# @electron/packager > Customize and package your Electron app with OS-specific bundles (.app, .exe, etc.) via JS or CLI Latest version **20.3.0** (published 2026-08-11) · BSD-2-Clause license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install @electron/packager pnpm add @electron/packager yarn add @electron/packager bun add @electron/packager ``` Provides the command `electron-packager`. ## Health **Score 75/100 (B)** — status: active. Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; has provenance; recently updated; high maintenance score; high quality score. Warnings: low downloads. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 20.3.0 | | Published | 2026-08-11 | | First published | 2023-11-03 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | BSD-2-Clause | | TypeScript types | bundled | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >= 22.12.0 | | Dependencies | 17 | | Unpacked size | 275.4 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | Provenance | attested (GitHub Actions) | | GitHub stars | 302 | | Author | Mark Lee | | Maintainers | electron-cfa | | Keywords | electron, packager, bundler, app | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@electron/packager - Repository: https://github.com/electron/packager - Issues: https://github.com/electron/packager/issues - Funding: https://github.com/electron/packager?sponsor=1 - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/@electron/packager ## Dependencies (17) - [junk](https://npm.io/package/junk.md) ^4.0.1 - [debug](https://npm.io/package/debug.md) ^4.4.1 - [plist](https://npm.io/package/plist.md) ^3.1.0 - [semver](https://npm.io/package/semver.md) ^7.7.2 - [resedit](https://npm.io/package/resedit.md) ^2.0.3 - [galactus](https://npm.io/package/galactus.md) ^2.0.2 - [filenamify](https://npm.io/package/filenamify.md) ^6.0.0 - [graceful-fs](https://npm.io/package/graceful-fs.md) ^4.2.11 - [yargs-parser](https://npm.io/package/yargs-parser.md) ^22.0.0 - [@electron/get](https://npm.io/package/@electron/get.md) ^5.0.0 - [@electron/asar](https://npm.io/package/@electron/asar.md) ^4.0.1 - [@electron/notarize](https://npm.io/package/@electron/notarize.md) ^3.1.0 - [@electron/osx-sign](https://npm.io/package/@electron/osx-sign.md) ^2.2.0 - [@electron/universal](https://npm.io/package/@electron/universal.md) ^3.0.1 - [@electron/windows-sign](https://npm.io/package/@electron/windows-sign.md) ^2.0.2 - [@malept/cross-spawn-promise](https://npm.io/package/@malept/cross-spawn-promise.md) ^2.0.0 - [@electron-internal/extract-zip](https://npm.io/package/@electron-internal/extract-zip.md) ^1.0.1 ## Alternatives - [raw-loader](https://npm.io/package/raw-loader.md) — 4.3M weekly downloads - [plop](https://npm.io/package/plop.md) — 1.4M weekly downloads - [webpack-deadcode-plugin](https://npm.io/package/webpack-deadcode-plugin.md) — 80.3K weekly downloads - [@storybook/preact-vite](https://npm.io/package/@storybook/preact-vite.md) — 54.2K weekly downloads - [vite-plugin-transform](https://npm.io/package/vite-plugin-transform.md) — 2.4K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 20.3.0 (latest) — 2026-08-11 - 20.2.1 — 2026-08-10 - 20.2.0 — 2026-08-06 - 20.1.1 — 2026-08-03 - 20.1.0 — 2026-08-03 - 20.0.4 — 2026-07-22 - 20.0.3 — 2026-07-16 - 20.0.2 — 2026-07-03 - 20.0.1 — 2026-06-04 - 20.0.0 — 2026-04-22 - 19.1.1 — 2026-04-22 - 19.1.0 — 2026-03-13 - 19.0.5 — 2026-02-13 - 19.0.4 — 2026-02-13 - 19.0.3 — 2026-02-09 - … 22 more at https://npm.io/package/@electron/packager/versions ## README # @electron/packager Package your [Electron](https://electronjs.org) app into OS-specific bundles (`.app`, `.exe`, etc.) via JavaScript or the command line. [![Test](https://github.com/electron/packager/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/electron/packager/actions/workflows/test.yml) [![electron-nightly Canary](https://github.com/electron/packager/actions/workflows/canary.