protoboard-desktop

Downloadable, self-hostable build of Protoboard for desktop or sandbox use.

Until the full desktop build lands, this repo ships @deltaroboticsinc/protoboard — a one-command installer that registers the .protoboard file type with its logo and a double-click handler on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Quickstart

npx @deltaroboticsinc/protoboard install

That's it. Save a .protoboard file anywhere (Desktop, Downloads, wherever) and it will show the Protoboard mark. Double-clicking opens the board in your default browser at https://alpha.protoboard.xyz/open?boardId=....

To remove:

npx @deltaroboticsinc/protoboard uninstall

No admin/root required. All registration is per-user.

How it works

• Windows — writes per-user keys under HKCU:\Software\Classes; copies ProtoboardFile.ico and a launcher Open-Protoboard.ps1 into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Protoboard\. Double-click runs the launcher, which reads board.metadata.id from the JSON and opens the browser.
• macOS — installs a tiny Protoboard.app bundle into ~/Applications/ declaring the xyz.protoboard.file UTI; iconutil assembles .icns from the bundled PNGs; LaunchServices picks it up via lsregister. If duti is installed, also sets as the default handler.
• Linux — installs an XDG MIME definition, a .desktop entry, and mimetype icons via xdg-icon-resource. xdg-mime default makes it the default handler.

The .protoboard format itself doesn't change — it's still plain JSON with a custom extension.

For maintainers

pnpm install
pnpm run generate-icons         # rebuilds .ico + PNGs from assets/PB Logo N-200.svg

Generated icons (assets/ProtoboardFile.ico, assets/icons/*.png) are checked into the repo so install-time has no native build step. .icns is assembled on the user's mac at install time via Apple's iconutil, so it doesn't need to be checked in.

Publishing

Tag a version and push:

git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin v0.1.0

The Publish to npm workflow uses the repo's NPM_TOKEN secret to publish to @deltaroboticsinc/protoboard on npmjs.com. First-time setup:

1. NPM org deltaroboticsinc already exists.
2. Generate an automation token at npmjs.com and add it as NPM_TOKEN in this repo's GitHub secrets.

Repo layout

assets/                   # SVG source + generated icons (committed)
installers/
  windows/                # install.ps1, uninstall.ps1, Open-Protoboard.ps1
  macos/                  # install.sh, uninstall.sh, Protoboard.app/
  linux/                  # install.sh, uninstall.sh, .xml, .desktop, launcher
scripts/generate-icons.mjs
cli.js                    # the published bin: detects OS and dispatches

Troubleshooting

• Windows: icon doesn't update in Explorer. Sign out/in, or run ie4uinit.exe -show. The installer triggers SHChangeNotify but Explorer occasionally caches aggressively.
• macOS: Finder still shows the JSON icon. Right-click any .protoboard file → Get Info → Open with → Protoboard → Change All. Or install duti (brew install duti) and re-run the installer.
• Linux: handler doesn't open. Confirm ~/.local/bin is on PATH, or check xdg-mime query default application/x-protoboard+json returns protoboard-open.desktop.