[!NOTE] This is a vite-electron-builder fork template for SvelteKit app framework. For the Svelte fork take a look at Vite Electron Builder for Svelte
You can start by clicking the Use this template button (you must be logged in) or just clone this repo.
Alternatively, and also to illustrate the steps taken to get to this fork, you can also do the following of the original vite-electron-builder:
packages/renderer
directoryrm -rf packages/renderer
npm init vite
and follow the stepsProject name: ›
enter packages/renderer
Package name: ›
enter svelte
(or whatever you wish)Select a framework: ›
choose Svelte
Select a variant: ›
choose SvelteKit
Which Svelte app template?
choose SvelteKit demo app
(or other is you wish)Add type checking with TypeScript?
choose Yes, using TypeScript syntax
(or other is you wish)Select additional options
up to you (I selected all)npm install
packages/renderer/package.json
and install them in the root dirnpm install @fontsource/fira-mono @neoconfetti/svelte @playwright/test @sveltejs/adapter-auto @sveltejs/kit @types/cookie @typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin @typescript-eslint/parser eslint eslint-config-prettier eslint-plugin-svelte prettier prettier-plugin-svelte svelte svelte-check tslib typescript vite vitest --save-dev
@sveltejs/adapter-static
to create a frontend based on Static-Site Generation (SSG).npm install --save-dev @sveltejs/adapter-static
packages/renderer/svelte.config.js
to use the static adapter, and make sure we use dist
as a build directoryimport adapter from '@sveltejs/adapter-static';
import { vitePreprocess } from '@sveltejs/kit/vite';
/** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Config} */
const config = {
// Consult https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/integrations#preprocessors
// for more information about preprocessors
preprocess: vitePreprocess(),
kit: {
adapter: adapter({
// default options are shown. On some platforms
// these options are set automatically — see below
pages: 'dist',
assets: 'dist',
fallback: undefined,
precompress: false,
strict: true
})
}
};
export default config;
packages/renderer/vite.config.ts
:import { sveltekit } from '@sveltejs/kit/vite';
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import {chrome} from '../../.electron-vendors.cache.json';
import {renderer} from 'unplugin-auto-expose';
import {join} from 'node:path';
import {injectAppVersion} from '../../version/inject-app-version-plugin.mjs';
const PACKAGE_ROOT = __dirname;
export default defineConfig({
server: {
fs: {
// Allow serving files from one level up to the project root
allow: ['../../'],
},
},
build: {
sourcemap: true,
target: `chrome${chrome}`
},
plugins: [
sveltekit(),
renderer.vite({
preloadEntry: join(PACKAGE_ROOT, '../preload/src/index.ts'),
}),
injectAppVersion(),
]
});
packages/renderer/vite.config.ts
with the following: import { sveltekit } from '@sveltejs/kit/vite';
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import {chrome} from '../../.electron-vendors.cache.json';
import {renderer} from 'unplugin-auto-expose';
import {join} from 'node:path';
import {injectAppVersion} from '../../version/inject-app-version-plugin.mjs';
const PACKAGE_ROOT = __dirname;
export default defineConfig({
server: {
fs: {
// Allow serving files from one level up to the project root
allow: ['../../'],
},
},
build: {
sourcemap: true,
target: `chrome${chrome}`,
outDir: 'dist'
},
plugins: [
sveltekit(),
renderer.vite({
preloadEntry: join(PACKAGE_ROOT, '../preload/src/index.ts'),
}),
injectAppVersion(),
]
});
packages/renderer/src/routes/+layout.ts
with the following:export const prerender = true
export const ssr = false
SvelteKit demo app
in step 2 make sure to delete packages/renderer/src/routes/sverdle
or any other pages that use data loading (remember we're using a static adapter to generate a static site).svelte-kit
directory are properly accessible. To make it happy, once we run scripts/watch.mjs
with npm run watch
the first thing we do is change the working directory to packages/renderer
(alternatively, we could change directory in the npm watch
script to cd packages/renderer && node ../../scripts/watch.mjs
), and update the main's and preloader's Vite configuration with the appropriate paths:#!/usr/bin/env node
import {build, createServer} from 'vite';
import electronPath from 'electron';
import {spawn} from 'child_process';
import {fileURLToPath} from 'url';
import {join} from 'node:path';
process.chdir("packages/renderer")
const __dirname = fileURLToPath(new URL('.', import.meta.url))
/** @type 'production' | 'development'' */
const mode = (process.env.MODE = process.env.MODE || 'development');
/** @type {import('vite').LogLevel} */
const logLevel = 'warn';
/**
* Setup watcher for `main` package
* On file changed it totally re-launch electron app.
