# prebuild > A command line tool for easily making prebuilt binaries for multiple versions of node, electron or node-webkit on a specific platform Latest version **13.0.1** (published 2024-05-16) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads > **Deprecated.** This package is deprecated. ## Install ```sh npm install prebuild pnpm add prebuild yarn add prebuild bun add prebuild ``` Provides the command `prebuild`. ## Health **Score 10/100 (F)** — status: deprecated. Negative: deprecated. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 13.0.1 | | Published | 2024-05-16 | | First published | 2015-07-25 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | none | | Module format | CommonJS | | Node | ^16.14.0 \|\| >=18.0.0 | | Dependencies | 19 | | Unpacked size | 32.6 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 443 | | Author | Mathias Buus | | Maintainers | lovell, vweevers, juliangruber, mafintosh, ralphtheninja | | Keywords | prebuilt, binaries, native, addon, module, c, c++, bindings, devops, electron, node-webkit, node-api | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/prebuild - Repository: https://github.com/prebuild/prebuild - Issues: https://github.com/prebuild/prebuild/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/prebuild ## Dependencies (19) - [rc](https://npm.io/package/rc.md) ^1.2.8 - [glob](https://npm.io/package/glob.md) ^10.3.10 - [npmlog](https://npm.io/package/npmlog.md) ^7.0.1 - [nw-gyp](https://npm.io/package/nw-gyp.md) ^3.6.6 - [cmake-js](https://npm.io/package/cmake-js.md) ^7.3.0 - [minimist](https://npm.io/package/minimist.md) ^1.2.8 - [node-abi](https://npm.io/package/node-abi.md) ^3.54.0 - [node-gyp](https://npm.io/package/node-gyp.md) ^10.0.1 - [execspawn](https://npm.io/package/execspawn.md) ^1.0.1 - [npm-which](https://npm.io/package/npm-which.md) ^3.0.1 - [ghreleases](https://npm.io/package/ghreleases.md) ^3.0.2 - [node-ninja](https://npm.io/package/node-ninja.md) ^1.0.2 - [tar-stream](https://npm.io/package/tar-stream.md) ^3.1.7 - [detect-libc](https://npm.io/package/detect-libc.md) ^2.0.2 - [noop-logger](https://npm.io/package/noop-logger.md) ^0.1.1 - [run-waterfall](https://npm.io/package/run-waterfall.md) ^1.1.7 - [napi-build-utils](https://npm.io/package/napi-build-utils.md) ^1.0.2 - [each-series-async](https://npm.io/package/each-series-async.md) ^1.0.1 - [github-from-package](https://npm.io/package/github-from-package.md) 0.0.0 ## Alternatives - [@gemini-wallet/core](https://npm.io/package/@gemini-wallet/core.md) — 515.6K weekly downloads - [utility](https://npm.io/package/utility.md) — 416.6K weekly downloads - [@primno/dpapi](https://npm.io/package/@primno/dpapi.md) — 7.2K weekly downloads - [pi-readseek](https://npm.io/package/pi-readseek.md) — 3.7K weekly downloads - [@emilia-protocol/verify](https://npm.io/package/@emilia-protocol/verify.md) — 1.1K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 13.0.1 (latest) — 2024-05-16 - 13.0.0 — 2024-02-01 - 12.1.0 — 2023-09-23 - 12.0.0 — 2023-09-06 - 11.0.4 — 2022-07-15 - 11.0.3 — 2022-02-01 - 11.0.2 — 2022-01-28 - 11.0.1 — 2022-01-14 - 11.0.0 — 2021-09-16 - 10.0.1 — 2020-08-18 - 10.0.0 — 2020-01-11 - 9.1.1 — 2019-10-01 - 9.1.0 — 2019-08-17 - 9.0.1 — 2019-07-13 - 9.0.0 — 2019-06-02 - … 102 more at https://npm.io/package/prebuild/versions ## README # prebuild > A command line tool for easily making prebuilt binaries for multiple versions of [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/), [Node-API](https://nodejs.org/api/n-api.html#n_api_node_api), [Electron](http://electron.atom.io/) and [NW.js](https://nwjs.io/) on a specific platform. ``` $ npm install -g prebuild ``` [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/prebuild.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/prebuild) ![Node version](https://img.shields.io/node/v/prebuild.svg) [![js-standard-style](https://img.shields.io/badge/code%20style-standard-brightgreen.svg)](http://standardjs.com/) ## Features * Builds native modules for any version of Node.js, Node-API, Electron or NW.js, without having to switch between different versions to do so. This works by only downloading the correct headers and telling `node-gyp` to use those instead of the ones installed on your system. * Upload (`--upload`) prebuilt binaries to GitHub. * Support for stripping (`--strip`) debug information. Strip command defaults to `strip` but can be overridden by the `STRIP` environment variable. * Install prebuilt modules via [`prebuild-install`](https://github.com/prebuild/prebuild-install). ## Building Building is only required for targets with different [ABI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_binary_interface) versions. To