Executive Summary

This document analyzes various architectural approaches for enabling Rust-based extensions to create and manipulate UI components in a React + Shadcn frontend within a Tauri application. We examine five distinct approaches, evaluating their trade-offs in terms of security, performance, developer experience, and implementation complexity.

Problem Statement

Core Challenge

Create a system where:

• Backend Extensions: Written in Rust for performance and safety
• Frontend UI: Built with React + Shadcn for rich user interfaces
• Safe Integration: Extensions cannot compromise application security or stability
• Developer Experience: Intuitive API for extension authors
• Consistent Design: Maintains Shadcn design system integrity

Key Requirements

1. Security Isolation: Extensions cannot execute arbitrary frontend code
2. Type Safety: Compile-time guarantees for UI structure and props
3. Performance: Minimal overhead for UI updates and event handling
4. Maintainability: Changes to Shadcn components don't break extensions
5. Extensibility: Support for custom components beyond base Shadcn set
6. Developer Ergonomics: Natural, intuitive API for Rust developers

Architectural Options