Desktop Self-hosted guidance improvements (#5060)

Removed timeout when waiting for backend port to allow for slow backend
spinups



<img width="1185" height="951" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/badaf8e5-611d-44aa-aca2-7c1c906c2019"
/>
<img width="1213" height="1533" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ce78b67a-07e0-4c23-9087-5de0c5f203c6"
/>
<img width="1207" height="1202" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c6e5b4c5-9cc3-4973-a634-3b7aa1e1dd34"
/>

frontend/public/locales/en-GB/translation.toml

@@ -5777,7 +5777,7 @@ description = "Sign in with your Stirling account"
 
 [setup.mode.selfhosted]
 title = "Self-Hosted Server"
-description = "Connect to your own Stirling PDF server"
+description = "Connect to your own Stirling PDF server with your personal account"
 
 [setup.saas]
 title = "Sign in to Stirling"
@@ -5813,6 +5813,13 @@ submit = "Login"
 signInWith = "Sign in with"
 oauthPending = "Opening browser for authentication..."
 orContinueWith = "Or continue with email"
+serverRequirement = "Note: The server must have login enabled."
+showInstructions = "How to enable?"
+hideInstructions = "Hide instructions"
+instructions = "To enable login on your Stirling PDF server:"
+instructionsEnvVar = "Set the environment variable:"
+instructionsOrYml = "Or in settings.yml:"
+instructionsRestart = "Then restart your server for the changes to take effect."
 
 [setup.login.username]
 label = "Username"

frontend/src/desktop/components/SetupWizard/LoginForm.tsx

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React, { useState } from 'react';
-import { Stack, TextInput, PasswordInput, Button, Text, Divider, Group } from '@mantine/core';
+import { Stack, TextInput, PasswordInput, Button, Text, Divider, Group, Collapse, Anchor, Box } from '@mantine/core';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import { authService } from '@app/services/authService';
 import { STIRLING_SAAS_URL } from '@app/constants/connection';
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export const LoginForm: React.FC<LoginFormProps> = ({ serverUrl, isSaaS = false,
   const [password, setPassword] = useState('');
   const [validationError, setValidationError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [oauthLoading, setOauthLoading] = useState(false);
+  const [showInstructions, setShowInstructions] = useState(false);
 
   const handleSubmit = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
     e.preventDefault();
@@ -92,6 +93,47 @@ export const LoginForm: React.FC<LoginFormProps> = ({ serverUrl, isSaaS = false,
           {t('setup.login.connectingTo', 'Connecting to:')} <strong>{isSaaS ? 'stirling.com' : serverUrl}</strong>
         </Text>
 
+        {/* Login requirement note for self-hosted servers */}
+        {!isSaaS && (
+          <Box>
+            <Text size="xs" c="dimmed">
+              {t('setup.login.serverRequirement', 'Note: The server must have login enabled.')}{' '}
+              <Anchor
+                size="xs"
+                onClick={() => setShowInstructions(!showInstructions)}
+                style={{ cursor: 'pointer' }}
+              >
+                {showInstructions
+                  ? t('setup.login.hideInstructions', 'Hide instructions')
+                  : t('setup.login.showInstructions', 'How to enable?')}
+              </Anchor>
+            </Text>
+
+            <Collapse in={showInstructions}>
+              <Box mt="xs" p="sm" style={{ backgroundColor: 'var(--mantine-color-gray-0)', borderRadius: '4px' }}>
+                <Text size="xs" c="dimmed">
+                  {t('setup.login.instructions', 'To enable login on your Stirling PDF server:')}
+                </Text>
+                <Text size="xs" mt="xs" c="dimmed">
+                  {t('setup.login.instructionsEnvVar', 'Set the environment variable:')}
+                </Text>
+                <Text size="xs" mt="4px" ff="monospace" c="dark">
+                  SECURITY_ENABLELOGIN=true
+                </Text>
+                <Text size="xs" mt="xs" c="dimmed">
+                  {t('setup.login.instructionsOrYml', 'Or in settings.yml:')}
+                </Text>
+                <Text size="xs" mt="4px" ff="monospace" c="dark">
+                  security.enableLogin: true
+                </Text>
+                <Text size="xs" mt="xs" c="dimmed">
+                  {t('setup.login.instructionsRestart', 'Then restart your server for the changes to take effect.')}
+                </Text>
+              </Box>
+            </Collapse>
+          </Box>
+        )}
+
         {/* OAuth Login Buttons - Only show for SaaS */}
         {isSaaS && (
           <>

frontend/src/desktop/components/SetupWizard/ModeSelection.tsx

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export const ModeSelection: React.FC<ModeSelectionProps> = ({ onSelect, loading
         <div style={{ textAlign: 'left', flex: 1 }}>
           <Text fw={600} size="md">{t('setup.mode.selfhosted.title', 'Self-Hosted Server')}</Text>
           <Text size="sm" c="dimmed" fw={400}>
-            {t('setup.mode.selfhosted.description', 'Connect to your own Stirling PDF server')}
+            {t('setup.mode.selfhosted.description', 'Connect to your own Stirling PDF server with your personal account')}
           </Text>
         </div>
       </Button>

frontend/src/desktop/services/tauriBackendService.ts

@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ export class TauriBackendService {
     return this.startPromise;
   }
 
-  private async waitForPort(maxAttempts = 30): Promise<void> {
+  private async waitForPort(): Promise<void> {
-    for (let i = 0; i < maxAttempts; i++) {
+    while (true) {
       try {
         const port = await invoke<number | null>('get_backend_port');
         if (port) {
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ export class TauriBackendService {
       }
       await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 500));
     }
-    throw new Error('Failed to detect backend port after 15 seconds');
   }
 
   /**
@@ -208,16 +207,14 @@ export class TauriBackendService {
     }
   }
 
-  private async waitForHealthy(maxAttempts = 60): Promise<void> {
+  private async waitForHealthy(): Promise<void> {
-    for (let i = 0; i < maxAttempts; i++) {
+    while (true) {
       const isHealthy = await this.checkBackendHealth();
       if (isHealthy) {
         return;
       }
       await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
     }
-    this.setStatus('unhealthy');
-    throw new Error('Backend failed to become healthy after 60 seconds');
   }
 
   /**

scripts/build-tauri-jlink.bat

@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ if errorlevel 1 (
 echo ✅ Java and jlink detected
 
 echo ▶ Building Stirling-PDF JAR...
+
+set DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES=true
 call gradlew.bat clean bootJar --no-daemon
 if errorlevel 1 (
     echo ❌ Failed to build Stirling-PDF JAR

scripts/build-tauri-jlink.sh

@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ fi
 
 # Clean and build the Stirling-PDF JAR
 print_step "Building Stirling-PDF JAR..."
+export DISABLE_ADDITIONAL_FEATURES=true
 ./gradlew clean bootJar --no-daemon
 
 if [ ! -f compgen -G "app/core/build/libs/stirling-pdf-*.jar" ]; then