so they need no server, no API key and no runtime, and they work with any model.

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