Pre-configured Electron.js + React.js + TypeScript boilerplate with Webpack v5 & linters config predefined.

This boilerplate currently works on macOS and Windows. If something doesn't work, please file an issue.

// execute
git clone https://github.com/iamWing/electron-react-typescript-base-proj.git

// edit the following fields in package.json for your own project
{
  "name": your-project-name,
  "version": whatever-you-like,
  "description": your-own-description,
  "build": {
    "appId": your-app-id,
    "productName": your-product-name,
    "buildVersion": your-build-number
  },
  "author": who's-the-author?,
  "license": if-you-don't-want-to-use-MIT,
  "repository": type-and-link-of-your-repo,
  "keywords": keywords-of-your-project,
  "bugs": issue-page-of-your-repo,
  "homepage": homepage-of-your-repo
}

Then install all the node_modules needed by executing the following command:

cd folder-containing-the-cloned-boilerplate
npm install --also-dev

Finally execute the following command to start Webpack in development mode and watch the changes on source files for live rebuild on code changes.

npm run dev

The npm run dev command won't start your app and get your app shows on the screen. To start your app, execute the following command:

npm start

The boilerplate is currently configured to package & build the installer of your app for macOS & Windows using electron-builder.

For macOS, execute:

npm run prod
npm run build:mac

For Windows, execute:

npm run prod
npm run build:win

asar archiving may cause errors while running the installed Electron app based on pervious experiences, whereas the macOS build with asar enabled works just fine. You can turn it off by changing asar to false in package.json line 26.

The build scripts are pre-configured to build 64 bit installers since 64 bit should be the standard for a modern applications. 32 bit builds are still possible by changing the build scripts in package.json as below:

// from
"scripts": {
    ...
    "build:win": "electron-builder build --win --x64",
    "build:mac": "electron-builder build --mac --x64"
},

// to
"scripts": {
    ...
    "build:win": "electron-builder build --win --ia32",
    // Works only on macOS version < 10.15
    "build:mac": "electron-builder build --mac --ia32"
},

Builds for Linux, armv71, and arm64 can also be configured by modifying the build scripts in package.json, but those aren't tested yet. For details, please refer to documents of electron-builder.

1. As Apple introduced the notarization requirements with the public release of macOS 10.14.5, apps built for macOS are now needed to be signed with a valid Developer ID certificate and let Apple notarizes it for you. This boilerplate doesn't include the notarization setup as of the 3.0.0 release, but up until now, you should still be able to run your Electron app by allowing your app to be opened in System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General without notarizing it for still (tested on macOS 11.1).

   If you want to notarization your app using this boilerplate before those settings are included in the future updates, you can try follow the guides on issue electron-builder #3870.

2. electron-builder@22.10.4 added Apple Silicon and universal binary supports, but it's still a pre-release instead of a stable one so the one included in this boilerplate is still staying on 22.9.1 which doesn't support building the universal binary yet.

electron-react-typescript-base-proj/
| - dist/               //- Generated by Webpack automatically
| - node_modules/
| - out/                //- Generated by build script automatically
| - public/             //- Global static assets
| | - index.html
| | - style.css
| - src/
| | - main/             //- Backend modules for the Electron app
| | | - main.ts         //- Entry point of 'electron-main'
| | - models/
| | - renderer/         //- Frontend React components for the Electron app
| | | - renderer.tsx    //- Entry point of 'electron-renderer'
| | - utils/            //- Common utilities
| - test/               //- Unit tests
| - .eslintrc           //- ESLint config
| - .gitignore
| - package-lock.json
| - package.json
| - tsconfig.json       //- TypeScript config
| - webpack.config.js   //- Webpack config

Wing Chau @Devtography

I do this open source work for free in my free time. If you'd like me to invest more time on it, please consider give me some donations. Any donation is gonna be a great motivation for me.

Electron React TypeScript Webpack Boilerplate is open source software licensed as MIT.