This is a cross-platform desktop application for automatically uploading PGN files (chess game notation) from your local computer to a live Lichess Broadcast.

Some smart chess boards used in OTB (over the board) events can write PGN files to a folder on your computer. This application monitors that folder and uploads the PGN file in real-time using the Lichess API. In practice, this means anyone with internet access can follow the ongoing OTB games live and with minimal additional effort from tournament organisers. Lichess freely provides the infrastructure to show the tournament games to thousands of spectators, which would otherwise be a costly or technically challenging task for organizers.

This app is built with Tauri, a framework for building desktop apps with web technologies. It's written in Rust and TypeScript.

Contributions are welcome. Please read our Contributing guide if you're interested in helping with this or our other projects.

To download the latest version, go to the Releases and download the installer for your operating system.

This program uses free code signing provided by SignPath.io and a certificate by the SignPath Foundation

This program will not transfer any information to other networked systems unless specifically requested by the user or the person installing or operating it. See the Lichess Privacy Policy.

1. Follow steps for installing Rust + Tauri here: https://tauri.app/v1/guides/getting-started/prerequisites
2. Install pnpm

    npm install -g pnpm

pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

pnpm format
pnpm tsc

pnpm test
# or
pnpm test:watch

1. In the app, select a Round and start a folder watch.
2. Run this to automatically write a bunch of PGN to the folder:

pnpm esrun sample-data/generate/index.ts games path/to/folder

Test errors by writing bad PGN files:

pnpm esrun sample-data/generate/index.ts errors path/to/folder

Given a source image file, generate the icon files for the app:

convert src/assets/app-icon.png -size 702x702 xc:none -fill white -draw "roundrectangle 0,0,702,702,351,351" src/assets/mask.png
convert src/assets/app-icon.png \( src/assets/mask-1.png -alpha off \) -compose copy_opacity -composite src/assets/rounded.png
pnpm tauri icon src/assets/rounded.png

pnpm tauri build

Release artifacts are in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

1. Tag the new version:

   ./scripts/release

2. Github workflow will build the app for each OS, create a release, and attach the artifacts.

3. Update the "Check for Updates" endpoint

   When ready to recommend the update, change version.json