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/electron/packager/actions/workflows/canary.yml) [![Coverage Status](https://codecov.io/gh/electron/packager/branch/main/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/electron/packager) [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@electron/packager.svg?style=flat)](https://npm.im/@electron/packager) [![API docs](https://img.shields.io/badge/dynamic/json?url=https%3A%2F%2Fregistry.npmjs.org%2F%40electron%2Fpackager%2Flatest&query=%24.version&logo=typescript&logoColor=white&label=API%20Docs)](https://packages.electronjs.org/packager) [![Discord](https://img.shields.io/discord/745037351163527189?color=blueviolet&logo=discord)](https://discord.com/invite/APGC3k5yaH) [Supported Platforms](#supported-platforms) | [Installation](#installation) | [Usage](#usage) | [Contributing](https://github.com/electron/packager/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) | [Support](https://github.com/electron/packager/blob/main/SUPPORT.md) | [Related Apps/Libraries](#related) | [FAQ](https://github.com/electron/packager/blob/main/docs/faq.md) | [Release Notes](https://github.com/electron/packager/blob/main/NEWS.md) --- ## About Electron Packager is a command line tool and Node.js library that bundles Electron-based application source code with a renamed Electron executable and supporting files into folders ready for distribution. For creating distributables like installers and Linux packages, consider using either [Electron Forge](https://github.com/electron/forge) (which uses Electron Packager internally), or one of the [related Electron tools](#distributable-creators), which utilizes Electron Packager-created folders as a basis. Note that packaged Electron applications can be relatively large. A zipped, minimal Electron application is approximately the same size as the zipped prebuilt binary for a given target platform, target arch, and [Electron version](https://github.com/electron/electron/releases) _(files named `electron-v${version}-${platform}-${arch}.zip`)_. ## Supported Platforms Electron Packager is known to run on the following **host** platforms: - Windows (32/64 bit) - macOS (formerly known as OS X) - Linux (x86/x86_64) It generates executables/bundles for the following **target** platforms: - Windows (also known as `win32`, for x86[^ia32], x86_64, and arm64 architectures) - macOS (also known as `darwin`) / [Mac App Store](https://electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/mac-app-store-submission-guide/) (also known as `mas`)[^macos] (for x86_64, arm64, and universal architectures) - Linux (for x86, x86_64, armv7l[^ia32], arm64, and mips64el architectures) [^macos]: Note for macOS / Mac App Store target bundles: the `.app` bundle can only be signed when building on a host macOS platform. [^ia32]: Windows x86 (`ia32`) and Linux `armv7l` builds are only published for Electron <= 43 — starting with Electron 44.0.0-alpha.4, official builds for these architectures are no longer provided. ## Installation This module requires Node.js 22.12.0 or higher to run. ```sh npm install --save-dev @electron/packager ``` It is **not** recommended to install `@electron/packager` globally. ## Usage ### Via JavaScript JavaScript API usage can be found in the [API documentation](https://packages.electronjs.org/packager). ### From the command line Running Electron Packager from the command line has this basic form: ```sh npx @electron/packager --platform= --arch= [optional flags...] ``` This will: - Find or download the correct release of Electron - Use that version of Electron to create an app in `/--` _(this can be customized via an optional flag)_ `--platform` and `--arch` can be omitted, in two cases: - If you specify `--all` instead, bundles for all valid combinations of target platforms/architectures will be created. - Otherwise, a single bundle for the host platform/architecture will be created. For an overview of the other optional flags, run `electron-packager --help` or see [usage.txt](https://github.com/electron/packager/blob/main/usage.txt). For detailed descriptions, see the [API documentation](https://electron.github.io/packager/main/). For flags that are structured as objects, you can pass each option as via dot notation as such: ```sh npx @electron/packager --flag.foo="bar" # will pass in { flag: { foo: "bar"} } as an option to the Electron Packager API ``` If `appname` is omitted, this will use the name specified by "productName" or "name" in the nearest package.json. **Characters in the Electron app name which are not allowed in all target platforms' filenames (e.g., `/`), will be replaced by hyphens (`-`).