Options

In the development package.json custom build field can be specified to customize format:

"build": {
  "dmg": {
    "contents": [
      {
        "x": 410,
        "y": 220,
        "type": "link",
        "path": "/Applications"
      },
      {
        "x": 130,
        "y": 220,
        "type": "file",
        "path": "computed path to artifact, do not specify it - will be overwritten"
      }
    ]
  }
}

As you can see, you need to customize MacOS options only if you want to provide custom x, y. Don't customize paths to background and icon, — just follow conventions.

Application package.json
Development package.json
- .build
- .directories

Application `package.json`

Name	Description
name	The application name.
productName	As name, but allows you to specify a product name for your executable which contains spaces and other special characters not allowed in the name property.
description	The application description.
homepage	The url to the project homepage (NuGet Package `projectUrl` (optional) or Linux Package URL (required)). If not specified and your project repository is public on GitHub, it will be `https://github.com/${user}/${project}` by default.
license	linux-only. The license name.

Development `package.json`

Name	Description
build	See .build.
directories	See .directories

`.build`

Name	Description
appId	The application id. Used as CFBundleIdentifier for MacOS and as Application User Model ID for Windows (NSIS target only, Squirrel.Windows not supported). Defaults to `com.electron.${name}`. It is strongly recommended that an explicit ID be set.
copyright	The human-readable copyright line for the app. Defaults to `Copyright © year author`.
asar	Whether to package the application’s source code into an archive, using Electron’s archive format. Defaults to `true`. Reasons why you may want to disable this feature are described in an application packaging tutorial in Electron’s documentation. Or you can pass object of any asar options. Node modules, that must be unpacked, will be detected automatically, you don’t need to explicitly set `asar.unpackDir` - please file issue if this doesn’t work.
productName	See AppMetadata.productName.
files	A glob patterns relative to the app directory, which specifies which files to include when copying files to create the package. See File Patterns.
extraResources	A glob patterns relative to the project directory, when specified, copy the file or directory with matching names directly into the app’s resources directory (`Contents/Resources` for MacOS, `resources` for Linux/Windows). Glob rules the same as for files.
extraFiles	The same as extraResources but copy into the app's content directory (`Contents` for MacOS, root directory for Linux/Windows).
fileAssociations	The file associations. See .build.fileAssociations.
protocols	The URL protocol scheme(s) to associate the app with. See .build.protocol.
mac	See .build.mac.
dmg	See .build.dmg.
mas	See .build.mas.
win	See .build.win.
nsis	See .build.nsis.
linux	See .build.linux.
compression	The compression level, one of `store`, `normal`, `maximum` (default: `normal`). If you want to rapidly test build, `store` can reduce build time significantly.
afterPack	programmatic API only The function to be run after pack (but before pack into distributable format and sign). Promise must be returned.
npmRebuild	two package.json structure only Whether to rebuild native dependencies (`npm rebuild`) before starting to package the app. Defaults to `true`.
nodeGypRebuild	Whether to execute `node-gyp rebuild` before starting to package the app. Defaults to `false`.
electronDist	The path to custom Electron build (e.g. `~/electron/out/R`). Only macOS supported, file issue if need for Linux or Windows.

`.build.dmg`

MacOS DMG specific options.

See all appdmg options.

Name	Description
icon	The path to DMG icon, which will be shown when mounted. Defaults to `build/icon.icns`.
background	The path to background (default: `build/background.png` if exists). The resolution of this file determines the resolution of the installer window. If background is not specified, use `window.size`, see specification.

`.build.fileAssociations`

NSIS and MacOS only.

Name	Description
ext	The extension (minus the leading period). e.g. `png`.
name	The name. e.g. `PNG`.
description	windows-only. The description.
icon	The path to icon (`.icns` for MacOS and `.ico` for Windows), relative to `build` (build resources directory). Defaults to `${firstExt}.icns`/`${firstExt}.ico` (if several extensions specified, first is used) or to application icon.
role	macOS-only The app’s role with respect to the type. The value can be `Editor`, `Viewer`, `Shell`, or `None`. Defaults to `Editor`.

`.build.linux`

Linux specific build options.

