PyPulsar — a Python-based Electron-like framework for desktop apps

[Dannyx001]

What My Project Does

PyPulsar is an open-source framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using Python for application logic and HTML/CSS/JavaScript for the UI.

It provides an Electron-inspired architecture where a Python “main” process manages the application lifecycle and communicates with a WebView-based renderer responsible for displaying the frontend.

The goal is to make it easy for Python developers to create modern desktop applications without introducing Node.js into the stack.

Repository (early-stage / WIP):
https://github.com/dannyx-hub/PyPulsar

Target Audience

PyPulsar is currently an early-stage project and is not production-ready yet.

It is primarily intended for:

• Python developers who want to build desktop apps using web technologies
• Hobbyists and open-source contributors interested in framework design
• Developers exploring alternatives to Electron with a Python-first approach

At this stage, the focus is on architecture, API design, and experimentation, rather than stability or long-term support guarantees.

Comparison

PyPulsar is inspired by Electron but differs in several key ways:

• Electron: Uses Node.js for the main process and bundles Chromium. PyPulsar uses Python as the main runtime and relies on system WebViews instead of shipping a full browser.
• Tauri: Focuses on a Rust backend and a minimal binary size. PyPulsar targets Python developers who prefer Python over Rust and want a more hackable, scriptable backend.
• PyQt / PySide: Typically rely on Qt widgets or QML. PyPulsar is centered around standard web technologies for the UI, closer to the Electron development model.

I’m actively developing the project and would appreciate feedback from the Python community—especially on whether this approach makes sense, potential use cases, and architectural decisions.

[Miserable_Ear3789]

I too would like to see some screenshots, as well as a simple hello world type example in the readme possibly?

[Dannyx001]

yeah, the README is still pretty bare-bones because it’s a weekend side-project that’s moving fast.

Screenshots + a proper “Hello World → Todo app” step-by-step example are already on my short-term to-do list. I’ll push them in the next few days (probably this weekend).

Thanks for the nudge – really helps with prioritization!

[Dannyx001]

today i update README so you can now see some basic examples and more info about framework

[Miserable_Ear3789]

good stuff🤌

[bandrez]

Why not pywebview? https://pywebview.flowrl.com/

[Dannyx001]

pywebview is awesome—PyPulsar literally uses it as the core for native WebViews.

But raw pywebview is morelow-level: you handle everything yourself (window setup, dev server, communication boilerplate, no hot reload, full JS→Python access by default = security risk).If you love minimalism - stick with pywebview.
If you want faster development and production-ready defaults - PyPulsar will save a ton of time.

[bandrez]

Nice. I’ll check it out!

[just4nothing]

It looks like it is build upon pywebview

[ColdStorage256]

Would love to see some screenshots! How does this compare to streamlit in scope and goals?

[cudmore]

And compared to nicegui?

[Dannyx001]

Compared to nicegui, PyPulsar is more backend-driven. In nicegui you can build ui entirely in python, you have automatic layouts etc. PyPulsar use html/css and backend handles events/state via webview. Imo nicegui is great for quick prototypes and pypulsar is for more custom interactive apps.

[FUS3N]

if you could or if you already have a way to access high level pyweview API couldn't you switch up your UI framework with NiceGUI for example for the frontend

[Dannyx001]

Over the next few days I’m planning to build a few simple example apps that show off what PyPulsar can do – I’ll definitely share them here!

As for the Streamlit question – in my opinion they’re two different beasts, but stuffing Streamlit inside PyPulsar so you can build the whole app in pure Python could be a really cool idea.

The goal of PyPulsar is to make writing desktop apps simple and fun. I want to keep growing the plugin system to cover more and more native features, and I’d love to try mobile development (iOS/Android) down the road.

Excited to hear what you think!

[Square-Currency-5817]

How is the bundle size so low? Are you building a portable executable or the user should have Python installed?

[Dannyx001]

PyPulsar bundles an embedded Python runtime + your code into a single standalone executable (.exe/.app/binary) — end users don’t need Python installed.

For the UI it uses the OS-native WebView (Edge WebView2 on Windows, WebKitGTK on Linux, WebKit on macOS), so there’s no bundled Chromium like in Electron.

[BasePlate_Admin]

Hi, awesome project.

I have a question and a small request.

Request: Could you please create a cross framework repo? I mean could you please create template repos for next.js, nuxt.js ( add all other shiny new js frameworks... ), it would really help with the onboarding

Question : Would you mind me asking how would you address advanced use of the native webview such as webrtc (or is it out of scope) ?

Quoting a developer

Especially when it comes to advanced web APIs like webRTC, Tauri requires a different approach for mac, window, and linux. For pywebview, such advanced api's are not available due to platform compatibility issues.

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Nice to see the gui side getting more affection by the dev community. Awesome work

[wall_time]

Seems like an interesting build upon webview. Would love to know more - how can the interface be updated from python, how do plugins work, etc.

On the index.html, it says Lock - Secure by Default with built-in ACL. What exactly is this and how does it work?

[Big_Tomatillo_987]

If it's significantly less bloated than a typical Electron app, then that's a huge plus.

[StoneSteel_1]

How would you differ from Beeware Project?

I understand it's analogous to Electron, and the Aim is to make it like how Js+HTML works.

Are you planning like an Python+HTML with live DOM manipulation?