Wails v3 Beta: a new foundation for Go desktop applications

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Today we are releasing Wails v3 Beta.

Wails lets Go developers build desktop applications with the web frontend tools they already know, using the native WebView on each platform rather than an embedded browser. v3 is a substantial step forward: it gives applications a more direct API, a clearer build model, and a better foundation for the desktop applications people have been asking Wails to support.

This is a beta release, not the final 3.0 release. The desktop API is stable and teams are already using v3 in production, but you should test thoroughly before deploying. We are using the beta period to catch the final compatibility and workflow issues with the community. Wails v2 remains the current stable release and will continue to receive fixes.

At a glance

Explicit application and window APIs
First-class multi-window applications
Services with richer, statically generated TypeScript bindings
Service-provided frontend assets and scripts - groundwork for richer plugins
Inspectable Taskfile-based builds
Guided wails3 setup and project creation
Modern desktop support across macOS, Windows, and Linux

Why v3

Wails v2 made it straightforward to build a Go application with a modern web frontend. It has served the project - and a great many applications - well. But its single-window, context-driven runtime and tightly managed build process made some common desktop work harder than it should have been.

v3 starts from a different model. Applications, windows, services, events, and platform capabilities are explicit objects. That makes the framework easier to reason about as an application grows, and makes features such as multiple windows a normal part of the application model rather than a workaround.

What is new

An application API built for real desktop software

v3 replaces the v2 wails.Run(...) configuration style with an explicit application lifecycle. You create an application, register services, create windows, and interact with the objects that own the behaviour you need.

That removes a great deal of implicit context passing. Window operations belong to windows; application-wide operations belong to the application. It is a more natural model for multi-window applications and a better fit for testing and maintaining larger codebases.

The feedback from people who used v3 during alpha has been overwhelmingly positive. In particular, developers have responded well to the explicit model: it makes the code easier to follow, makes ownership clearer, and gives complex desktop applications room to grow without fighting the framework.

First-class multiple windows

Multiple windows are a core v3 capability. Windows have their own lifecycle and can be created, managed, and closed at runtime. The result is a clearer route to the kind of desktop software that needs editors, inspectors, preferences, tool windows, or several independent pieces of UI.

Services and generated bindings

Go services replace the older binding model. They keep application logic as ordinary Go code and make the boundary to the frontend explicit. Bindings are generated into a structure that reflects the application and its services, making it easier to find and use the API exposed to the frontend.

v3 generates those bindings with static source analysis. That means the generator can retain the information developers put into their code - including comments and meaningful parameter names - rather than discovering an already built program through reflection. The result is a richer, more useful frontend API and a generation process that is easier to understand and maintain.

Services can also mount frontend assets and scripts alongside their Go code. That gives a capability one coherent home: its backend API, the JavaScript or UI it needs, and the integration point for the host application. It opens the door to Wails plugins that deliver rich functionality out of the box - install a plugin, mount its service, and use the feature - rather than assembling a loose collection of bindings and frontend dependencies yourself. A general plugin system is not part of this beta, but v3 makes that direction practical in a way the v2 binding model did not.

A build system you can inspect and adapt

v3 makes the project build structure visible. Rather than hiding every build decision inside a single command, projects have a conventional layout and Taskfile-based build configuration that can be understood, extended, and debugged alongside the application.

A stronger cross-platform desktop baseline

The beta supports Windows on amd64 and arm64, macOS on Intel and Apple Silicon, and Linux on amd64 and arm64. GTK4 with WebKitGTK 6.0 is the default Linux stack; GTK3 remains available as a legacy option throughout the v3.0 series. Mobile support is exciting but remains experimental and is not part of the desktop beta compatibility promise.

This release also includes the work needed to make the day-to-day experience more dependable: improved platform behaviour, a more capable window model, clearer diagnostics, and release artefacts with checksums and provenance.

Moving from v2

v3 is a new major version, and migration is a real port rather than a version number change. The main conceptual shifts are the application and window lifecycle, services instead of context-bound bindings, direct application and window APIs instead of the v2 runtime package, and regenerated frontend bindings.

We have published a v2-to-v3 migration guide that walks through those changes and includes a feature mapping and testing checklist. That manual guide is the supported migration path for this beta. Please do not expect every v2 project to convert without review: test the result, port your runtime calls deliberately, and keep v2 in place until the new application is ready.

We are also evaluating an experimental migration assistant. It is not part of this beta release, and we will only recommend it once it has been validated against representative real-world v2 projects.

A candid note on the journey

The first v3 alpha tag was published on 18 January 2023. That is a long time to be in alpha, and it deserves more than a vague acknowledgement.

