Electron — Build Cross-Platform Desktop Apps with Web Tech

What Electron Does

• Main process — Node.js environment, OS APIs (filesystem, network, child processes)
• Renderer process — Chromium window, your web app
• IPC — bridge between main and renderer via ipcMain/ipcRenderer
• Native menus — Menu, MenuItem, Tray, dock icon
• Auto-updater — Squirrel-based updates
• Notifications — native OS notifications
• Power/clipboard/crash reporting — OS-level primitives
• Packaging — electron-builder / electron-forge

Architecture

One main process launches one or more BrowserWindows (renderers). Chromium renders HTML; Node.js runs in main (and optionally renderer via contextIsolation). IPC messages cross the boundary. Security rule: renderer is untrusted, always validate inputs.

Self-Hosting

Package locally then distribute:

npm run build
npx electron-builder --mac --win --linux

Distribute binaries via your site or auto-update server (like Nucleus, Hazel, or GitHub Releases).

Key Features

• Cross-platform (Win/Mac/Linux)
• Full Node.js in main process
• Native menus, tray, notifications
• Auto-updater
• Code signing support
• Crash reporter
• DevTools extensions
• MAS (Mac App Store) signing
• v28+ drops Node 18, uses ESM

Comparison

FAQ

Q: Why is the bundle so large? A: Chromium (~100MB) + Node.js (~30MB) are bundled into every app. This is the cost of cross-platform consistency.

Q: Any security concerns? A: Enable contextIsolation, disable nodeIntegration, and expose a restricted API via preload. Never execute remote code.

Q: When should I pick Tauri instead? A: Pick Tauri when you want a small footprint, performance, and the Rust ecosystem; pick Electron when you need the full Node ecosystem or strict Chromium consistency.

Sources & Credits

• Docs: https://www.electronjs.org/docs
• GitHub: https://github.com/electron/electron
• License: MIT