# What is still needed to get PlutoDesktop off the ground?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-still-needed-to-get-plutodesktop-off-the-ground/135623
**Category:** Pluto
**Tags:** community, teaching
**Created:** [February 13, 2026, 6:45pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-still-needed-to-get-plutodesktop-off-the-ground/135623 "2026-02-13T18:45:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nathan\_Boyer](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Nathan_Boyer)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2026, 6:45pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-still-needed-to-get-plutodesktop-off-the-ground/135623/1 "2026-02-13T18:45:49Z")
It seems to me that [PlutoDesktop](https://github.com/JuliaPluto/PlutoDesktop) would be the simplest way to get people using Julia without all the [normal setup friction](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ann-a-julia-discourse-site-for-non-technical-users/135560/32#p-631196-the-missing-tooling-5) and a silver bullet for Julia adoption. Pluto is already being used very successfully for teaching online courses. Simplifying access to that environment sounds like a big win. Just double click a `.jl` file or launch the application from your OS to immediately start performing some persistent, reactive Julia analysis. It would certainly be a much friendlier UI and setup process than VSCode, which is the currently recommended way to interface with Julia. Unfortunately, the PlutoDesktop project has been “On Hold” without any pre-releases since 2022. What are the roadblocks to getting this functional and fully released?
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### Author:  [@fonsp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fonsp)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-still-needed-to-get-plutodesktop-off-the-ground/135623/2 "2026-03-02T12:22:09Z")
Hi Nathan, thanks for your interest!
I agree that PlutoDesktop is a really important project!
We got a $6000 NumFocus Small Development Grant around 2024 to finish the project, but the Pluto developer who the grant was for, disappeared, probably working on other projects now. We recently found a new developer to continue the work, but the grant was not enough to get the project finished – there was already a lot of work involved in bringing everything up to date after 3 years and learning new skills. So the project has been updated recently and it’s close, but not ready yet.
The issue is that the project is technically complex: you need some level of understanding of Pluto’s architecture (Julia+JS, complex full-stack app), and a good understanding of NodeJS, Electron, Julia multiprocessing, CI build systems, app distribution and auto-updating to work on PlutoDesktop. This combination of skills is very rare (and expensive), so it will be hard to find another contributor and a grant to pay them.
I’m also worried about the future maintenance – electron apps bundle a very large amount software, and the platform is evolving a lot. So once it’s built, it requires maintenance (it’s a security-sensitive application). It’s near-impossible to find FOSS maintainers, and to get grants for maintaining existing work. I looked into alternatives using tauri and electrobun, which are more lightweight and might require less maintenance, but these have their own challenges (Rust, new-and-evolving platforms, missing functionality).
If you want to contribute and you have time/resources available, get in touch!