What is @electron/get?
@electron/get is an npm package designed to facilitate the downloading of Electron binaries. It provides a simple API to fetch Electron versions, which can be useful for setting up Electron-based projects or managing different versions of Electron.
What are @electron/get's main functionalities?
Download a specific version of Electron
This feature allows you to download a specific version of Electron. The code sample demonstrates how to download Electron version 13.1.7 and log the path where it was downloaded.
const { download } = require('@electron/get');
(async () => {
const zipPath = await download('v13.1.7');
console.log(`Downloaded Electron v13.1.7 to ${zipPath}`);
})();
Specify a mirror for downloading
This feature allows you to specify a mirror URL for downloading Electron binaries. The code sample shows how to download Electron version 13.1.7 from a custom mirror.
const { download } = require('@electron/get');
(async () => {
const zipPath = await download('v13.1.7', {
mirrorOptions: {
mirror: 'https://mirror.example.com/electron/'
}
});
console.log(`Downloaded Electron v13.1.7 from mirror to ${zipPath}`);
})();
Get the URL for a specific Electron version
This feature allows you to get the download URL for a specific version of Electron without actually downloading it. The code sample demonstrates how to get the URL for Electron version 13.1.7.
const { getDownloadUrl } = require('@electron/get');
(async () => {
const url = await getDownloadUrl('v13.1.7');
console.log(`Download URL for Electron v13.1.7: ${url}`);
})();
Other packages similar to @electron/get
electron-download
electron-download is another package that helps in downloading Electron binaries. It is often used internally by other Electron-related tools. Compared to @electron/get, it offers similar functionalities but may not be as straightforward to use for some specific tasks.
electron-builder
electron-builder is a complete solution to package and build Electron applications. While its primary focus is on building and packaging, it also includes functionality to download Electron binaries. It is more feature-rich compared to @electron/get but may be overkill if you only need to download Electron binaries.
electron-prebuilt-compile
electron-prebuilt-compile is a package that provides prebuilt Electron binaries with support for custom compilation. It is useful for developers who need to compile Electron with specific settings. Compared to @electron/get, it offers more flexibility but requires more setup.
@electron/get
Download Electron release artifacts
Usage
Simple: Downloading an Electron Binary ZIP
import { download } from '@electron/get';
const zipFilePath = await download('4.0.4');
Advanced: Downloading a macOS Electron Symbol File
import { downloadArtifact } from '@electron/get';
const zipFilePath = await downloadArtifact({
version: '4.0.4',
platform: 'darwin',
artifactName: 'electron',
artifactSuffix: 'symbols',
arch: 'x64',
});
How It Works
This module downloads Electron to a known place on your system and caches it
so that future requests for that asset can be returned instantly. The cache
locations are:
- Linux:
$XDG_CACHE_HOME
or ~/.cache/electron/
- MacOS:
~/Library/Caches/electron/
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%/electron/Cache
or ~/AppData/Local/electron/Cache/
By default, the module uses got
as the
downloader. As a result, you can use the same options
via downloadOptions
.