Linux bundles are not self-contained — bundle awatcher + aw-sync so deb/rpm/AppImage work out of the box

[ErikBjare]

Problem

The Linux Tauri artifacts (deb/rpm/AppImage, built via cargo tauri bundle in the activitywatch bundle repo) contain only the aw-tauri binary. tauri.conf.json configures no bundle.resources or externalBin, so unlike the other platforms, a fresh Linux install launches the tray + embedded aw-server + web UI but records nothing — there are no watchers and no aw-sync inside.

Platform comparison (from the v0.14.0b2 draft-release audit):

Platform	Tauri artifact	Self-contained?
macOS	DMG via build_app_tauri.sh	✅ modules copied into Contents/Resources/
Windows	setup.exe via aw-tauri.iss	✅ dist/activitywatch/* packed alongside aw-tauri.exe
Linux	deb/rpm/AppImage via cargo tauri bundle	❌ binary only (13–14MB deb vs 128MB Qt deb)

The current workaround is the separate ~170MB activitywatch-tauri-vX-linux-<arch>.zip module pack + move-to-aw-modules.sh, which copies watchers into ~/aw-modules/ for discovery. That's an extra manual step most users won't know about, and the zip is easily mistaken for an alternative app bundle.

Proposal: all-Rust self-contained Linux bundles

Bundle awatcher + aw-sync (both Rust, a few MB each) into the Linux artifacts rather than the PyInstaller module trees:

• awatcher covers window+afk watching on both Wayland and X11, so it replaces both Python watchers; move-to-aw-modules.sh already treats it as the watcher of choice on Wayland
• keeps bundles small (~20–30MB instead of ~200MB with PyInstaller trees)
• no Python runtime inside the deb/rpm/AppImage at all

Implementation sketch:

1. Add awatcher + aw-sync via bundle.resources (or externalBin sidecars) in tauri.conf.json — the bundle repo already builds both on Linux before cargo tauri bundle runs
2. Extend dirs.rs::get_discovery_paths() with the installed-resource locations on Linux (deb/rpm install path under /usr/lib/, and $APPDIR for AppImage) — mirroring the existing macOS Resources/modules branch
3. Keep ~/aw-modules/ discovery as-is so power users can still add/override modules (incl. the Python watchers from the zip, which remains available)

Alternative considered: bundling the full PyInstaller trees via bundle.resources (matches macOS/Windows content exactly) — works but inflates every Linux artifact by ~170MB and drags a Python runtime into otherwise-pure-Rust bundles.

Context: found while auditing the v0.14.0b2 draft release assets in the bundle repo (all four macOS DMGs + Windows setup are self-contained; Linux is the odd one out).