TeaXTea

A lightweight, cross-platform desktop text file manager built with Wails, allowing users to create, edit, view, and manage text files with a modern, beautiful interface.

Overview

TeaXTea is a desktop application that simplifies text file management by providing an intuitive interface to work with .txt files in a selected directory. The application persists your chosen directory and provides a seamless editing experience with live previews and easy file operations.

Tech Stack

Backend

• Go - Backend logic and file system operations
• Wails v2 - Go + Web frontend framework for building desktop applications
• SQLite (modernc.org/sqlite) - Lightweight database for storing application data (last selected directory)

Frontend

• React 18 - UI library for building the interface
• Vite - Fast build tool and development server
• Tailwind CSS v4 - Utility-first CSS framework with modern styling
• shadcn/ui - Re-usable component library built on Radix UI primitives
  • Dialog, Button, Card, Input, Textarea components
• Radix UI - Accessible, unstyled UI primitives
• Lucide React - Icon library for modern icons

Architecture

Application Structure

TeaXTea/
├── main.go              # Application entry point and Wails configuration
├── app.go               # Core application logic and file operations
├── db.go                # Database initialization and table creation
├── dir_db.go            # Directory persistence logic
└── frontend/
    ├── src/
    │   ├── App.jsx      # Main React component
    │   ├── components/  # UI components (shadcn/ui)
    │   └── wailsjs/     # Generated bindings for Go ↔ React communication
    └── package.json

How It Works

1. Application Initialization

• On startup, the Go backend initializes a SQLite database in the user's config directory (%APPDATA%/TeaXTea on Windows)
• Creates a last_dir_tb table to persist the last selected directory
• Wails runtime bridges the Go backend with the React frontend

2. Directory Management

• Users select a folder containing .txt files via native file dialog
• The selected directory path is saved to the SQLite database
• On subsequent launches, the app automatically loads files from the last selected directory
• Users can change the directory at any time

3. File Operations

Read Files:

• Scans the selected directory for .txt files
• Displays file list with name and size metadata
• Clicking a file loads its content into the editor

Create/Edit Files:

• Users type content in the textarea editor
• Provide a filename in the input field
• Save triggers a native "Save File" dialog
• File is written to the selected location

Delete Files:

• Click delete icon on any file
• Confirmation dialog (shadcn Dialog component) asks for confirmation
• On confirmation, file is permanently deleted from disk
• File list refreshes automatically

4. Frontend ↔ Backend Communication

• Wails generates JavaScript bindings from Go methods
• React components call Go functions directly: SaveTextFile(), ReadFile(), DeleteFile(), etc.
• No REST API needed - direct IPC (Inter-Process Communication) via Wails runtime
• Type-safe communication with generated TypeScript definitions

5. State Management

• React useState hooks manage:
  • Current file content and title
  • File list from selected directory
  • Dialog open/close state
  • File to be deleted (for confirmation)
• useEffect hook loads directory on component mount

Features

✨ Modern UI - Clean, responsive interface built with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui
📁 Directory Persistence - Remembers your last selected folder
📝 In-App Editor - Edit text files directly in the application
💾 Save Anywhere - Choose where to save files with native dialogs
🗑️ Safe Deletion - Confirmation dialog prevents accidental deletions
🎨 Cross-Platform - Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
⚡ Fast & Lightweight - No bloat, minimal resource usage

Development

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24+
• Node.js 18+
• Wails CLI (go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest)

Run Development Server

wails dev

Build for Production

wails build

License

This project is a personal side project by d3uceY.