# Rstudio Update Electron

> Use when updating the Electron version in the RStudio repository, e.g. bumping to a new release

- Skill: `rstudio/rstudio-update-electron` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add rstudio/rstudio-update-electron`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/rstudio/rstudio-update-electron/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: rstudio (https://skillmd.com/u/rstudio)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/rstudio/rstudio-update-electron

---


# Update Electron

Updates the pinned Electron version across the RStudio codebase and verifies the result.

## Arguments

The user provides the **target Electron version** (e.g. `39.8.4`).

## Steps

### 1. Verify starting branch

Before doing anything else, confirm the current branch is `main`. Starting off anything other than `main` would base the work on the wrong commit.

```bash
git branch --show-current
```

If the output is not `main`, **stop immediately** and warn the user that they must switch to `main` (and pull the latest) before re-running this skill. Do not proceed with any further steps.

### 2. Update `NEWS.md`

Find the `### Dependencies` section and update the Electron version line:

```
- Electron <NEW_VERSION>
```

### 3. Update `src/node/desktop/package.json` and lockfile

Run from `src/node/desktop`:

```bash
cd src/node/desktop && npm install --save-dev --save-exact electron@<NEW_VERSION>
```

The `--save-exact` flag is **required** — Electron must be pinned to an exact version (e.g. `"electron": "39.8.5"`, not `"^39.8.5"`). This prevents uncontrolled upgrades across major/minor versions.

This updates both `package.json` and `package-lock.json` in one step. Confirm the command exits successfully (exit code 0). If it fails, report the error and stop.

After the install, verify that:
1. `package.json` has the exact version with **no `^` or `~` prefix**.
2. `package-lock.json` contains the new Electron version.

The lockfile must be included in the commit — if it drifts from the manifest, `npm ci` in CI will fail.

### 4. Update the `allowScripts` allowlist entry

`src/node/desktop/package.json` has an `allowScripts` object whose keys are exact `package@version` strings. The Electron entry pins the old version and is **not** touched by `npm install`, so it must be updated by hand:

```json
"allowScripts": {
  "electron@<NEW_VERSION>": true,
  ...
}
```

Change the `electron@<OLD_VERSION>` key to `electron@<NEW_VERSION>` so the key tracks the Electron dependency version.

This key gates nothing today. Electron no longer publishes an install script — its published `package.json` has no `scripts` field, and its `package-lock.json` entry carries no `hasInstallScript` — so npm's install-script gating has nothing to block for it. (Verified on 42.10.1 and 42.11.0; re-check with `npm view electron@<NEW_VERSION> scripts`, which prints nothing when the field is absent.) Keep the key in sync anyway: it costs nothing and matters if Electron reintroduces an install script. The binary is fetched separately — see step 5.

### 5. Verify the Electron binary

Because Electron has no install script, `npm install` does **not** download the binary; it is fetched lazily the first time something runs Electron. A successful `npm install` therefore says nothing about which binary is on disk. Check it directly, from `src/node/desktop`:

```bash
cat node_modules/electron/dist/version
```

If that file is missing or reports the old version, fetch the binary explicitly:

```bash
npx --no-install install-electron
```

Confirm `node_modules/electron/dist/version` reports `<NEW_VERSION>` before continuing. Skipping this check risks running the next step's tests against a stale Electron.

### 6. Run tests

Run from `src/node/desktop`:

```bash
cd src/node/desktop && npm test
```

Confirm the command exits successfully. If tests fail, report the failures and stop.

### 7. Done

Report that the Electron version has been updated, that the binary on disk reports the new version, and that both `npm i` and `npm test` passed.