# Building LabUI from Source

Produces a standalone `dist/LabUI/` directory (onedir, not onefile — required for tufup's per-file update patching).

## Prerequisites

Python 3.10+ and the dev requirements:

```bash
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
```

`requirements-dev.txt` adds PyInstaller and tufup on top of the runtime deps.

## First-time setup — TUF repository

Skip this if the `scripts/release/keystore/` directory already exists (i.e. someone else on the team has already initialised the repo and shared the keystore out-of-band).

```bash
python scripts/release/repo_init.py
```

This generates:

- `scripts/release/keystore/` — private + public keys for the TUF root/targets/snapshot/timestamp roles. **Back this up somewhere private outside the repo. Losing the root key means existing installs can never receive trusted updates.**
- `scripts/release/repository/` — initial signed TUF metadata, including `root.json`.

After init, build once more so the freshly-generated `root.json` gets bundled into the app (the `.spec` file only includes it if it already exists):

```bash
pyinstaller labui.spec
```

## Building a release

### 1. Bump the version

Edit `core/version.py`:

```python
__version__ = "1.2.3"
```

This single value is read by the auto-updater at runtime (`core/updater.py`) and by the release script when signing the new target.

### 2. Build the executable

```bash
pyinstaller labui.spec
```

Output: `dist/LabUI/LabUI` (Linux/macOS) or `dist/LabUI/LabUI.exe` (Windows).

The build bundles:
- `ui/style_dark.qss` and `ui/style_light.qss`
- `scripts/release/repository/metadata/root.json` (if present — enables trusted updates on fresh installs)

Plugins are **not bundled**. They are installed at runtime by the user via **Settings → Plugins → Install Plugin…**. Installed plugins and their enabled state live in `~/.labui/plugins/`. Plugin pip dependencies (for machines without Python) land in `~/.labui/plugin_packages/`, which is added to `sys.path` at startup.

### 3. Sign the release target

```bash
python scripts/release/repo_release.py
```

Creates and signs `scripts/release/repository/targets/labui-<version>.tar.gz` and updates the TUF metadata files in `scripts/release/repository/metadata/`.

### 4. Publish to GitHub

Upload every file from `scripts/release/repository/metadata/` and `scripts/release/repository/targets/` to the GitHub Release tagged **`updates`** (fixed tag — not a version tag), replacing any same-named files already there.

The app's updater always points at `.../releases/download/updates/`, so the tag must stay constant across versions.

Optionally create a separate human-facing release with a changelog under a version tag (e.g. `v1.2.3`).

### 5. Verify

Launch a previous installed version → Settings → Check for Updates → confirm it finds and applies the new version.

## Re-signing expired metadata

TUF metadata expires even with no new release (`root`: 365 days, others: 90 days). If metadata goes stale before the next release, clients reject it. Re-sign:

```bash
python -m tufup sign snapshot scripts/release/keystore
python -m tufup sign timestamp scripts/release/keystore
```

Run from the repo root. Re-upload the resulting files to the `updates` release.

## What's bundled vs. external

| Item | Bundled in exe? | Notes |
|------|----------------|-------|
| Python runtime | Yes | PyInstaller includes it |
| PyQt6 / pyqtgraph / numpy | Yes | |
| QSS theme files | Yes | copied from `ui/` |
| Plugins | No | installed by users into `~/.labui/plugins/` at runtime |
| Plugin pip deps | No | installed into `~/.labui/plugin_packages/` or vendored inside plugin zip |
| `root.json` | Yes (if present) | TUF trust bootstrap |
| `nidaqmx` | No | optional; NI runtime must be installed separately |
| `opencv-python` | No | optional; only needed if a plugin requires it (vendor it in the plugin zip) |

## Troubleshooting

**`ModuleNotFoundError` at launch** — a hidden import PyInstaller missed. Add it to `hiddenimports` in `labui.spec` and rebuild.

**Plugin not loading in built app** — plugins are not bundled; the user must install them via Settings → Plugins. If the plugin loads but fails silently, check that its `vendor/` folder contains all required packages, or that the user has pip-installed them (they land in `~/.labui/plugin_packages/`).

**Plugin dependency not importable after pip install** — the user may need to restart the app so `~/.labui/plugin_packages/` is injected into `sys.path` (this happens in `main.py` at startup).

**`root.json` not bundled** — run `repo_init.py` first (see First-time setup), then rebuild.