DioxusLabs/dioxus

`dx serve --hot-patch` on Windows 11 cannot generate binary outside of VS command prompt

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#4911 opened on Nov 5, 2025

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bughelp wantedsubsecondwindows

Description

Problem

A freshly created, barebones desktop project on Windows, launched with dx serve --hot-patch will fail to build with a number of linker errors looking for core windows libraries.

Steps To Reproduce

  • open any terminal that is not the VS 2022 Native Tools Command Prompt
    • for the purposes of this report, I have tried nushell, Powershell, and a vanilla Command Prompt
  • create a new Dioxus project with dx new
  • Bare-Bones for sub-template
  • false for Dioxus Fullstack
  • false for Dioxus Router
  • false for Tailwind CSS
  • false for LLM prompts
  • Desktop for Platform
  • cd to new project directory
  • dx serve --hotpatch to run

The build will then fail when looking for system libraries:

22:51:23 [dev] Failed to generate fat binary: rust-lld: error: could not open 'shlwapi.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'advapi32.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'kernel32.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'kernel32.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'kernel32.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'ntdll.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'userenv.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'ws2_32.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'dbghelp.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'uuid.lib': no such file or directory
rust-lld: error: could not open 'ole32.lib': no such file or directory
22:51:23 [dev] Build failed: Failed to read file: The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2)
               1: The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2)

However, running under the x64 Native Tools Command Prompt, the project will build and run just as expected, so this will function as a workaround.

Expected behavior

I expect that dx serve --hot-patch on Windows will function the same no matter matter the shell, assuming that regular rust programs are able the be compiled and run under those same shell environments with no modifications.

Environment:

  • Dioxus version: 0.7.0, main branch for dx-cli Windows launch fix
  • Rust version: 1.91.0 (f8297e351 2025-10-28)
  • OS info: Windows 11
  • App platform: Desktop

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
desktop
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
RustWindowscommand line basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Investigate how dx cli configures the linker for Windows builds. The linker (rust lld) cannot find system libraries like kernel32.lib outside the VS 2022 Native Tools Command Prompt. The fix may involve setting the LIB environment variable or automatically detecting Visual Studio installation paths. Examine dx cli source code for hot patch build logic and how it resolves linker library paths.