Electron Environment Setup Notes

First-time Electron installation

cd packages/main
pnpm add -D electron

If the Electron binary download fails

After pnpm installs the electron package, it needs to download the corresponding Electron binary. If the network is unreachable (GitHub blocked), you can download it manually:

Option 1: Download from a mirror

https://npmmirror.com/mirrors/electron/v{version}/electron-v{version}-win32-x64.zip

For example v43.1.1:

https://npmmirror.com/mirrors/electron/v43.1.1/electron-v43.1.1-win32-x64.zip

Option 2: Manually extract

After downloading, extract to node_modules/.pnpm/electron@{version}/node_modules/electron/dist/.

Key: create path.txt

After extracting, you need to create a path.txt file whose content is plain text (no trailing newline):

electron.exe

⚠️ Important: The path.txt file content must NOT end with a newline; otherwise Electron's index.js will get dist/electron.exe\n when concatenating the path, causing the file to not be found and triggering a re-download.

path.txt is read by electron/index.js:

executablePath = fs.readFileSync(pathFile, 'utf-8');
// If the content is "electron.exe\n", then:
const fullPath = path.join(__dirname, 'dist', executablePath);
// → "dist/electron.exe\n"  ❌ path has a trailing newline, file not found!

CDP Debug Port

To enable Chrome DevTools Protocol you need to pass --remote-debugging-port in the command-line arguments:

electron --remote-debugging-port=9222 dist/main.mjs

⚠️ Note: Using app.commandLine.appendSwitch("remote-debugging-port", "9222") in code is ineffective; the argument must be passed at startup.

The current packages/main/package.json already has:

"start": "electron --remote-debugging-port=9222 dist/main.mjs"

pnpm Layout Notes

This project uses a pnpm workspace; the Electron package is located at:

node_modules/.pnpm/electron@{version}/node_modules/electron/

packages/main/node_modules/.bin/electron.cmd points to the cli.js in that path.