diff --git a/preload.js b/preload.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c028ece
--- /dev/null
+++ b/preload.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// preload.js — expose IPC to renderer
+const { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } = require('electron');
+
+contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electronAPI', {
+  selectFolder: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('select-folder'),
+  selectFile: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('select-file'),
+  saveCredentials: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('save-credentials', data),
+  loadCredentials: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('load-credentials'),
+  createRepo: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('create-repo', data),
+  pushProject: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('push-project', data),
+  getBranches: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('getBranches', data),
+  getCommitLogs: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('getCommitLogs', data),
+  getFileTree: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('getFileTree', data),
+  readFile: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('readFile', data),
+  deleteFile: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('deleteFile', data),
+  listGiteaRepos: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('list-gitea-repos', data),
+  getGiteaRepoContents: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('get-gitea-repo-contents', data),
+  getGiteaFileContent: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('get-gitea-file-content', data),
+  uploadGiteaFile: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('upload-gitea-file', data),
+  uploadLocalFolderToGitea: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('upload-local-folder-to-gitea', data),
+  downloadGiteaFolder: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('download-gitea-folder', data),
+  downloadGiteaFile: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('download-gitea-file', data),
+  prepareDownloadDrag: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('prepare-download-drag', data),
+  startNativeDrag: (filePath) => ipcRenderer.send('ondragstart', filePath),
+  uploadAndPush: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('upload-and-push', data),
+  deleteGiteaRepo: (data) => ipcRenderer.invoke('delete-gitea-repo', data),
+
+  // progress subscriptions
+  onPushProgress: (cb) => {
+    ipcRenderer.on('push-progress', (event, percent) => {
+      try { cb(percent); } catch (_) {}
+    });
+  },
+  onFolderUploadProgress: (cb) => {
+    ipcRenderer.on('folder-upload-progress', (event, payload) => {
+      try { cb(payload); } catch (_) {}
+    });
+  },
+  onFolderDownloadProgress: (cb) => {
+    ipcRenderer.on('folder-download-progress', (event, payload) => {
+      try { cb(payload); } catch (_) {}
+    });
+  }
+});
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