u/Traditional_Tea3364

I have a production SaaS app (Next.js 14 App Router, MongoDB Atlas, Vercel) that's already live and working. Now I need to build a local/offline desktop version of the same app for customers who don't want their data on the cloud.

The requirement:

- Same UI, same features packaged as a Windows .exe

- All data stored locally on the user's machine

- Some features still need internet (third party APIs like Groq, Cloudinary)

- Auto-updates so I can push fixes without visiting each user

What makes this tricky:

- All backend logic lives in Next.js API routes (catch-all route pattern)

- Static export breaks API routes completely

- Can't use Vercel serverless in a desktop app obviously

- MongoDB Atlas won't work offline

Architecture options I'm considering:

Option A - Nextron + NeDB

Use Nextron to wrap the app, replace MongoDB with NeDB (MongoDB-compatible API). Rewrite the DB layer but keep everything else.

Option B Nextron + local Express server

Run a local Express server inside Electron's main process on a port like 3001. Keep all existing API route logic there. Frontend calls localhost:3001 instead of Vercel. No DB layer rewrite needed.

Option C Full IPC

Move all data operations to Electron's main process via IPC handlers. Cleanest architecture but requires rewriting every API call in the frontend.

My specific questions:

1. Has anyone successfully put a Next.js App Router app (not Pages Router) inside Electron? What broke and how did you fix it?

2. For ~50,000-100,000 documents locally is NeDB fast enough or should I bundle actual MongoDB Community?

3. Between Option A, B, C which approach would you take for an existing production app where you want minimum code changes?

4. Auto-updating on Windows without a code signing certificate is it possible if I'm physically installing at each customer site myself?

5. The .asar read-only file issue any files that need to be written at runtime (logs, DB files) what's the cleanest way to handle paths in packaged app vs development?

Thanks

Not a dentist. I'm a software guy who's spent the last month sitting inside dental clinics trying to understand how they actually operate.

I've spoken with around 40 dentists, clinic owners, assistants, and practice managers across India.

One thing I've learned: what happens inside a clinic is a lot more complex than what patients see from the outside.

Appointments are the obvious part.

What surprised me was everything happening behind the scenes: follow-ups that depend on staff remembering to call people, lab work being tracked over WhatsApp, treatment plans spread across multiple visits, outstanding payments, supplies running low, and dozens of small operational tasks that nobody notices until something gets missed.

I've been building software around these problems, but the more people I talk to, the more I realize how easy it is to build the wrong thing.

So I'd rather ask directly.

If you run or work in a dental clinic:

What's the most frustrating operational problem that software still doesn't solve properly?

Not the flashy stuff.

The thing that repeatedly wastes time, creates mistakes, or makes your day harder than it should be.

I'd genuinely love to hear what I'm missing.

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