** You should be able to launch the app on the platform you built for. If not, check your settings and try again. **Be careful** not to include `node_modules` you don't want into your final app. If you put them in the `devDependencies` section of `package.json`, by default none of the modules related to those dependencies will be copied in the app bundles. (This behavior can be turned off with the `prune: false` API option or `--no-prune` CLI flag.) In addition, folders like `.git` and `node_modules/.bin` will be ignored by default. You can use `--ignore` to ignore files and folders via a regular expression (_not_ a [glob pattern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_%28programming%29)). Examples include `--ignore=\.gitignore` or `--ignore="\.git(ignore|modules)"`. #### Example Let's assume that you have made an app based on the [minimal-repro](https://github.com/electron/minimal-repro) repository on an Apple Silicon macOS device with the following file structure: ```plaintext foobar ├── package.json ├── index.html ├── […other files, like the app's LICENSE…] └── script.js ``` …and that the following is true: - `@electron/packager` is installed locally - `productName` in `package.json` has been set to `Foo Bar` - The `electron` module is in the `devDependencies` section of `package.json`, and set to the exact version of `38.3.0`. - `npm install` for the `Foo Bar` app has been run at least once When one runs the following command for the first time in the `foobar` directory: ```plaintext npx @electron/packager . ``` `@electron/packager` will do the following: - Use the current directory for the `sourcedir` - Infer the `appname` from the `productName` in `package.json` - Infer the `appVersion` from the `version` in `package.json` - Infer the `platform` and `arch` from the host, in this example, `darwin` platform and `arm64` arch. - Download the darwin arm64 build of Electron 38.3.0 (and cache the downloads in `~/.electron`) - Build the macOS `Foo Bar.app` - Place `Foo Bar.app` in `foobar/Foo Bar-darwin-arm64/` (since an `out` directory was not specified, it used the current working directory) The file structure now looks like: ```plaintext foobar ├── Foo Bar-darwin-x64 │   ├── Foo Bar.app │   │   └── […Mac app contents…] │ ├── LICENSE [the Electron license] │ └── version ├── […other application bundles, like "Foo Bar-win32-x64" (sans quotes)…] ├── package.json ├── index.html ├── […other files, like the app's LICENSE…] └── script.js ``` The `Foo Bar.app` folder generated can be executed by a system running macOS, which will start the packaged Electron app. This is also true of the Windows x64 build on a Windows device (via `Foo Bar-win32-x64/Foo Bar.exe`), and so on. ## Related - [Electron Forge](https://github.com/electron/forge) - creates, builds, and distributes modern Electron applications ### Distributable Creators - [electron-installer-zip](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-installer-zip) - creates symlink-compatible ZIP files Windows: - [electron-winstaller](https://github.com/electron/windows-installer) - Squirrel.Windows-based installer from the Electron maintainers group - [electron-windows-msix](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-windows-msix) - creates an MSIX package - [electron-windows-store](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-windows-store) - creates an AppX package for the Windows Store - [electron-wix-msi](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-wix-msi) - creates traditional MSI installers - [electron-installer-windows](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-installer-windows) - alternative Squirrel.Windows-based installer macOS: - [electron-installer-dmg](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-installer-dmg) - creates a DMG Linux: - [electron-installer-debian](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-installer-debian) - creates a DEB file - [electron-installer-redhat](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-installer-redhat) - creates an RPM - [electron-installer-flatpak](https://github.com/endlessm/electron-installer-flatpak) - creates a Flatpak file - [electron-installer-snap](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-installer-snap) - creates a Snap file ### Plugins These Node modules utilize Electron Packager API hooks: - [electron-packager-languages](https://npm.im/electron-packager-languages) - sets the locales available to Electron when packaged, which is used by the Mac App Store, among other places - [electron-packager-plugin-non-proprietary-codecs-ffmpeg](https://www.npmjs.com/package/electron-packager-plugin-non-proprietary-codecs-ffmpeg) - replaces the normal version of FFmpeg in Electron with a version without proprietary codecs - [@electron/rebuild](https://github.com/electron/rebuild) - rebuilds native Node.js modules against the packaged Electron version --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/@electron/packager · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._