@devscholar/nww-forge

Build toolchain for node-with-window apps, inspired by Electron Forge.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Windows: PowerShell 5.1, .NET Framework 4.8, WebView2 runtime
• Linux: GJS, GTK 4, WebKitGTK 6.0 (sudo apt install gjs gir1.2-gtk-4.0 gir1.2-webkit-6.0)

Scaffold a new app

npx @devscholar/nww-forge init my-app
npx @devscholar/nww-forge init my-app --template=vanilla-ts

This creates a new directory, copies the template, runs npm install, and downloads WebView2 DLLs on Windows automatically.

Templates

| Name | Description | |------|-------------| | vanilla (default) | Plain JavaScript, no build step | | vanilla-ts | TypeScript, compiled with esbuild |

Development

cd my-app
npm start          # nww-forge start

For TypeScript projects, the main entry is compiled with esbuild before running.

Package & distribute

npm run package    # nww-forge package  →  out/<name>-<platform>-<arch>/
npm run make       # nww-forge make     →  out/make/<name>-<version>-<platform>-<arch>.zip

package creates a folder bundle containing:

• Bundled main.js (via esbuild)
• @devscholar/node-with-window and its runtime scripts/DLLs
• launch.bat (Windows) / launch.sh (Linux) launcher script

make runs package first, then passes the output through each configured maker. The default maker produces a .zip archive.

The target machine must have Node.js installed to run the bundled app.

Configuration

Create forge.config.js in your project root:

export default {
  packagerConfig: {
    name: 'My App',
    executableName: 'my-app',
  },
  makers: [
    { name: '@nww-forge/maker-zip' },
  ],
};

The forge field in package.json is also supported as an alternative.

CLI reference

nww-forge init [name] [--template=<template>]
nww-forge start [--runtime=node|bun|deno]
nww-forge package
nww-forge make
nww-forge publish   (not yet implemented)

Using as a local dev dependency

npm install --save-dev @devscholar/nww-forge

Then the nww-forge binary is available via npm run scripts without a global install.