@electron-releases/adapter-nextjs

Next.js App Router adapter for serving Electron auto-updates. Drop-in solution for Squirrel-compatible update servers.

Installation

npm install @electron-releases/adapter-nextjs @electron-releases/provider-github
# or
yarn add @electron-releases/adapter-nextjs @electron-releases/provider-github
# or
bun add @electron-releases/adapter-nextjs @electron-releases/provider-github

Quick Start

1. Create a catch-all API route:

// app/api/releases/[[...path]]/route.ts
import { configureNextjsAdapter } from "@electron-releases/adapter-nextjs";
import { configureGithubProvider } from "@electron-releases/provider-github";

const githubProvider = configureGithubProvider({
  token: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN!,
  owner: "your-org",
  repo: "your-app",
});

export const GET = configureNextjsAdapter({
  releases: githubProvider.releases,
  assets: githubProvider.assets,
});

2. Configure your Electron app:

// In your Electron main process
import { autoUpdater } from "electron";

autoUpdater.setFeedURL({
  url: "https://your-domain.com/api/releases/update/darwin/" + app.getVersion(),
});

autoUpdater.checkForUpdates();

That's it! