@davidwinter/electron-forge-maker-snap

Simple snap packaging for electron-forge that just works

Prerequisites

• Ensure that snapcraft is installed via snap (the .deb version of snap is now deprecated)

Installation

yarn add @davidwinter/electron-forge-maker-snap --dev

or

npm install @davidwinter/electron-forge-maker-snap --dev

Usage

You can read more about Makers config on the electron-forge website, but essentially the config required is:

{
	name: '@davidwinter/electron-forge-maker-snap',
	config: {
		categories: ['Utility']
		// See below for more configuration options
	}
}

Then make your snap package:

electron-forge make --target="@davidwinter/electron-forge-maker-snap"

Once completed, the snap package will be located at: out/make with a filename like {executable}-{version}.snap, for example, out/make/nimblenote-2.0.3.snap.

Using with CI

When using this maker with CI, such as GitHub Actions, CircleCI etc, it is best practice to tell snapcraft to build snaps in the host build environment. To do this, set the environment variable SNAP_BUILD_ENVIRONMENT=host.

An example that works with GitHub Actions:

- name: Install snapcraft
  run: sudo snap install snapcraft --classic

- name: Build snap package
  run: yarn make
  env:
    SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_ENVIRONMENT: host

- name: Upload snap artifact
  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
  with:
    path: out/make/*.snap

Debugging

Run with DEBUG='electron-forge-maker-snap:*,electron-forge:lifecycle' for debug output from snapcraft:

DEBUG='electron-forge-maker-snap:*,electron-forge:lifecycle' electron-forge make --target="@davidwinter/electron-forge-maker-snap"

Appending the ,electron-forge:lifecycle debug namespace above is required in order to see this makers debug output. Otherwise by default, during the electron-forge output, any other debug messages are suppressed so that it doesn't interfere with the CLI interface. Adding this additional namespace acts as a flag to enable the debug output in a safe way.

Configuration

The maker will try and figure out a bunch of sensible defaults for your config, but the following values can be overridden.

applicationName

Type: string
Default: From the derived appName value from the electron-forge configuration.

Maximum length of 40 characters.

This is the human friendly name of the application, also the title that will be used for the Snapstore and .desktop integration with Linux distributions.

Example: Acme Notes 3

executableName

Type: string
Default: A sanatised version of applicationName with invalid characters removed and spaces replaced with dashes.

Can only contain letters in lower case, numbers, and hyphens, and it can’t start or end with a hyphen. Automatic sanitation will be applied.

Example: acme-notes-3

confinement

Type: string
Default: strict

The snap confinement can be either strict, devmode or classic.

grade

Type: string
Default: stable

The snap grade can be either stable or devel.

summary

Type: string
Default: Derived from description within package.json.

Maximum length of 78 characters.

This is used by the Snap Store as the application summary and is mandatory.

Example: Write your best notes with Acme Notes v3!

description

Type: string
Default: Derived from description within package.json.

This can be a multi-line description of the application and is used by the Snap Store.

license

Type: string
Default: Derived from license within package.json.

A license for the snap in the form of an SPDX expression for the license.

Example: MIT

icon

Type: string
Default: Derived from icon within your electron-forge packagerConfig, appending a .png extension if required.

The application icon used within the Snap Store and also with the Linux distribution desktop integration via the .desktop file - what appears in menus and docks.

Example: ./build/icon.png

categories

Type: array of string
Default: []

These categories define which menus the application belongs to on a Linux distribution. See: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/menu-spec/latest/apa.html#main-category-registry

Example: ['Utility', 'Development']

stagePackages

Type: array of string
Default: ['libnss3', 'libnspr4', 'libasound2', 'libgconf2-4', 'libnotify4', 'libpcre3', 'libpulse0', 'libxss1', 'libxtst6']

List of additional packages required to support creationg of the app. If you want to add packages in addition to the default, add an item named default, for example: ['default', 'libxfixes3'].

plugs

Type: array of string
Default: ['alsa', 'browser-support', 'desktop', 'desktop-legacy', 'gsettings', 'home', 'network', 'opengl', 'pulseaudio', 'unity7', 'wayland', 'x11']

List of additional plugs to include in the snap. If you want to add plugs in addition to the default, add an item named default, for example: ['default', 'media-hub'] to add the media-hub plug in addition to all of the defaults.

layout

Type: object

See Snap layouts. Define in the same format described on that page.