build for all *supported* ABI versions ([example from leveldown](https://github.com/Level/leveldown/blob/ea5999dbd5fddf8f811b6c14162a3282b24ef7a9/package.json#L55)): ``` prebuild --all ``` *Supported* ABI versions may change over time without a new prebuild release. Alternatively, to build for some specific versions you can do: ``` prebuild -t 0.10.42 -t 0.12.10 -t 4.3.0 ``` To build for Node-API, do: ``` prebuild -t 3 -r napi ``` To build against Electron headers, do: ``` prebuild -t 1.4.10 -r electron ``` To build against NW.js headers, do: ``` prebuild -t 0.26.6 -r node-webkit ``` See [`allTargets`](https://github.com/lgeiger/node-abi#usage) for all available versions. For more options run `prebuild --help`. The prebuilds created are compatible with [node-pre-gyp](https://github.com/mapbox/node-pre-gyp) If you'd like to include other files with your prebuilds like additional `.node` files or other native libraries, you can pass a file-matching regular expression to `--include-regex`: ``` prebuild -t 8.0.0 --include-regex "\.(node|a)$" ``` Note that if you include multiple `.node` files, you will need to use the prebuild-install's `--binary-name` parameter to indicate which file should be loaded: ``` prebuild-install --binary-name main-binary.node ``` The build file format is selected automatically by `node-gyp`, however it is possible to specify needed format explicitly with `--format` parameter. This is particularly useful if unusual flavor is required, which could be specified in 'format-flavor' form (there is no comprehensive list of formats/flavors available so one has to find possible combinations from `node-gyp` source code). For example, in order to build using Makefiles but assume Android cross-compilation: ``` prebuild --format make-android ``` When using the [cmake-js](https://www.npmjs.com/package/cmake-js) backend additional parameters can be passed through. ``` prebuild --backend cmake-js -- --prefer-clang --CDUV_INCLUDE_DIR=... ``` ## Scripts A prepack script can be specified that is executed once the `.node` module has been created but before it is compressed and moved. This can be used to perform code signing. ``` prebuild --prepack 'codesign -v -s MyCompany' ``` The `--preinstall` or `--prepack` parameters can take either a shell command or JS file to be executed. ## Uploading `prebuild` supports uploading prebuilds to GitHub releases. If the release doesn't exist, it will be created for you. To upload prebuilds simply add the `-u ` option: ``` $ prebuild --all -u ``` If you don't want to use the token on cli you can put it in `~/.prebuildrc`: ``` upload= ``` Note that `--upload` will only upload the targets that was built and stored in `./prebuilds`, so `prebuild -u -t 4.3.0` will only upload the binary for the `4.3.0` target. You can use `prebuild --upload-all` to upload all files from the `./prebuilds` folder. You can use `prebuild --upload --tag-prefix ` for specific tag prefixes for the release. The default prefix is `v` and will result in a tag with an appended version number, for example `v1.0.0`. For [lerna](https://github.com/lerna/lerna) you can use the package name e.g. `prebuild --tag-prefix some-package@` and the binaries will be released on the appropriate package's tags, for example `some-package@1.0.0`. You can use `prebuild --upload --prerelease` to create a prerelease, which will not be shown as the latest release. ## Create GitHub Token A GitHub token is needed for two reasons: * Create a GitHub release ([leveldown example](https://github.com/Level/leveldown/releases/tag/v1.4.4)) * Upload the prebuilt binaries to that release To create a token: * Go to [this page](https://github.com/settings/tokens) * Click the `Generate new token` button * Give the token a name and click the `Generate token` button, see below ![prebuild-token](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/13285808/20844584/d0b85268-b8c0-11e6-8b08-2b19522165a9.png) The default scopes should be fine. ## Node-API Considerations ### Declaring Supported Node-API Versions Native modules that are designed to work with [Node-API](https://nodejs.org/api/n-api.html#n_api_node_api), which was previously known as N-API, must explicitly declare the Node-API version(s) against which they can build. This is accomplished by including a `binary` property on the module's `package.json` file. For example: ```json "binary": { "napi_versions": [2,3] } ``` In the absence of a need to compile against a specific Node-API version, the value `3` is a good choice as this is the Node-API version that was supported when Node-API left experimental status. Modules that are