Name	Description
category	The application category.
packageCategory	The package category. Not applicable for AppImage.
description	As description from application package.json, but allows you to specify different for Linux.
target	Target package type: list of `AppImage`, `deb`, `rpm`, `freebsd`, `pacman`, `p5p`, `apk`, `7z`, `zip`, `tar.xz`, `tar.lz`, `tar.gz`, `tar.bz2`. Defaults to `AppImage`. The most effective xz compression format used by default. Only `deb` and `AppImage` is tested. Feel free to file issues for `rpm` and other package formats.
synopsis	deb-only. The short description.
maintainer	The maintainer. Defaults to author.
vendor	The vendor. Defaults to author.
desktop	The Desktop file entries.
compression	deb-only. The compression type, one of `gz`, `bzip2`, `xz`. Defaults to `xz`.
depends	Package dependencies. Defaults to `["libappindicator1", "libnotify-bin"]`.

`.build.mac`

MacOS specific build options.

Name	Description
category	The application category type, as shown in the Finder via View -> Arrange by Application Category when viewing the Applications directory. For example, `"category": "public.app-category.developer-tools"` will set the application category to Developer Tools. Valid values are listed in Apple’s documentation.
target	Target package type: list of `default`, `dmg`, `mas`, `7z`, `zip`, `tar.xz`, `tar.lz`, `tar.gz`, `tar.bz2`. Defaults to `default` (dmg and zip for Squirrel.Mac).
identity	The name of certificate to use when signing. Consider using environment variables CSC_LINK or CSC_NAME. MAS installer identity is specified in the .build.mas.
icon	The path to application icon. Defaults to `build/icon.icns` (consider using this convention instead of complicating your configuration).
entitlements	The path to entitlements file for signing the app. `build/entitlements.mac.plist` will be used if exists (it is a recommended way to set). MAS entitlements is specified in the .build.mas.
entitlementsInherit	The path to child entitlements which inherit the security settings for signing frameworks and bundles of a distribution. `build/entitlements.mac.inherit.plist` will be used if exists (it is a recommended way to set). Otherwise default. This option only applies when signing with `entitlements` provided.
bundleVersion	The `CFBundleVersion`. Do not use it unless you need to.
helperBundleId	The bundle identifier to use in the application helper's plist. Defaults to `${appBundleIdentifier}.helper`.

`.build.mas`

MAS (Mac Application Store) specific options (in addition to build.mac).

Name	Description
entitlements	The path to entitlements file for signing the app. `build/entitlements.mas.plist` will be used if exists (it is a recommended way to set). Otherwise default.
entitlementsInherit	The path to child entitlements which inherit the security settings for signing frameworks and bundles of a distribution. `build/entitlements.mas.inherit.plist` will be used if exists (it is a recommended way to set). Otherwise default.

`.build.nsis`

See NSIS target notes.

Name	Description
oneClick	One-click installation. Defaults to `true`.
perMachine	Defaults to `false`. If `oneClick` is `true` (default): Install per all users (per-machine). If `oneClick` is `false`: no install mode installer page (choice per-machine or per-user), always install per-machine.
allowElevation	boring installer only. Allow requesting for elevation. If false, user will have to restart installer with elevated permissions. Defaults to `true`.
runAfterFinish	one-click installer only. Run application after finish. Defaults to `true`.
guid	See GUID vs Application Name.
installerHeader	boring installer only. `MUI_HEADERIMAGE`, relative to the project directory. Defaults to `build/installerHeader.bmp`
installerHeaderIcon	one-click installer only. The path to header icon (above the progress bar), relative to the project directory. Defaults to `build/installerHeaderIcon.ico` or application icon.
include	The path to NSIS include script to customize installer. Defaults to `build/installer.nsh`. See Custom NSIS script.
script	The path to NSIS script to customize installer. Defaults to `build/installer.nsi`. See Custom NSIS script.
language	* LCID Dec, defaults to `1033`(`English - United States`).

`.build.protocols`

macOS only.

Name	Description
name	The name. e.g. `IRC server URL`.
role	macOS-only The app’s role with respect to the type. The value can be `Editor`, `Viewer`, `Shell`, or `None`. Defaults to `Editor`.
schemes	The schemes. e.g. `["irc", "ircs"]`.

`.build.win`

Windows specific build options.