The project has changed enormously during that time. When the first Wails v2 beta shipped for Windows in September 2021, the repository had roughly 4,000 stars. By the v2 release in September 2022, it had roughly 10,300. Today it has more than 35,000. That growth is a privilege, but it also changes what good stewardship looks like: more users depend on release decisions, more contributors need clear routes to participate, and more of the work is about making the project predictable rather than simply adding the next feature.

I have not always adapted our processes as quickly or as clearly as that growth required. I own that. The answer is not to make grand promises or to turn every decision into ceremony; it is to be clearer about what is supported, what is experimental, how decisions are made, and what we are doing next.

That work begins with this beta. We now have explicit beta, release-candidate, and GA milestones; clearer compatibility commitments; an updated security policy; and a WEP (Wails Enhancement Proposal) process for changes to public behaviour and new capabilities. We will continue to improve the roadmap and review the project’s governance as Wails grows. The aim is a project that feels easier to rely on and easier to contribute to - not one that is harder to move.

Install and try the beta

Once the release is published, install the latest v3 CLI with:

go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/cmd/wails3@latest

Before creating a project, run the guided setup wizard. It checks your local development environment and helps configure the dependencies Wails needs:

wails3 setup

Create a project

Once you are all set, create a project with:

wails3 init

Documentation: https://v3.wails.io/
Migration guide: https://v3.wails.io/migration/v2-to-v3/
Release notes: VERSION PLACEHOLDER

If you find a reproducible bug, please report it with the output of wails3 doctor and a minimal example where possible. If you want to propose a new capability or a change to public behaviour, start a draft WEP PR instead of a feature-request issue. Both routes help us respond clearly and keep the beta moving.

Thank you

Wails v3 exists because of the people who tested incomplete builds, reported hard bugs, translated documentation, answered questions, contributed code, and kept asking the project to become better. Thank you.

And a very special, heartfelt thank you to the sponsors who have carried Wails through this long transition. Your support did more than keep the lights on: it gave us the opportunity to spend sustained time on the architecture, tooling, testing, and documentation that let the project accelerate toward v3. Every tester and contributor has helped shape this release, but the sponsors made it possible to give that work the attention it deserved.

The beta is an invitation to help us finish v3 properly. Try it, build with it, tell us where it breaks, and help us make the road to 3.0 a short and careful one.

Alpha 10 Released - A New Chapter for Wails

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Alpha 10 Released - A New Chapter for Wails

We’re thrilled to announce the release of Wails v3 Alpha 10 - and it’s big! While our release cadence may have seemed slow recently, there’s been an incredible amount of work happening behind the scenes. Today marks not just another release, but a shift in how we approach the development of Wails.

Why the Wait?

Like many development teams, we fell into the trap of trying to achieve perfection before each release. We wanted to squash every bug, polish every feature, and ensure everything was just right. But here’s the thing - software is never truly bug-free, and waiting for that mythical state only delays getting improvements into your hands.

Our New Release Strategy

Starting today, we’re adopting a daily release strategy. Any new changes merged during the day will be released at the end of that day. This approach will:

Get bug fixes and features to you faster
Provide more frequent feedback loops
Speed up our journey to Beta
Make the development process more transparent

This means you might see more frequent, smaller releases rather than occasional large ones. We believe this will benefit everyone in the Wails community.

How You Can Help

We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to contribute to Wails! To make it easier for contributors to get involved, we’re implementing a new system:

Firstly, we are opening up bug reporting for alpha releases. The frequent releases allow us to do this.
Issues marked with “Ready for Work” are open for community contributions
These issues have clear requirements and are ready to be tackled
Most importantly, we need people testing PRs - this is one of the most valuable contributions you can make

Testing doesn’t require deep knowledge of the codebase, but it provides immense value by ensuring changes work across different environments and use cases.

What’s Next?

With our new daily release strategy, expect to see rapid progress toward Beta. We’re committed to maintaining momentum and getting Wails v3 to a stable release as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality.

And who knows? There might be a few surprises along the way… 😉

Thank You

To everyone who has contributed code, tested releases, reported bugs, or simply used Wails - thank you. Your support and feedback drive this project forward.

Here’s to more frequent releases, faster iteration, and an exciting journey ahead!

Want to get involved? Check out our GitHub repository for issues marked “ready for work”, or join our community to help test the latest changes.

Wails Blog

Wails v3 Beta: a new foundation for Go desktop applications

At a glance

Why v3

What is new

An application API built for real desktop software

First-class multiple windows

Services and generated bindings

A build system you can inspect and adapt

A stronger cross-platform desktop baseline

Moving from v2

A candid note on the journey

Install and try the beta

Create a project

Thank you

Alpha 10 Released - A New Chapter for Wails

Alpha 10 Released - A New Chapter for Wails

Why the Wait?

Our New Release Strategy

How You Can Help

What’s Next?

Thank You