Flo Desktop - Self-Hosted POS for Restaurants & Retail

Flo Desktop is a free, open-source, offline-first Point of Sale (POS) system designed for restaurants, cafes, salons, and retail shops. Runs on your own computer with no internet required - perfect for small businesses in India and Southeast Asia.

🌟 Why Flo Desktop?

• 💰 Completely Free - No subscriptions, no licenses, no hidden costs
• 📴 Works Offline - Full functionality without internet connection
• 🔒 Your Data, Your Server - Self-hosted on your own machine
• 🍽️ Restaurant Ready - Table management, KDS, thermal printing
• 🛒 Retail Ready - Product catalog, inventory, billing
• 🖥️ Cross-Platform - Windows, macOS, Linux

📦 Downloads

Platform	File	Description
macOS (Intel)	Flo-1.5.1.dmg	For Intel Macs
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Flo-1.5.1-arm64.dmg	For M1/M2/M3 Macs
Windows	Flo Setup 1.5.1.exe	Windows installer
Linux (AppImage)	Flo-1.5.1.AppImage	Portable Linux binary
Linux (Debian)	flo-desktop_1.5.1_amd64.deb	Debian/Ubuntu package

Latest Version: v1.5.1

🚀 Features

Core POS

• Fast order entry with product search
• Multiple order types (Dine-in, Takeaway, Delivery)
• Table management with real-time status
• Cart with modifiers and addons
• Billing with multiple payment methods (Cash, UPI, Card)
• GST-compliant invoice generation

Restaurant Features

• Kitchen Display System (KDS)
• Kitchen Order Tickets (KOT) printing
• Table tracking and management
• Multi-station kitchen support
• Real-time order updates

Thermal Printing

• ESC/POS thermal receipt printing
• USB printer support
• Network/Bluetooth printer support
• Auto-detect printers (Epson, Xprinter, Star, etc.)
• Multiple bill templates (Classic, Compact, Detailed)
• Configurable character widths (58mm/80mm paper)

Business Management

• Product catalog with categories
• Addon groups for modifiers
• Staff management with roles
• Customer database
• Low stock alerts

Integrations

• WhatsApp bill sharing
• Thermal printer support
• Network printing

🖥️ Tech Stack

• Runtime: Electron 31
• Backend: Express.js + TypeScript
• Frontend: Next.js 16 (React 19, TypeScript)
• Database: SQLite (better-sqlite3)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
• Real-time: WebSocket for KDS updates

💾 Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

• OS: Windows 10+, macOS 11+, Ubuntu 20.04+
• RAM: 4GB
• Disk: 500MB
• Node.js: 20+ (for development only)

Hardware (Optional)

• Thermal Printer: ESC/POS compatible (Epson TM series, Xprinter, Star, etc.)
• USB: For USB-connected printers

🚀 Quick Start

1. Download & Install

Download the appropriate installer from the Releases page.

2. First Launch

On first run, the app will:

1. Initialize the SQLite database
2. Load demo data (optional)

3. Login

Default credentials:

Role	Email	Password
Admin/Owner	admin@flo.local	admin123
Kitchen (KDS)	chef@flo.local	chef123

4. Configure Printer

1. Go to Settings → Printers
2. Click Detect Printers
3. Select your thermal printer
4. Test the connection

🔧 Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/FreeOpenSourcePOS/FloDesktop.git
cd FloDesktop

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build:mac    # macOS
npm run build:win    # Windows
npm run build:linux  # Linux
npm run build:all    # All platforms

Environment Variables

Create a .env file for production:

JWT_SECRET=your-secure-secret-key-here
PORT=3088

📱 Screenshots

(Coming soon)

🏗️ Architecture

FloDesktop/
├── main/                    # Electron main process
│   ├── db.ts              # SQLite database setup
│   ├── routes/            # API routes
│   ├── printers/          # Thermal printing logic
│   └── services/          # Business logic
├── frontend/               # Next.js frontend (submodule)
│   └── src/
│       ├── app/           # Next.js App Router
│       ├── components/    # React components
│       ├── hooks/         # Custom React hooks
│       └── lib/           # Utilities
└── release/               # Built applications

Database

Flo Desktop uses SQLite for local storage:

• business - Business profile
• products - Product catalog
• categories - Product categories
• tables - Restaurant tables
• orders - Order records
• bills - Billing/payments
• printers - Printer configurations
• staff - Employee records
• customers - Customer database

🌐 Related Projects

Project	Description	Tech
FloPOS	Full-featured cloud POS with multi-tenancy	Laravel + Next.js (SaaS)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Clone your fork: git clone https://github.com/YOUR_NAME/FloDesktop.git
3. Create a branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
4. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
5. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
6. Open a Pull Request

🐛 Troubleshooting

Printer not detected?

• Ensure the printer is connected and powered on
• Check USB connection
• For network printers, ensure they're on the same network

App crashes on startup?

• Delete the database file and restart (data will be lost)
• Check logs in the application directory

Printing issues?

• Verify printer supports ESC/POS protocol
• Test with the built-in print test page
• Check paper and ribbon/thermal head

📄 License

This project is open source under the MIT License.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built with ❤️ using:

• Electron
• Next.js
• SQLite
• Tailwind CSS
• shadcn/ui

📞 Support

• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/FreeOpenSourcePOS/FloDesktop/issues
• Community: Discord | Telegram

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Bringing professional POS software to every small business!
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