@electron-forge/cli

What is @electron-forge/cli?

@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.

What are @electron-forge/cli's main functionalities?

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-app

Building 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 make

Running 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 start

Publishing 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 publish

Other packages similar to @electron-forge/cli

electron-builder

electron-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

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

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.

README

---

description: How to use the command line interface (CLI) for Electron Forge

CLI

Installation

Electron forge's command line interface (CLI) is separate from the core module. To use it you will have to install the @electron-forge/cli module from NPM into your project.

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Yarn" %}

yarn add --dev @electron-forge/cli

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NPM" %}

npm install --save-dev @electron-forge/cli

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Overview

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 configuration, the CLI just provides a handy way to trigger all the core functionality of Electron Forge.

Commands

---

ℹ️ These commands are sorted in alphabetical order. The most commonly used are start, package, make, and publish.

---

Import

Maps to electronForge.import. It will attempt to take an existing Electron app and make it Forge compatible. Normally this just creates a base Electron Forge configuration and adds the required dependencies.

There are no flags for the Import command

Init

Maps to electronForge.init, will initialize a new Forge powered application in the given directory (defaults to ., the current directory).

Please note if you want to use a non-built-in 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

Example:

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Yarn" %}

yarn electron-forge init --template=webpack

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NPM" %}

npx electron-forge init --template=webpack

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Install

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. For example:

npx electron-forge install atom/atom

Lint

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

Make

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. Defaults to the arch that you're running on (the "host" arch).
--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. By default, the make targets used are the ones available and configured for the given platform.
--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. By default, packaging is not skipped.

Example:

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Yarn" %}

# By default, the make command corresponds to a make npm script:
yarn make --arch=ia32
# If there is no make script:
yarn electron-forge make --arch=ia32

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NPM" %}

# By default, the make command corresponds to a make npm script:
npm run make -- --arch=ia32
# If there is no make script:
npx electron-forge make --arch=ia32

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Package

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.

Example:

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Yarn" %}

# By default, the package command corresponds to a package npm script:
yarn package --arch=ia32
# If there is no make script:
yarn electron-forge package --arch=ia32

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NPM" %}

# By default, the package command corresponds to a package npm script:
npm run package -- --arch=ia32
# If there is no make script:
npx electron-forge package --arch=ia32

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Publish

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

Example:

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Yarn" %}

# By default, the package command corresponds to a package npm script:
yarn run publish --from-dry-run
# If there is no make script:
yarn electron-forge publish --from-dry-run

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NPM" %}

# By default, the package command corresponds to a package npm script:
npm run publish -- --from-dry-run
# If there is no make script:
npx electron-forge package --arch=ia32

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Start

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

Example:

{% tabs %} {% tab title="Yarn" %}

yarn start --enable-logging

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="NPM" %}

npm start -- --enable-logging

{% endtab %} {% endtabs %}

Changelog

6.0.0-beta.64 (2022-06-16)

New Features

• webpack-plugin: webpack 5 configuration factory (#2776) (f4a77741)
• 🎸 allow specifying alternative tag prefix (#2605) (88d9d722)
• allow disabling maker in config (#2754) (69777402)
• 🎸 Add packageSourceMaps option to WebpackPluginConfig (#2581) (2bb5e0d8)
• Make autoUpdate and autoLaunch features configurable in MakerWixConfig (#2620) (bf7d271a)
• publisher-ers: support flavor config (#2766) (6069ebe1)
• cli: add --inspect-brk-electron option (#1328) (c5a6ea17)
• template: add a default preload script (#2722) (636e2c5d)
• plugin-webpack: allow specifing a seperate webpack config for your preload (#2679) (f5909424)

Bug Fixes

• escape file names for make step (#2752) (beb93056)
• default platforms to empty array instead of null (9abc581b)
• publisher-electron-release-server:
  • set knownLength option for asset upload (#2706) (cf08cd62)
  • omit RELEASES file when uploading assets (#2089) (2202dcd3)