Tauri v2: Dialog Plugin

Native OS dialogs — the system file picker, the system alert, the system yes/no. Looks correct per platform without you doing any work; cannot be styled.

Install

npm run tauri add dialog

Manual: tauri-plugin-dialog = "2", @tauri-apps/plugin-dialog, .plugin(tauri_plugin_dialog::init()).

JS API

import { open, save, message, ask, confirm } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog';

// File picker (single)
const path = await open({
  multiple: false,
  directory: false,
  filters: [
    { name: 'Images', extensions: ['png', 'jpg', 'jpeg', 'webp'] },
    { name: 'All',    extensions: ['*'] },
  ],
});
// → string | null

// Multi-select
const paths = await open({ multiple: true }); // → string[] | null

// Folder picker
const folder = await open({ directory: true }); // → string | null

// Save picker — returns the path; you write it yourself (via fs plugin).
const dest = await save({
  defaultPath: 'export.json',
  filters: [{ name: 'JSON', extensions: ['json'] }],
});

// Prompts — all return a boolean.
await message('Update applied.', { title: 'MyApp', kind: 'info' });
const yes = await ask('Discard unsaved changes?', { kind: 'warning' });
const ok  = await confirm('Delete this file permanently?', { kind: 'warning' });

Return shapes:

Function	Returns
open (single)	`string \	null`
open (multi)	`string[] \	null`
open (directory)	`string \	null(orstring[]withmultiple`)
save	`string \	null`
message	void (resolves when dismissed)
ask, confirm	boolean

null means the user cancelled. Always handle it.

Filter shape:

{ name: 'Display name', extensions: ['ext1', 'ext2'] }

Extensions are without leading dot. Use '*' for “all files” — required on Windows to expose that option.

Rust API

Both async (recommended) and blocking variants exist. Blocking variants pin the calling thread until the dialog returns — don’t call them from an async command without spawn_blocking, and never from the main event loop thread.

use tauri_plugin_dialog::DialogExt;

#[tauri::command]
async fn pick_file(app: tauri::AppHandle) -> Option<String> {
    app.dialog()
        .file()
        .add_filter("Images", &["png", "jpg", "jpeg"])
        .blocking_pick_file()                 // blocking
        .map(|p| p.to_string())
}

#[tauri::command]
async fn pick_file_async(app: tauri::AppHandle) -> Result<Option<String>, String> {
    let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::oneshot::channel();
    app.dialog().file().pick_file(move |path| {
        let _ = tx.send(path.map(|p| p.to_string()));
    });
    rx.await.map_err(|e| e.to_string())
}

Builder methods: .add_filter(name, exts), .set_directory(path), .set_file_name(name), .set_parent(window). For a multi-pick: .pick_files(). For a folder: .pick_folder(). For save: .save_file().

Message dialogs:

app.dialog()
    .message("Settings saved.")
    .title("MyApp")
    .kind(tauri_plugin_dialog::MessageDialogKind::Info)
    .blocking_show();

Permissions

Permission	Allows
dialog:default	All of the below — convenient, but broad
dialog:allow-open	File / folder pickers
dialog:allow-save	Save picker
dialog:allow-message	message()
dialog:allow-ask	ask()
dialog:allow-confirm	confirm()

There is no per-path scope on the dialog itself — the user chose the path, the OS owns the picker. You still need fs permissions to do anything with the resulting path. Common flow:

1. open() returns /Users/me/foo.txt.
2. You pass that path to readTextFile().
3. fs plugin enforces its scope on that path.

If you want to read arbitrary user-picked files, your fs scope needs to cover that root ($HOME/**/*) or you need to extend the scope at runtime in Rust:

use tauri_plugin_fs::FsExt;
app.fs_scope().allow_file(&picked_path)?;

Platform quirks

• macOS: dialogs are app-modal — they steal focus but don’t block other apps. The dialog inherits the parent window if you call .set_parent(&main_window).
• Windows: extensions: ['*'] is the only way to get “All files” in the dropdown. Without it, the dropdown will show only your declared filter types.
• iOS: open() returns file:// URIs.
• Android: open() returns content URIs (content://…). The fs plugin can read them via the standard read APIs; don’t try to manipulate them as filesystem paths.

Templates

• templates/setup.rs — both blocking and async pick examples.
• templates/usage.ts — pickers + prompts with full filter shape.
• templates/capability.json — granular permissions instead of dialog:default.

Related

• tauri-plugins-fs — required downstream for reading/writing the picked path.
• tauri-plugins — install flow and decision matrix.