How to run apps

Since our package system is similar to LOVE, following guides are modified from its Wiki.

node-webkit can load an app in two ways:

• From a folder. The startup path specifies this folder.
• From a .nw file (a renamed .zip-file). The startup path specifies the file.

In both cases, there has to be a file called package.json in the startup path or .nw zipfile. This file will be parsed when node-webkit starts. If this file is missing, node-webkit will not recognize the folder or .nw file as app, and it will complain about a wrongly packaged app. A frequently made mistake is zipping the folder rather than its contents. This stems from very old practice (because when you unzip a folder you don't want it to splash out all over your current directory), but for node-webkit doing that doesn't make sense: you need to zip the app folder's contents only, to get a correct .nw.

Windows

On Windows, the easiest way to run the app is to drag the folder onto nw.exe, or a shortcut to nw.exe. Remember to drag the folder containing package.json, and not package.json itself.

You can also call it from the command line:

For instance:

nw C:\apps\myapp
nw C:\apps\packagedapp.nw

Linux

On Linux, you can use one of these command lines:

nw /home/path/to/appdir/
nw /home/path/to/packagedapp.nw

If you have installed the .deb, you can double click on .nw files in your file manager as well.

Mac OS X

Guide for Mac is coming soon.