Useful utilities for developing Electron apps and modules

You can use this module directly in both the main and renderer process.

$ npm install electron-util

Requires Electron 4 or later.

const {is} = require('electron-util');

console.log(is.macos && is.main);
//=> true

• api
• is
• electronVersion
• chromeVersion
• platform()
• activeWindow()
• runJS()
• fixPathForAsarUnpack()
• enforceMacOSAppLocation()
• menuBarHeight()
• getWindowBoundsCentered()
• setWindowBounds()
• centerWindow()
• disableZoom()
• appLaunchTimestamp
• isFirstAppLaunch()
• darkMode
• setContentSecurityPolicy
• openNewGitHubIssue()
• openUrlMenuItem()
• showAboutWindow()
• aboutMenuItem()
• debugInfo()
• appMenu()

Type: Object

Access the Electron APIs in both the main and renderer process without having to care about which one you're in.

For example, in the renderer process:

api.app.quit();

The app API is usually only available in the main process.

Type: Object

Check for various things:

• macos - Running on macOS
• linux - Running on Linux
• windows - Running on Windows
• main - Running on the main process
• renderer - Running on the renderer process
• development - Running in development, not in production
• usingAsar - The app is using ASAR
• macAppStore - The app is an Mac App Store build
• windowsStore - The app is a Windows Store AppX build

Type: string
Example: 1.7.9

Electron version.

Type: string
Example: 62.0.3202

Chrome version in Electron.

Type: Function

Accepts an object with the keys as either macos, windows, linux, or default, and picks the appropriate key depending on the current platform. If no platform key is matched, the default key is used if it exists. If the value is a function, it will be executed, and the returned value will be used.

init({
	enableUnicorn: util.platform({
		macos: true,
		windows: false,
		linux: () => false
	})
});

Type: Function

Returns the active window.

Type: Function

Run some JavaScript in the active or given window.

Returns a promise for the result of the executed code or a rejected promise if the result is a rejected promise.

Type: Function

ASAR is great, but it has limitations when it comes to executing binaries. For example, child_process.spawn() is not automatically handled. So you would have to unpack the binary, for example, with the asarUnpack option in electron-builder. This creates a problem as the path to the binary changes, but your path.join(__dirname, 'binary') is not changed. To make it work you need to fix the path. That's the purpose of this method.

Before:

/Users/sindresorhus/Kap.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/node_modules/foo/binary

After:

/Users/sindresorhus/Kap.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpack/node_modules/foo/binary

Type: Function

On macOS, for security reasons, if an app is launched outside the Applications folder, it will run in a read-only disk image, which could cause subtle problems for your app. Use this method to ensure the app lives in the Applications folder.

It must not be used until the app.on('ready') event has been emitted.

It will be a no-op during development and on other systems than macOS.

It will offer to automatically move the app for the user:

Returns the height of the menu bar on macOS, or 0 if not macOS.

Get the bounds of a window as if it was centered on the screen.

Type: Object

Type: BrowserWindow
Default: Current window

The window to get the bounds of.

Type: Object
Default: Size of window

Set a new window size. Example: {width: 600, height: 400}

Set the bounds of a window. This is similar to the BrowserWindow#setBounds() method, but it allows setting any of the x, y, width, height properties, instead of forcing you to set them all at once. The properties that are not set will just fall back to the current ones.

Type: Object

Type: BrowserWindow
Default: Current window

The window to set the bounds of.

Type: boolean
Default: false

Animate the change.

Center a window on the screen.

Type: Object

Type: BrowserWindow
Default: Current window

The window to center.

Type: Object
Default: Size of window

Set a new window size. Example: {width: 600, height: 400}

Type: boolean
Default: false

Animate the change.

Disable zooming, usually caused by pinching the trackpad on macOS or Ctrl + on Windows.

Type: BrowserWindow
Default: Current window

Type: number

A timestamp (Date.now()) of when your app launched.

Returns a boolean of whether it's the first time your app is launched.

It works by writing a file to app.getPath('userData') if it doesn't exist and checks that. That means it will return true the first time you add this check to your app.

Type: Object

const {darkMode} = require('electron-util');

console.log(darkMode.isEnabled);
//=> false

darkMode.onChange(() => {
	console.log(darkMode.isEnabled);
	//=> true
});

Type: boolean

Whether the macOS dark mode is enabled.

On Windows and Linux, it's false.