* @param {import('vite').ViteDevServer} watchServer Renderer watch server instance.
* Needs to set up `VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL` environment variable from {@link import('vite').ViteDevServer.resolvedUrls}
*/
function setupMainPackageWatcher({resolvedUrls}) {
process.env.VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL = resolvedUrls.local[0];
/** @type {ChildProcess | null} */
let electronApp = null;
return build({
mode,
logLevel,
configFile: '../main/vite.config.js',
build: {
/**
* Set to {} to enable rollup watcher
* @see https://vitejs.dev/config/build-options.html#build-watch
*/
watch: {},
},
plugins: [
{
name: 'reload-app-on-main-package-change',
writeBundle() {
/** Kill electron if process already exist */
if (electronApp !== null) {
electronApp.removeListener('exit', process.exit);
electronApp.kill('SIGINT');
electronApp = null;
}
/** Spawn new electron process */
electronApp = spawn(String(electronPath), ['--inspect', '.'], {
stdio: 'inherit',
cwd: join(__dirname, '../')
});
/** Stops the watch script when the application has been quit */
electronApp.addListener('exit', process.exit);
},
},
],
});
}
/**
* Setup watcher for `preload` package
* On file changed it reload web page.
* @param {import('vite').ViteDevServer} watchServer Renderer watch server instance.
* Required to access the web socket of the page. By sending the `full-reload` command to the socket, it reloads the web page.
*/
function setupPreloadPackageWatcher({ws}) {
return build({
mode,
logLevel,
configFile: '../preload/vite.config.js',
build: {
/**
* Set to {} to enable rollup watcher
* @see https://vitejs.dev/config/build-options.html#build-watch
*/
watch: {},
},
plugins: [
{
name: 'reload-page-on-preload-package-change',
writeBundle() {
ws.send({
type: 'full-reload',
});
},
},
],
});
}
/**
* Dev server for Renderer package
* This must be the first,
* because the {@link setupMainPackageWatcher} and {@link setupPreloadPackageWatcher}
* depend on the dev server properties
*/
const rendererWatchServer = await createServer({
mode,
logLevel,
}).then(s => s.listen());
await setupPreloadPackageWatcher(rendererWatchServer);
await setupMainPackageWatcher(rendererWatchServer);
serve
the dist
directory instead of just loading a single html file with browserWindow.loadFile(...)
. We can use electron-serve for this, and update the packages/main/src/mainWindow.ts
accordingly:npm install electron-serve
import {app, BrowserWindow} from 'electron';
import {join, resolve} from 'node:path';
import serve from 'electron-serve';
const loadURL = serve({directory: join(app.getAppPath(), 'packages/renderer/dist')});
async function createWindow() {
const browserWindow = new BrowserWindow({
show: false, // Use the 'ready-to-show' event to show the instantiated BrowserWindow.
webPreferences: {
nodeIntegration: false,
contextIsolation: true,
sandbox: false, // Sandbox disabled because the demo of preload script depend on the Node.js api
webviewTag: false, // The webview tag is not recommended. Consider alternatives like an iframe or Electron's BrowserView. @see https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/api/webview-tag#warning
preload: join(app.getAppPath(), 'packages/preload/dist/index.cjs'),
},
});
/**
* If the 'show' property of the BrowserWindow's constructor is omitted from the initialization options,
* it then defaults to 'true'. This can cause flickering as the window loads the html content,
* and it also has show problematic behaviour with the closing of the window.