built against a specific Node-API version will continue to operate indefinitely, even as later versions of Node-API are introduced. ### Defining the `NAPI_VERSION` Value The Node-API header files supplied with Node use the `NAPI_VERSION` preprocessor value supplied by the user to configure each build to the specific Node-API version for which the native addon is being built. In addition, the module's C/C++ code can use this value to conditionally compile code based on the Node-API version it is being compiled against. `prebuild` supports two build backends: [`node-gyp`](https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp) and [`cmake-js`](https://github.com/cmake-js/cmake-js). The `NAPI_VERSION` value is configured differently for each backend. #### node-gyp The following code must be included in the `binding.gyp` file of modules targeting Node-API: ```json "defines": [ "NAPI_VERSION=<(napi_build_version)", ] ``` #### cmake-js The following line must be included in the `CMakeLists.txt` file of modules targeting Node-API: ```cmake add_compile_definitions(NAPI_VERSION=${napi_build_version}) ``` ### `prebuild` arguments The `--runtime` argument must be `napi` to request Node-API builds. When requesting Node-API builds, the module's `package.json` file _must_ include a `binary` property as described above. And the `binding.gyp` file _must_ include a define for `NAPI_VERSION` as described above. One or more `--target` arguments may be specified to request builds for specific Node-API versions. Node-API versions are positive integer values. Alternatively, `--all` may be used to request builds for all Node-API versions supported by the module. In the absence of both `--target` and `--all` arguments, `prebuild` will build the most current version of the module supported by the Node instance performing the build. ## Help ``` $ prebuild -h prebuild [options] --target -t version (version to build or install for) --runtime -r runtime (Node runtime [node, napi, electron or node-webkit] to build or install for, default is node) --arch -a arch (architecture to build or install for [default: process.arch]) --all (prebuild for all known abi versions) --upload -u [gh-token] (upload prebuilds to github) --upload-all -u [gh-token] (upload all files from ./prebuilds folder to github) --tag-prefix (github tag prefix, default is "v") --preinstall -i script (run this script before prebuilding) --prepack -c script (run this script before packing, can be used to codesign) --path -p path (make a prebuild here) --include-regex (regex to match files that will be distributed [default: '\.node$']) --libc (use provided libc rather than system default) --backend (specify build backend, default is 'node-gyp') --format (specify additional parameters for `node-gyp` backend) --strip (strip debug information) --debug (set Debug or Release configuration) --verbose (log verbosely) --version (print prebuild version and exit) ``` ## JavaScript API ```js var prebuild = require('prebuild') ``` ### .build(opts, version, cb) Options: - `.log` (optional) - `.preinstall` (optional) - `.gyp` Provide a custom `node-gyp` instance (optional) - `.backend` Provide a custom `node-gyp` instance via string. Alternatives are `'node-gyp'`, `'node-ninja'`, `'nw-gyp'` and `'cmake-js'` (optional, defaults to `'node-gyp'`) - `.args` Additional command line arguments to `node-gyp` (optional) - `.debug` Pass in `--debug` on command line to gyp backend (optional) Example: ```js prebuild.build({}, version, function (err) { // ... }) ``` ### Global options: - `.debug` Download or build a debug build (default: `false`) - `.arch` Processor architecture (default: `process.arch`) ## Develop `prebuild` If you want to hack on `prebuild` you need an environment to play around with. We recommend a setup similar to the following: * A fork of `prebuild` * A GitHub token (see above) * A native node module ```bash $ git clone git@github.com:/prebuild $ cd prebuild && npm link && cd .. $ git clone git@github.com:/some-native-module ``` Since you did `npm link` on `prebuild` it will be installed globally. Now you can go ahead and try things out. ```bash $ cd some-native-module $ prebuild --all --strip -u ``` This command would: * Build `some-native-module` for all supported targets and store them in `./prebuilds/` * Strip binaries from debug information * Create a release on GitHub, if needed * Upload all binaries to that release, if not already uploaded Before you commit your changes and send us a pull request, do run `npm test`. ## License MIT --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/prebuild · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._