Introduction to electron-builder
electron-builder is a complete solution to package and build a ready-for-distribution Electron app for macOS, Windows, and Linux with auto-update support out of the box.What is electron-builder?
electron-builder provides everything you need to build and distribute professional Electron applications:- Package Management: Handles native application dependencies compilation (including Yarn support) and automatically excludes development dependencies
- Code Signing: Sign your applications on CI servers or development machines
- Auto Update: Built-in support for auto-update functionality
- Multiple Distribution Formats: Support for numerous target formats across all platforms
- Publishing: Deploy artifacts to GitHub Releases, Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, and more
Key Benefits
Cross-Platform
Build for macOS, Windows, and Linux from a single configuration
Zero Configuration
Works out of the box with sensible defaults, configure only what you need
Auto Updates
Built-in auto-update support ready for production use
Code Signing
Integrated code signing support for all platforms
Supported Distribution Formats
macOS
- DMG - Disk Image
- PKG - Installer Package
- MAS - Mac App Store
Windows
- NSIS - Installer
- NSIS Web - Web installer
- Portable - Standalone app without installation
- AppX - Windows Store
- MSI - Windows Installer
- Squirrel.Windows - Update framework
Linux
- AppImage - Universal Linux package
- Snap - Snapcraft package
- deb - Debian/Ubuntu package
- rpm - Red Hat/Fedora package
- freebsd, pacman, p5p, apk - Other Linux distributions
All Platforms
- 7z, zip, tar.xz, tar.7z, tar.lz, tar.gz, tar.bz2, dir (unpacked directory)
Key Features
NPM Package Management
- Native application dependencies compilation with full Yarn support
- Development dependencies are automatically excluded
- Support for two package.json structure (optional)
Advanced Building
- Pack already packaged apps in distributable formats
- Separate build steps for custom workflows
- Parallel building and publishing
- Hard links on CI servers to reduce IO and disk space usage
- Docker images available for building Linux or Windows apps on any platform
Automatic Tool Management
- Downloads all required tools on demand (e.g., code signing tools, AppX maker)
- No manual setup required
Proton Native Support
electron-builder also supports building Proton Native applications.Getting Help
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ”I want to configure electron-builder” | See options |
| ”I found a bug or I have a question” | Open an issue |
| ”I want to support development” | Donate |
Next Steps
Installation
Install electron-builder with your preferred package manager
Quick Start
Get started with a simple setup guide