* Use `show: false` and listen to the `ready-to-show` event to show the window.
*
* @see https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/25012 for the afford mentioned issue.
*/
browserWindow.on('ready-to-show', () => {
browserWindow?.show();
if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
browserWindow?.webContents.openDevTools();
}
});
/**
* Load the main page of the main window.
*/
if (import.meta.env.DEV && import.meta.env.VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL !== undefined) {
/**
* Load from the Vite dev server for development.
*/
await browserWindow.loadURL(import.meta.env.VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL);
} else {
/**
* Load from the local file system for production and test.
*
* Use BrowserWindow.loadFile() instead of BrowserWindow.loadURL() for WhatWG URL API limitations
* when path contains special characters like `#`.
* Let electron handle the path quirks.
* @see https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/12682
* @see https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/6869
*/
// await browserWindow.loadFile(resolve(__dirname, '../../renderer/dist/index.html'));
await loadURL(browserWindow);
}
return browserWindow;
}
/**
* Restore an existing BrowserWindow or Create a new BrowserWindow.
*/
export async function restoreOrCreateWindow() {
let window = BrowserWindow.getAllWindows().find(w => !w.isDestroyed());
if (window === undefined) {
window = await createWindow();
}
if (window.isMinimized()) {
window.restore();
}
window.focus();
}
npm run watch
npm run build
npm run compile
👇 The original vite-electron-builder readme
This is a template for secure electron applications. Written following the latest safety requirements, recommendations and best practices.
Under the hood is Vite — A next-generation blazing fast bundler, and electron-builder for packaging.
Follow these steps to get started with the template:
.github/workflows
since npm is used as default. (See also https://github.com/cawa-93/vite-electron-builder/issues/944)Note: This template configured to install
peerDependencies
automatically.
That's all you need. 😉
❤️ If you like this template, don't forget to give a ⭐ or send support!
.env
files. You can also specify the types of
your environment variables in types/env.d.ts
.Main
and Renderer
processes.Vite provides many useful features, such as: TypeScript
, TSX/JSX
, CSS/JSON Importing
, CSS Modules
, Web Assembly
and much more.
tests
directory and use playwright.main
branch, the release
workflow starts, which creates a new draft release. For each next commit will be created and replaced artifacts. That way you will always have draft with latest artifacts, and the release can be published once it is ready. release
workflow.Note: This template configured only for GitHub public repository, but electron-builder also supports other update distribution servers. Find more in electron-builder docs.
The template requires a minimum amount dependencies. Only Vite is used for building, nothing more.
The structure of this template is very similar to a monorepo. The entire source code of the project is divided into three modules (packages) that are each bundled independently:
packages/renderer
. Responsible for the contents of the application window. In fact, it is a
regular web application. In developer mode, you can even open it in a browser. The development and build process is
the same as for classic web applications. Access to low-level API electrons or Node.js is done through the preload
layer.packages/preload
. Contain Electron preload scripts. Acts as an intermediate bridge between the renderer process and the API
exposed by electron and Node.js. Runs in an isolated browser context, but has direct access to the full Node.js
functionality.packages/main
Contain Electron main script. This is
the main process that powers the application. It manages creating and handling the spawned BrowserWindow, setting and
enforcing secure permissions and request handlers. You can also configure it to do much more as per your need, such
as: logging, reporting statistics and health status among others.Schematically, the structure of the application and the method of communication between packages can be depicted as follows:
flowchart TB;
packages/preload <-. IPC Messages .-> packages/main
subgraph packages/main["packages/main (Shared beatween all windows)"]
M[index.ts] --> EM[Electron Main Process Modules]
M --> N2[Node.js API]
end
subgraph Window["Browser Window"]
subgraph packages/preload["packages/preload (Works in isolated context)"]
P[index.ts] --> N[Node.js API]
P --> ED[External dependencies]
P --> ER[Electron Renderer Process Modules]
end
subgraph packages/renderer
R[index.html] --> W[Web API]
R --> BD[Bundled dependencies]
R --> F[Web Frameforks]
end
end
packages/renderer -- Call Exposed API --> P
The main
and preload
packages are built in library mode as it is
simple javascript.