The callback function is called when the macOS dark mode is toggled.

Returns a function, that when called, unsubscribes the listener.

Calling it on Window and Linux works, but it just returns a no-op function.

Set a Content Security Policy for your app.

Don't forget to validate the policy after changes.

const {setContentSecurityPolicy} = require('electron-util');

setContentSecurityPolicy(`
	default-src 'none';
	script-src 'self';
	img-src 'self' data:;
	style-src 'self';
	font-src 'self';
	connect-src 'self' https://api.example.com;
	base-uri 'none';
	form-action 'none';
	frame-ancestors 'none';
`);

Type: string

You can put rules on separate lines, but lines must end in a semicolon.

Type: Object

Type: Session
Default: electron.session.defaultSession

The session to apply the policy to.

Opens the new issue view on the given GitHub repo in the browser. Optionally, with some fields like title and body prefilled. The options are passed to the new-github-issue-url package.

const {openNewGitHubIssue} = require('electron-util');

openNewGitHubIssue({
	user: 'sindresorhus',
	repo: 'playground',
	body: 'Hello'
});

Accepts the same options as new MenuItem() in addition to a url option.

If you specify the click option, its handler will be called before the URL is opened.

Returns a MenuItemConstructorOptions that creates a menu item, which opens the given URL in the browser when clicked.

const {Menu} = require('electron');
const {openUrlMenuItem} = require('electron-util');

const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate([
	{
		label: 'Help',
		submenu: [
			openUrlMenuItem({
				label: 'Website',
				url: 'https://sindresorhus.com'
			})
		]
	}
]);

Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);

Shows an 'About' window. On macOS, the native 'About' window is shown, and on Linux and Windows, a simple custom dialog is shown.

On macOS, the icon, text, and title options are ignored.

It will show Electron as the app name until you build your app for production.

const {showAboutWindow} = require('electron-util');

showAboutWindow({
	icon: path.join(__dirname, 'static/Icon.png'),
	copyright: 'Copyright © Sindre Sorhus',
	text: 'Some more info.'
});

Type: Object

Type: string

An absolute path to the app icon.

Type: string

The copyright text.

Type: string

Some additional text if needed.

Type: string
Default: About

Customizable for localization. Used in the menu item label and window title.

The app name is automatically appended at runtime.

Accepts the same options as .showAboutWindow().

Returns a MenuItemConstructorOptions that creates a menu item, which shows the about dialog when clicked.

const {Menu} = require('electron');
const {aboutMenuItem} = require('electron-util');

const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate([
	{
		label: 'Help',
		submenu: [
			aboutMenuItem({
				icon: path.join(__dirname, 'static/Icon.png'),
				copyright: 'Copyright © Sindre Sorhus',
				text: 'Some more info.'
			})
		]
	}
]);

Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);

Returns a string with debug info suitable for inclusion in bug reports.

For example, use this in the body option of the .openNewGitHubIssue() method.

const {debugInfo} = require('electron-util');

console.log(debugInfo());
/*
AppName 2.21.0
Electron 3.0.6
darwin 18.2.0
Locale: en-US
*/

Creating the app menu (the first menu) on macOS requires a lot of boilerplate. This method includes the default boilerplate and lets you add additional menu items in the correct place.

Type: MenuItem[]

Menu items to add below the About App Name menu item.

Usually, you would add at least a Preferences… menu item:

const {Menu} = require('electron');
const {appMenu} = require('electron-util');

const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate([
	appMenu([
		{
			label: 'Preferences…',
			accelerator: 'Command+,',
			click() {}
		}
	])
]);

Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);

This is for non-Electron code that might be included in an Electron app. For example, if you want to add special support for Electron in a vanilla Node.js module.

const electronUtil = require('electron-util/node');

if (electronUtil.isElectron) {
	// Electron workaround
} else {
	// Normal code
}

Type: boolean

Check if you're running in an Electron app.

Type: string
Example: 1.7.9

Electron version. Returns 0.0.0 when not in an Electron app.

Type: boolean

Check if the Electron app you're running in is using ASAR.

Same as the above Electron version.

• electron-store - Save and load data like user preferences, app state, cache, etc
• electron-debug - Adds useful debug features to your Electron app
• electron-context-menu - Context menu for your Electron app
• electron-dl - Simplified file downloads for your Electron app
• electron-unhandled - Catch unhandled errors and promise rejections in your Electron app

MIT © Sindre Sorhus