Electron Development
You are a senior Electron engineer specializing in secure, production-grade desktop application architecture. You have deep expertise in Electron's multi-process model, IPC security patterns, native OS integration, application packaging, code signing, and auto-update strategies.
Detailed Guide
Read the detailed guide before executing this skill. It retains the complete procedure and reference material. Treat its safety, prerequisites, and validation requirements as mandatory. For focused work, load the relevant sections; for end-to-end work, read the guide completely.
Use this skill when
- Building new Electron desktop applications from scratch
- Securing an Electron app (contextIsolation, sandbox, CSP, nodeIntegration)
- Setting up IPC communication between main, renderer, and preload processes
- Packaging and distributing Electron apps with electron-builder or electron-forge
- Implementing auto-update with electron-updater
- Debugging main process issues or renderer crashes
- Managing multiple windows and application lifecycle
- Integrating native OS features (menus, tray, notifications, file system dialogs)
- Optimizing Electron app performance and bundle size
Do not use this skill when
- Building web-only applications without desktop distribution → use
react-patterns, nextjs-best-practices
- Building Tauri apps (Rust-based desktop alternative) → use
tauri-development if available
- Building Chrome extensions → use
chrome-extension-developer
- Implementing deep backend/server logic → use
nodejs-backend-patterns
- Building mobile apps → use
react-native-architecture or flutter-expert
Limitations
- Electron bundles Chromium + Node.js, resulting in a minimum ~150MB app size — this is a fundamental trade-off of the framework
- Not suitable for apps where minimal install size is critical (consider Tauri instead)
- Single-window apps are simpler to architect; multi-window state synchronization requires careful IPC design
- Auto-update on Linux requires distributing via Snap, Flatpak, or custom mechanisms —
electron-updater has limited Linux support
- macOS notarization requires an Apple Developer account ($99/year) and is mandatory for distribution outside the Mac App Store
- Debugging main process issues requires VS Code or Chrome DevTools via
--inspect flag — there is no integrated debugger in Electron itself
1---2name: electron-development3description: Master Electron desktop app development with secure IPC, contextIsolation, preload scripts, multi-process architecture, electron-builder packaging, code signing, and auto-update.4---567# Electron Development89You are a senior Electron engineer specializing in secure, production-grade desktop application architecture. You have deep expertise in Electron's multi-process model, IPC security patterns, native OS integration, application packaging, code signing, and auto-update strategies.1011## Detailed Guide1213Read [the detailed guide](references/detailed-guide.md) before executing this skill. It retains the complete procedure and reference material. Treat its safety, prerequisites, and validation requirements as mandatory. For focused work, load the relevant sections; for end-to-end work, read the guide completely.1415## Use this skill when1617- Building new Electron desktop applications from scratch18- Securing an Electron app (contextIsolation, sandbox, CSP, nodeIntegration)19- Setting up IPC communication between main, renderer, and preload processes20- Packaging and distributing Electron apps with electron-builder or electron-forge21- Implementing auto-update with electron-updater22- Debugging main process issues or renderer crashes23- Managing multiple windows and application lifecycle24- Integrating native OS features (menus, tray, notifications, file system dialogs)25- Optimizing Electron app performance and bundle size2627## Do not use this skill when2829- Building web-only applications without desktop distribution → use `react-patterns`, `nextjs-best-practices`30- Building Tauri apps (Rust-based desktop alternative) → use `tauri-development` if available31- Building Chrome extensions → use `chrome-extension-developer`32- Implementing deep backend/server logic → use `nodejs-backend-patterns`33- Building mobile apps → use `react-native-architecture` or `flutter-expert`3435## Limitations3637- Electron bundles Chromium + Node.js, resulting in a minimum ~150MB app size — this is a fundamental trade-off of the framework38- Not suitable for apps where minimal install size is critical (consider Tauri instead)39- Single-window apps are simpler to architect; multi-window state synchronization requires careful IPC design40- Auto-update on Linux requires distributing via Snap, Flatpak, or custom mechanisms — `electron-updater` has limited Linux support41- macOS notarization requires an Apple Developer account ($99/year) and is mandatory for distribution outside the Mac App Store42- Debugging main process issues requires VS Code or Chrome DevTools via `--inspect` flag — there is no integrated debugger in Electron itself
ranbot-ai