Name	Description
target	Target package type: list of `squirrel`, `nsis`, `7z`, `zip`, `tar.xz`, `tar.lz`, `tar.gz`, `tar.bz2`. Defaults to `squirrel`.
iconUrl	Squirrel.Windows-only. A URL to an ICO file to use as the application icon (displayed in Control Panel > Programs and Features). Defaults to the Electron icon. Please note — local icon file url is not accepted, must be https/http. If you don’t plan to build windows installer, you can omit it. If your project repository is public on GitHub, it will be `https://github.com/${u}/${p}/blob/master/build/icon.ico?raw=true` by default.
loadingGif	Squirrel.Windows-only. The path to a .gif file to display during install. `build/install-spinner.gif` will be used if exists (it is a recommended way to set) (otherwise default).
msi	Squirrel.Windows-only. Whether to create an MSI installer. Defaults to `false` (MSI is not created).
remoteReleases	Squirrel.Windows-only. A URL to your existing updates. Or `true` to automatically set to your GitHub repository. If given, these will be downloaded to create delta updates.
remoteToken	Squirrel.Windows-only. Authentication token for remote updates
signingHashAlgorithms	Array of signing algorithms used. Defaults to `['sha1', 'sha256']`
icon	The path to application icon. Defaults to `build/icon.ico` (consider using this convention instead of complicating your configuration).
legalTrademarks	The trademarks and registered trademarks.
certificateSubjectName	The name of the subject of the signing certificate. Required only for EV Code Signing and works only on Windows.
rfc3161TimeStampServer	The URL of the RFC 3161 time stamp server. Defaults to `http://timestamp.comodoca.com/rfc3161`.

`.directories`

Name	Description
buildResources	The path to build resources, defaults to `build`.
output	The output directory, defaults to `dist`.
app	The application directory (containing the application package.json), defaults to `app`, `www` or working directory.

File Patterns

build.files defaults to:

**/*
!**/node_modules/*/{README.md,README,readme.md,readme,test}
!**/node_modules/.bin
!**/*.{o,hprof,orig,pyc,pyo,rbc}
!**/{.DS_Store,.git,.hg,.svn,CVS,RCS,SCCS,__pycache__,thumbs.db}

Hidden files are not ignored by default, but as you see, all files that should be ignored, are ignored by default.

Development dependencies are never copied in any case. You don't need to ignore it explicitly.

Multiple patterns are supported. You can use ${os} (expanded to mac, linux or win according to current platform) and ${arch} in the pattern. If directory matched, all contents are copied. So, you can just specify foo to copy foo directory.

Remember that default pattern **/* is not added to your custom, so, you have to add it explicitly — e.g. ["**/*", "!ignoreMe${/*}"].

May be specified in the platform options (e.g. in the build.mac).

Multiple Glob Patterns

[
  // match all files
  "**/*",

  // except for js files in the foo/ directory
  "!foo/*.js",

  // unless it's foo/bar.js
  "foo/bar.js",
]

Excluding directories

Remember that !doNotCopyMe/**/* would match the files in the doNotCopyMe directory, but not the directory itself, so the empty directory would be created. Solution — use macro ${/*}, e.g. !doNotCopyMe${/*}.

Source and Destination Directories

You may also specify custom source and destination directories by using JSON objects instead of simple glob patterns. Note this only works for extraFiles and extraResources.

[
  {
    "from": "path/to/source",
    "to": "path/to/destination",
    "filter": ["**/*", "!foo/*.js"]
  }
]

If from is given as a relative path, it is relative to the project directory. If to is given as a relative path, it is relative to the app's content directory for extraFiles and the app's resource directory for extraResources.

You can you ${os} and ${arch} in the from and to fields as well.

Build Version Management

CFBundleVersion (MacOS) and FileVersion (Windows) will be set automatically to version.build_number on CI server (Travis, AppVeyor and CircleCI supported).

Want to contribute to this Wiki?

Edit /docs files and send a pull request.

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Options

Options

Application `package.json`

Development `package.json`

`.build`

`.build.dmg`

`.build.fileAssociations`

`.build.linux`

`.build.mac`

`.build.mas`

`.build.nsis`

`.build.protocols`

`.build.win`

`.directories`

File Patterns

Multiple Glob Patterns

Excluding directories

Source and Destination Directories

Build Version Management

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Options

Options

Application package.json

Development package.json

.build

.build.dmg

.build.fileAssociations

.build.linux

.build.mac

.build.mas

.build.nsis

.build.protocols

.build.win

.directories

File Patterns

Multiple Glob Patterns

Excluding directories

Source and Destination Directories

Build Version Management

Want to contribute to this Wiki?

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Clone this wiki locally

Application `package.json`

Development `package.json`

`.build`

`.build.dmg`

`.build.fileAssociations`

`.build.linux`

`.build.mac`

`.build.mas`

`.build.nsis`

`.build.protocols`

`.build.win`

`.directories`