From 85fe81a0a797721f66bb15624ce525d6d5db5b3e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: kzikit <kaiyin@newkidsintown.nl>
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2026 16:29:27 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): show main window when ready-to-show never fires

On software-rendered systems (e.g. VMware SVGA where Chromium falls back
to SwiftShader) the compositor never produces a first frame for a hidden
window, so 'ready-to-show' never fires and the main window stays
invisible forever while the app boots healthy underneath (DOM complete,
no errors). Add a 2s fallback timer that shows the window anyway;
on healthy systems ready-to-show fires first and startup stays
flicker-free.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .changeset/main-window-show-fallback.md |  5 +++++
 apps/desktop/src/main/index.ts          | 17 ++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/main-window-show-fallback.md

diff --git a/.changeset/main-window-show-fallback.md b/.changeset/main-window-show-fallback.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e21b06ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/main-window-show-fallback.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@open-codesign/desktop": patch
+---
+
+Show the main window via a 2s fallback timer when `ready-to-show` never fires. On software-rendered systems (e.g. VMware/VirtualBox VMs where Chromium falls back to SwiftShader), the compositor never produces a first frame for a hidden window, so the window stayed invisible forever while the app ran healthy underneath.
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/main/index.ts b/apps/desktop/src/main/index.ts
index 4d28c823..1cbf083a 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/main/index.ts
@@ -103,7 +103,22 @@ function createWindow(): void {
     },
   });
 
-  mainWindow.on('ready-to-show', () => mainWindow?.show());
+  // On software-rendered systems (e.g. VMware SVGA → SwiftShader fallback)
+  // the compositor never produces a first frame for a hidden window, so
+  // ready-to-show never fires and the window stays invisible forever while
+  // the app runs healthy underneath. The fallback timer shows the window
+  // anyway; on healthy systems ready-to-show fires well within 2s and
+  // startup stays flicker-free.
+  const showFallback = setTimeout(() => {
+    if (mainWindow !== null && !mainWindow.isDestroyed() && !mainWindow.isVisible()) {
+      mainWindow.show();
+    }
+  }, 2000);
+  mainWindow.on('ready-to-show', () => {
+    clearTimeout(showFallback);
+    mainWindow?.show();
+  });
+  mainWindow.on('closed', () => clearTimeout(showFallback));
   // Null the reference on close so stale IPC sends from async emitters
   // (autoUpdater, long-running generate runs) become clean no-ops rather
   // than throwing "Object has been destroyed" on a discarded webContents.