elixir-desktop · dominicletz · Aug 5, 2026 · Aug 5, 2026
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -85,3 +85,29 @@ jobs:
           WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER: "1"
           WEBKIT_DISABLE_SANDBOX_THIS_IS_DANGEROUS: "1"
           LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE: "1"
+
+  windows-e2e:
+    name: Windows host + E2E
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    env:
+      NO_WX: "1"
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: erlef/setup-beam@v1
+        with:
+          otp-version: "26"
+          elixir-version: "1.18"
+      - name: Checkout desktop (path dep)
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: elixir-desktop/desktop
+          path: desktop
+      - name: Build host
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: .\scripts\build_windows.ps1
+      - run: mix deps.get
+      - name: E2E
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: mix test
+        env:
+          DESKTOP_WEBVIEW_BINARY: ${{ github.workspace }}\priv\native\windows\DesktopWebView.exe
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -62,4 +62,26 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-  # windows: add when native/windows host exists — attach DesktopWebView-windows-* to the same draft release
+  windows:
+    name: Windows x64 artifact
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Build host
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: .\scripts\build_windows.ps1
+      - name: Pack
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path dist | Out-Null
+          Copy-Item priv\native\windows\DesktopWebView.exe dist\DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe
+          $hash = (Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 dist\DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe).Hash.ToLower()
+          Set-Content -NoNewline -Path dist\DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe.sha256 -Value "$hash  DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe"
+      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+        with:
+          draft: true
+          files: |
+            dist/DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe
+            dist/DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe.sha256
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ desktop_webview-*.tar
 native/macos/.build/
 native/macos/Package.resolved
 native/linux/build/
+native/windows/build/
 priv/native/macos/DesktopWebView
 priv/native/linux/DesktopWebView
+priv/native/windows/DesktopWebView.exe
 .DS_Store
 *.swp
diff --git a/docs/status/windows.md b/docs/status/windows.md
@@ -2,35 +2,36 @@
 
 States: `done` | `partial` | `todo` | `n/a`
 
-Host not implemented yet. Follow [docs/porting.md](../porting.md).
-Binary delivery via GitHub Releases (not Hex `priv/`).
+C++ / Win32 / WebView2 host under [`native/windows/`](../../native/windows/).
+Local/CI binary: `priv/native/windows/DesktopWebView.exe`.
+Release asset: `DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe` (GitHub Releases; not Hex `priv/`).
 
 | Feature | Status | Notes |
 |---------|--------|-------|
-| TCP listen + `listening <port>` | todo | |
-| `initialize` + capabilities | todo | |
-| `--edw-no-beam` / argv strip | todo | |
-| Ini + defaults | todo | |
-| Lifetime reconnect | todo | |
-| Lifetime coupled | todo | |
-| Window open/show/hide/title/min size | todo | |
-| Multi-window (ids) | todo | |
-| Close veto → Elixir | todo | |
-| Raise / iconize / shown / active | todo | |
-| Webview loadURL / reload / current URL | todo | |
-| Webview rebuild | todo | |
-| New window → external open | todo | |
-| Context menu disable | todo | |
-| Menubar from DOM | todo | |
-| Tray / status item | todo | |
-| Apple menu | n/a | |
-| Notifications | todo | |
-| Icons from path / PNG | todo | |
-| OS events (reopen, open url/file) | todo | |
-| Locale / os_description | todo | |
-| Permission policy hybrid | todo | |
-| Microphone in webview | todo | |
-| Camera in webview | todo | |
-| Test RPC channel | todo | |
-| Release artifact download | todo | |
-| Ad-hoc / CI signing | todo | |
+| TCP listen + `listening <port>` | done | E2E launcher discovery |
+| `initialize` + capabilities | done | E2E setup |
+| `--edw-no-beam` / argv strip | done | E2E |
+| Ini + defaults | done | Same semantics as Linux/macOS |
+| Lifetime reconnect | done | Packaged mode (keep listening) |
+| Lifetime coupled | done | Exit on disconnect; `--edw-no-beam` exits |
+| Window open/show/hide/title/min size | done | E2E window test |
+| Multi-window (ids) | done | E2E |
+| Close veto → Elixir | done | `WM_CLOSE` → `event.window.close_requested` |
+| Raise / iconize / shown / active | done | Raise covered by E2E |
+| Webview loadURL / reload / current URL | done | E2E |
+| Webview rebuild | done | E2E |
+| New window → external open | done | `ShellExecute` + event |
+| Context menu disable | done | WebView2 settings |
+| Menubar from DOM | done | E2E menu create |
+| Tray / status item | done | `Shell_NotifyIcon`; E2E tray create |
+| Apple menu | n/a | Successful no-op |
+| Notifications | done | Balloon via tray when present; E2E |
+| Icons from path / PNG | partial | Path/ICO via `LoadImage`; PNG→HICON deferred |
+| OS events (reopen, open url/file) | partial | `system.open_url` done; OS reopen/file events not wired |
+| Locale / os_description | done | E2E |
+| Permission policy hybrid | done | E2E simulate + policy |
+| Microphone in webview | done | Permission RPC + WebView2 kinds |
+| Camera in webview | done | Permission RPC + WebView2 kinds |
+| Test RPC channel | done | E2E |
+| Release artifact download | todo | Elixir fetch/cache still pending |
+| Ad-hoc / CI signing | todo | Authenticode via desktop_deployment later |
diff --git a/native/windows/CMakeLists.txt b/native/windows/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
+project(DesktopWebView LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
+
+include(FetchContent)
+
+FetchContent_Declare(
+  nlohmann_json
+  URL https://github.com/nlohmann/json/releases/download/v3.11.3/json.tar.xz
+  DOWNLOAD_EXTRACT_TIMESTAMP TRUE
+)
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(nlohmann_json)
+
+set(WEBVIEW2_VERSION "1.0.2903.40")
+FetchContent_Declare(
+  microsoft_webview2
+  URL "https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/package/Microsoft.Web.WebView2/${WEBVIEW2_VERSION}"
+  DOWNLOAD_EXTRACT_TIMESTAMP TRUE
+)
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(microsoft_webview2)
+
+set(WEBVIEW2_ROOT "${microsoft_webview2_SOURCE_DIR}")
+set(WEBVIEW2_INCLUDE "${WEBVIEW2_ROOT}/build/native/include")
+if(CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P EQUAL 8)
+  set(WEBVIEW2_LIB_DIR "${WEBVIEW2_ROOT}/build/native/x64")
+else()
+  set(WEBVIEW2_LIB_DIR "${WEBVIEW2_ROOT}/build/native/x86")
+endif()
+
+add_executable(DesktopWebView
+  src/main.cpp
+  src/config.cpp
+  src/json_util.cpp
+  src/rpc_server.cpp
+  src/web_window.cpp
+  src/host_controller.cpp
+)
+
+target_include_directories(DesktopWebView PRIVATE
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src
+  ${WEBVIEW2_INCLUDE}
+)
+
+target_compile_definitions(DesktopWebView PRIVATE
+  UNICODE
+  _UNICODE
+  NOMINMAX
+)
+
+target_link_libraries(DesktopWebView PRIVATE
+  nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json
+  "${WEBVIEW2_LIB_DIR}/WebView2LoaderStatic.lib"
+  ws2_32
+  ole32
+  oleaut32
+  uuid
+  shell32
+  user32
+  gdi32
+  comctl32
+  advapi32
+  shlwapi
+  version
+)
+
+install(TARGETS DesktopWebView RUNTIME DESTINATION bin)
diff --git a/native/windows/README.md b/native/windows/README.md
@@ -1,18 +1,55 @@
 # Windows host (WebView2)
 
