How to create a desktop like application

I’m sorry if this is a dumb question. I am new to Ruby. I eventually would like to build an application that will be used by businesses to review their potential clients payment history. It will store this information in a database and provide a clean user friendly gui to add, modify, and delete entries from the database. This information can then be viewed by several businesses in the industry.

I want to generate revenue by charging each location a per month fee to access the database. I’d rather it launch like a desktop application and be downloaded to each computer that will use it. I guess, i would like it to be like the spotify desktop application without the ability to go to the website in a browser. Like a local application that connects to a web based server resource.

How can this be done using Ruby? Sorry again if its a dumb question but I am a newbie. I want to eventually learn rails but I’m currently learning ruby first.

Thanks

Rubo on Rails makes a great API server, and Rails 5 will integrate existing tooling like rails-api GitHub - rails-api/rails-api: Rails for API only applications to make this feature part of the core. As far as your desktop app goes, you may want to look at the new Electron framework: GitHub - electron/electron: Build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

Walter