The renderer
package builds as a regular web app.
The next step is to package a ready to distribute Electron app for macOS, Windows and Linux with "auto update" support out of the box.
To do this, use electron-builder:
compile
: This script is configured to compile the application as quickly as possible. It is not
ready for distribution, it is compiled only for the current platform and is used for debugging.Because the renderer
works and builds like a regular web application, you can only use dependencies that support the
browser or compile to a browser-friendly format.
This means that in the renderer
you are free to use any frontend dependencies such as Vue, React, lodash, axios and so
on. However, you CANNOT use any native Node.js APIs, such as, systeminformation
. These APIs are only available in
a Node.js runtime environment and will cause your application to crash if used in the renderer
layer. Instead, if you
need access to Node.js runtime APIs in your frontend, export a function form the preload
package.
All dependencies that require Node.js api can be used in
the preload
script.
Here is an example. Let's say you need to read some data from the file system or database in the renderer.
In the preload context, create a function that reads and returns data. To make the function announced in the preload
available in the render, you usually need to call
the electron.contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld
. However,
this template uses the unplugin-auto-expose plugin, so you just need
to export the method from the preload. The exposeInMainWorld
will be called automatically.
// preload/index.ts
import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
// Encapsulate types if you use typescript
interface UserData {
prop: string
}
// Encapsulate all node.js api
// Everything you exported from preload/index.ts may be called in renderer
export function getUserData(): Promise<UserData> {
return readFile('/path/to/file/in/user/filesystem.json', {encoding:'utf8'}).then(JSON.parse);
}
Now you can import and call the method in renderer
// renderer/anywere/component.ts
import { getUserData } from '#preload'
const userData = await getUserData()
Find more in Context Isolation tutorial.
Although the preload has access to all of Node.js's API, it still runs in the BrowserWindow context, so a limited electron modules are available in it. Check the electron docs for full list of available methods.
All other electron methods can be invoked in the main
.
As a result, the architecture of interaction between all modules is as follows:
sequenceDiagram
renderer->>+preload: Read data from file system
preload->>-renderer: Data
renderer->>preload: Maximize window
activate preload
preload-->>main: Invoke IPC command
activate main
main-->>preload: IPC response
deactivate main
preload->>renderer: Window maximized
deactivate preload
Find more in Inter-Process Communication tutorial.
All environment variables are set as part of the import.meta
, so you can access them vie the following
way: import.meta.env
.
Note: If you are using TypeScript and want to get code completion you must add all the environment variables to the
ImportMetaEnv
intypes/env.d.ts
.
The mode option is used to specify the value of import.meta.env.MODE
and the corresponding environment variables files
that need to be loaded.
By default, there are two modes:
production
is used by defaultdevelopment
is used by npm run watch
scriptWhen running the build script, the environment variables are loaded from the following files in your project root:
.env # loaded in all cases
.env.local # loaded in all cases, ignored by git
.env.[mode] # only loaded in specified env mode
.env.[mode].local # only loaded in specified env mode, ignored by git
Warning: To prevent accidentally leaking env variables to the client, only variables prefixed with
VITE_
are exposed to your Vite-processed code.
For example let's take the following .env
file:
DB_PASSWORD=foobar
VITE_SOME_KEY=123
Only VITE_SOME_KEY
will be exposed as import.meta.env.VITE_SOME_KEY
to your client source code, but DB_PASSWORD
will not.
You can change that prefix or add another. See envPrefix
See Contributing Guide.