Offline-First & Zero-Native Architecture

How Dori achieves local-first isolation using Node 24 node:sqlite, Tauri v2, and crash-safe vault synchronization.

Building a true offline-first application requires avoiding heavy cloud reliance, avoiding brittle binary builds, and ensuring data integrity on disk.

1. Zero-Native Binary Dependency Engine

Most desktop Node.js background services rely on native C++ addons like better-sqlite3 or canvas. This creates build fragmentation, cross-compilation headaches across macOS (ARM/x86), Linux, and Windows, and risk of native segfault crashes.

Dori solved this by leveraging Node.js 24’s native node:sqlite module:

• Pure JavaScript Package: The engine dropped all native C++ build targets, allowing the daemon to be packaged as pure JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Embedded FTS5 Support: Uses Node 24’s bundled SQLite build including FTS5 full-text indexing out of the box.
• Zero Cross-Compilation Overhead: Single artifact distribution across all OS targets.

// dori-engine/src/sqlite.ts
import { DatabaseSync } from 'node:sqlite';

export default class Database {
  private readonly db: DatabaseSync;

  constructor(filePath: string) {
    this.db = new DatabaseSync(filePath, {
      timeout: 5_000,
      enableForeignKeyConstraints: false,
    });
  }

  transaction<A extends unknown[], R>(fn: (...args: A) => R): (...args: A) => R {
    return (...args: A): R => {
      this.db.exec('BEGIN');
      try {
        const result = fn(...args);
        this.db.exec('COMMIT');
        return result;
      } catch (err) {
        this.db.exec('ROLLBACK');
        throw err;
      }
    };
  }
}

2. Tauri v2 Desktop IPC & ./dori CLI

Dori uses Tauri v2 as its native desktop host:

• Low Footprint: Consumes <120 MB RAM total vs 500MB+ for standard Electron apps.
• Headless ./dori CLI: The engine daemon exposes a native CLI executable (./dori) for diagnostics (doctor.ts), domain queries, and script automation without spawning the visual UI.
• Fail-Fast Engine Guardrails: Missing environment variables or corrupted DB schemas trigger explicit process termination with diagnostic logs rather than swallowing errors silently.

3. Crash-Safe Vault Synchronization & Conflict Recovery

User knowledge stays stored in plain Markdown files in a local directory or Git repo:

• Write-Ahead Logging (WAL): SQLite operates in WAL mode with atomic transactional boundaries to ensure zero corruption on sudden process termination or lid closes.
• Conflict Handling: When syncing across devices via Git or cloud backup providers, Dori treats raw disk Markdown files as source-of-truth, automatically re-projecting local SQLite indexes when file SHA-256 fingerprints change.