-Not implemented yet. This directory will hold the Microsoft Edge WebView2 host.
+C++17 + **Win32** + **WebView2** executable `DesktopWebView.exe`.
 
-## Specs
+## Prerequisites
+
+- Visual Studio 2022 with MSVC x64 toolchain (`vcvars64.bat`)
+- CMake 3.16+
+- [Microsoft Edge WebView2 Evergreen Runtime](https://developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-edge/webview2/)
+  (the host prints a clear stderr error if the runtime is missing)
+
+CMake fetches `Microsoft.Web.WebView2` and `nlohmann/json` during configure.
+
+## Build
+
+```powershell
+# from repo root (x64 Developer PowerShell, or let the script call vcvars64)
+.\scripts\build_windows.ps1
+```
+
+Output is copied to `priv\native\windows\DesktopWebView.exe` for local/CI use.
+Release artifact name: `DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe` (see [packaging.md](../../docs/packaging.md)).
+
+## Run (dev / E2E)
 
-- [Porting guide](../../docs/porting.md) — checklist, toolchain, E2E gate
-- [Protocol](../../docs/protocol.md) — JSON-RPC + behavioral semantics
-- [Packaging](../../docs/packaging.md) — Windows layout and release artifact names
-- [Status](../../docs/status/windows.md) — feature matrix
+```powershell
+.\priv\native\windows\DesktopWebView.exe --edw-no-beam --edw-test-rpc --edw-port=0
+# prints: listening <port>
+```
 
-## Contract (summary)
+```powershell
+$env:DESKTOP_WEBVIEW_BINARY = "$PWD\priv\native\windows\DesktopWebView.exe"
+mix test.e2e
+```
+
+## Structure
+
+| Path | Role |
+|------|------|
+| `CMakeLists.txt` | CMake project + WebView2 / JSON deps |
+| `src/` | Host sources (config, RPC, windows, dispatch) |
+
+Do not add a native unit-test suite; exercise the binary from Elixir E2E (`mix test.e2e`).
+
+`menu.set_apple` is a successful no-op on Windows.
+
+Microphone / camera: hybrid permission RPC applies; packaged apps may also need
+Windows privacy capability declarations (see [packaging.md](../../docs/packaging.md)).
+
+## Specs
 
-- Native process listens on TCP; Elixir connects
-- JSON-RPC 2.0 over 4-byte length-prefixed frames
-- `--edw-*` host flags; remaining argv forwarded to BEAM
-- Binary: `DesktopWebView-windows-x64.exe` via GitHub Releases (not Hex `priv/`)
-- `menu.set_apple` → successful no-op
+- [Porting guide](../../docs/porting.md)
+- [Protocol](../../docs/protocol.md)
+- [Packaging](../../docs/packaging.md)
+- [Status](../../docs/status/windows.md)