Getting started

anvil is a framework that generates a native Minecraft launcher (Windows · macOS · Linux) from a config.json file and an HTML page. The built-in Rust backend takes care of:

• Downloading and managing Java
• Downloading Minecraft assets (vanilla, Fabric, Forge…)
• Launching the game with session management
• Auto-updates via URL
• App icon generation from your logo

You only touch the frontend.

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 18
• Rust (stable)
• Tauri v2 prerequisites (WebView2 on Windows, Xcode on macOS)

How to install Rust

Windows (PowerShell):

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://win.rustup.rs/x86_64 -OutFile "$env:TEMP\rustup-init.exe"; & "$env:TEMP\rustup-init.exe" -y

Linux (bash):

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y

macOS (bash, via Homebrew):

brew install rustup && rustup-init -y

Then restart your terminal (or run source "$HOME/.cargo/env" on Linux/macOS) and check with rustc --version.

Quick start

npx @thomasfarineau/anvil create my-launcher
cd my-launcher
npm install
npm run dev

create is interactive: pick TypeScript or JavaScript, then Vanilla, React, Vue or Solid. Skip the prompts with --template:

npx @thomasfarineau/anvil create my-launcher --template react-ts

Available templates: vanilla-js (default), vanilla-ts, react-js, react-ts, vue-js, vue-ts, solid-js, solid-ts — see examples/ for a ready-made project of each.

Or in an existing project:

npm install -D @thomasfarineau/anvil
npx anvil init
npm run dev

Next steps

• CLI commands
• Project structure
• config.json reference