@electron-forge/cli
Advanced tools
@electron-forge/cli is a command-line interface tool that simplifies the process of building, packaging, and distributing Electron applications. It provides a set of commands to streamline the development workflow for Electron apps.
Project Initialization
This command initializes a new Electron project with a template structure, setting up the necessary configuration and dependencies to get started quickly.
npx electron-forge init my-new-appBuilding the Application
This command builds the Electron application into distributable formats (e.g., .exe, .dmg) for different operating systems, using pre-configured or custom build targets.
npx electron-forge makeRunning the Application
This command starts the Electron application in development mode, allowing developers to test and debug their app in a live environment.
npx electron-forge startPublishing the Application
This command automates the process of publishing the Electron application to distribution platforms, such as GitHub Releases or other configured targets.
npx electron-forge publishelectron-builder is a powerful tool for building and packaging Electron applications. It offers a wide range of configuration options and supports multiple platforms. Compared to @electron-forge/cli, electron-builder is more focused on the packaging and distribution aspects, providing extensive customization for build processes.
electron-packager is a simple tool for packaging Electron applications. It focuses on creating distributable binaries for different platforms. While it is less feature-rich than @electron-forge/cli, it is a lightweight option for developers who need basic packaging capabilities without additional setup.
electron-webpack is a tool that integrates Webpack with Electron development, providing a modern build system for Electron apps. It is more focused on the development and build process, offering advanced features like hot module replacement. Compared to @electron-forge/cli, it requires more configuration but offers greater flexibility for developers familiar with Webpack.
Electron forge's CLI is separate from the core module, to install it you will have to use the @electron-forge/cli module from NPM.
# NPM
npm i -g @electron-forge/cli
# Yarn
yarn global add @electron-forge/cli
At a high level the CLI module is just a proxy to the raw API commands. Almost all the configuration is still done in your Forge Config, the CLI just provides a handy way to trigger all the core functionality of Electron Forge (and you should definitely use it).
Please note these commands are sorted in alphabetical order, the ones you probably need to care about are start, package, make, and publish.
Maps to electronForge.import, will attempt to take an existing Electron app and make it Forge compatible. Normally this just creates a base Electron Forge config and adds the required dependencies.
There are no flags for the Import command
Maps to electronForge.init, will initialize a new Forge powered application in the given directory (defaults to .).
Please note if you want to use a template, it must be installed globally before running the init command.
| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--template | Template Name | No | Name of the template to use to make this new app |
--copy-ci-files | N/A | No | Set if you want to copy templated CI files for Travis CI and Appveyor |
Maps to electronForge.install, will attempt to install the Electron app that is published at the given GitHub repository. This command is just a helper for installing other applications quickly. E.g.
electron-forge install atom/atom
Maps to electronForge.lint, will run the lint command that your package.json exposes. If the exit code is 0 no output is shown, otherwise the error output will be displayed.
There are no flags for the Lint command
Maps to electronForge.make, will make distributables for your application based on your Forge config and the parameters you pass in.
| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--arch | Architecture, e.g. x64 | No | Target architecture to make for |
--platform | Platform, e.g. mas | No | Target platform to make for, please note you normally can only target platform X from platform X. This defaults to the platform you're running on (the "host" platform). |
--targets | Comma separated list of maker names | No | Override your make targets for this run. The maker name is the full node module name, e.g. @electron-forge/maker-deb. |
--skip-package | N/A | No | Set if you want to skip the packaging step, useful if you are running sequential makes and want to save time |
Maps to electronForge.package, will package your application into a platform specific format and put the result in a folder. Please note that this does not make a distributable format. To make proper distributables, please use the make command.
| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--arch | Architecture, e.g. x64 | No | Target architecture to package for. Defaults to the host arch. |
--platform | Platform, e.g. mas | No | Target platform to package for. Defaults to the host platform. |
Maps to electronForge.publish, will attempt to make the forge application and then publish it to the publish targets defined in your forge config.
If you want to publish previously created make artifacts you will have to use the dry-run options explained below.
| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--target | Comma separated list of publisher names | No | Override your publish targets for this run |
--dry-run | N/A | No | Triggers a publish dry run which saves state and doesn't upload anything |
--from-dry-run | N/A | No | Attempts to publish artifacts from any dry runs saved on disk |
Maps to electronForge.start, will launch the Forge powered application in the given directory (defaults to .).
If you type rs (and hit enter) in the same terminal where you ran the start command, the running app will be terminated and restarted.
| Flag | Value | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
--app-path | Path to your app from CWD | No | Override the path to the Electron app to launch (defaults to .) |
--enable-logging | N/A | No | Enable advanced logging. This will log internal Electron things |
--run-as-node | N/A | No | Run the Electron app as a Node.JS script |
--inspect-electron | N/A | No | Triggers inspect mode on Electron to allow debugging the main process |
-- | extra arguments | No | Any additional arguments to pass to Electron or the app itself. For example: -- --my-app-argument |
FAQs
A complete tool for building modern Electron applications
We found that @electron-forge/cli demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 5 open source maintainers collaborating on the project.
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