fix(ci): pin WebKit to 2.44.0-2 to fix blank-webview regression in Linux builds

[TimeToBuildBob]

Summary

Pins the webkit2gtk and javascriptcoregtk packages to version 2.44.0-2 in the build-tauri.yml Linux APT dependency installation step.

The ubuntu-24.04 runners can resolve newer webkit2gtk versions that cause blank webviews in the resulting AppImage builds. This is the same fix already applied in ActivityWatch/aw-tauri#99 for the standalone aw-tauri release workflow; this PR brings the parent repo's build-tauri.yml in sync.

Before: unpinned libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev and libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev — vulnerable to whatever the latest ubuntu-24.04 packages resolve to.

After: pinned =2.44.0-2 for all webkit/javascriptcoregtk packages, plus adds the runtime libs (libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0, libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0) and GIR packages that aw-tauri#99 identified as needed.

Related

• Blank webviews for appimages built on Ubuntu aw-tauri#97 — blank webview regression report
• ci: fix appimage builds aw-tauri#99 — same fix in the standalone aw-tauri workflow
• Raised in v0.14.0b1 release discussion by @0xbrayo

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This PR pins webkit2gtk and javascriptcoregtk packages to version 2.44.0-2 in the Linux APT install step of build-tauri.yml, mirroring the fix already applied in ActivityWatch/aw-tauri#99 to prevent a blank-webview regression caused by newer package versions on ubuntu-24.04 runners.

• Moves libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev and libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev out of the generic install block and into a dedicated, version-pinned apt-get install invocation, also adding the runtime (-0) and GIR packages that aw-tauri#99 identified as necessary.
• The pinned version 2.44.0-2 is not confirmed available on the ubuntu-24.04-arm runner in the matrix, which could break all arm64 Linux builds.

Confidence Score: 3/5

Safe to merge for x86_64 Linux and non-Linux targets, but the arm64 Linux build path is unverified and may break.

The webkit version pin was validated on x86_64 (aw-tauri#99) and correctly addresses the blank-webview regression. However, the matrix includes ubuntu-24.04-arm, and the exact version string 2.44.0-2 may not exist in arm64 apt sources — Ubuntu arm64 packages sometimes carry a different revision suffix. If that version is unavailable, every arm64 Linux build will fail at the APT install step.

.github/workflows/build-tauri.yml — specifically the pinned webkit install block and its interaction with the ubuntu-24.04-arm matrix entry.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
.github/workflows/build-tauri.yml	Pins WebKit/JavaScriptCore packages to 2.44.0-2 to fix blank-webview regression; the pin may fail on the ubuntu-24.04-arm runner and lacks --allow-downgrades for resilience

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[Install APT dependencies - Linux] --> B[apt-get install unversioned deps\nlibgtk-3-dev, libayatana, librsvg2, libsoup, xdg-utils]
    B --> C[apt-get install pinned WebKit\nlibwebkit2gtk-4.1-0=2.44.0-2\nlibwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev=2.44.0-2\nlibjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0=2.44.0-2\nlibjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev=2.44.0-2\ngir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.1=2.44.0-2\ngir1.2-webkit2-4.1=2.44.0-2]
    C --> D{Version available\nin apt sources?}
    D -->|Yes - x86_64| E[Build succeeds]
    D -->|No - arm64 or\nversion superseded| F[apt-get fails\nBuild broken]

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[greptile-apps]

arm64 runner may not resolve version 2.44.0-2

The matrix includes ubuntu-24.04-arm, but the version pin =2.44.0-2 was validated against x86_64 in aw-tauri#99. Ubuntu arm64 packages often carry an ubuntu1 revision suffix (e.g. 2.44.0-2ubuntu1) and may not carry the exact bare 2.44.0-2 version string. If that version isn't present in the arm64 apt sources after apt-get update, every arm Linux build will fail at this step with "Version '2.44.0-2' for 'libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev' was not found". It's worth confirming the exact available version on ubuntu-24.04-arm (e.g. via apt-cache madison libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev) before merging.

[greptile-apps]

Missing --allow-downgrades flag

If the ubuntu-24.04 runner image is ever updated to pre-install a newer webkit runtime library (the -0 runtime packages are more likely candidates than the -dev packages), apt-get install with a lower pinned version will fail without --allow-downgrades. Adding the flag makes the pin robust to that scenario.

Suggested change

	sudo apt-get install -y \
	libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0=2.44.0-2 \
	libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev=2.44.0-2 \
	libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0=2.44.0-2 \
	libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev=2.44.0-2 \
	gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.1=2.44.0-2 \
	gir1.2-webkit2-4.1=2.44.0-2
	sudo apt-get install -y --allow-downgrades \
	libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0=2.44.0-2 \
	libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev=2.44.0-2 \
	libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0=2.44.0-2 \
	libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev=2.44.0-2 \
	gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.1=2.44.0-2 \
	gir1.2-webkit2-4.1=2.44.0-2

[ErikBjare]

Seems to build fine on arm, merging.