CiaForge

CiaForge is a focused Tauri desktop app for converting supported Nintendo 3DS .cci and .3ds images to .cia. It pairs a native file picker and drag-and-drop queue with a Rust conversion engine.

Use only files you are legally entitled to convert and install. CiaForge does not include game content, keys, or firmware material.

Usage

macOS

Because I do not currently have an Apple Developer account, the macOS builds are ad-hoc signed and not notarized. macOS may therefore report a downloaded app as damaged or reject it through Gatekeeper.

After moving CiaForge.app to /Applications, open Terminal and run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/CiaForge.app"
open "/Applications/CiaForge.app"

These commands remove the download quarantine attribute for CiaForge only and open the app. They do not disable Gatekeeper system-wide. Only use an artifact that you built yourself or obtained from a repository you trust.

Convert a file

1. Open CiaForge.
2. Drag one or more .cci / .3ds files into the window, or select them with the file browser.
3. Choose the output location in Settings if needed.
4. Start the conversion and find the generated .cia file next to the source file or in the shared output folder.

Testing status and feedback

I currently have only one Apple Silicon (ARM64) MacBook available. I can test the macOS arm64 build, but I cannot currently test the macOS x86_64 or Windows builds. If you have an Intel Mac or a Windows PC, please help test them and report the operating system version, CPU architecture, app version, and any error messages.

Screenshots

Empty state with drag-and-drop import.

Conversion queue with multiple files selected.

Features

• Drag in one or many .cci / .3ds files, or select them from the native file browser.
• See file names, sizes, conversion status, per-file progress, and full error details on hover when text is truncated.
• Choose a single output policy in Settings: next to each source file (default) or one shared output folder.
• Add more files before a batch begins; clear the batch to return to the import screen.
• Keep conversion sequential and prevent duplicate batch starts while a batch is running.
• Avoid overwrites automatically: Game.cia, Game_1.cia, Game_2.cia, and so on.
• Reveal a successfully converted file in Finder.

Current support and limits

The current Rust engine supports unencrypted NCCH content inside .cci or .3ds images. It validates CCI/NCCH structure, patches required CIA metadata, and writes CIA content records with SHA-256 integrity data.

Original-NCCH and zero-key encrypted inputs are detected but are not supported yet. They fail with a clear per-file error instead of producing a partial CIA.

Development

Prerequisites

• A current Node.js LTS release and npm
• A current stable Rust toolchain
• The native build prerequisites required by Tauri v2

Run locally

npm install
npm run tauri dev

Verify

npm run build
cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Build a distributable application

CI=false npm run tauri -- build --target aarch64-apple-darwin --bundles dmg

Use x86_64-apple-darwin instead of aarch64-apple-darwin for an Intel Mac. The DMG is written beneath src-tauri/target/<target>/release/bundle/dmg/; these generated files are intentionally ignored by Git.

GitHub Actions builds

The workflow at .github/workflows/build-desktop.yml builds separate macOS arm64 and x86_64 DMGs, plus the existing Windows bundle. It runs for pull requests, manual dispatches, and tags beginning with v (for example, v0.2.0). Each run uploads three downloadable artifacts:

• CiaForge-macOS-arm64 (DMG)
• CiaForge-macOS-x86_64 (DMG)
• CiaForge-Windows (EXE)

When a version tag is pushed, a separate release job downloads the build artifacts and publishes the two macOS DMGs plus the Windows .exe installer to the matching GitHub Release. The macOS DMGs use an ad-hoc signature for bundle integrity, but are not notarized without Apple signing secrets.

Repository layout

src/                       Frontend state, interactions, and styles
src-tauri/src/              Tauri commands and Rust conversion engine
src-tauri/assets/           Runtime CIA template assets
src-tauri/capabilities/     Tauri permissions
src-tauri/icons/            Application icons used for bundling
public/                     Frontend static assets
docs/screenshots/           README screenshots (not bundled with the app)

See ARCHITECTURE.md for module responsibilities and the conversion flow.

Third-party attribution

The conversion behaviour and embedded retail CIA templates are derived from ihaveamac/3dsconv. CiaForge does not execute or bundle the Python project. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for the required attribution and license text.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.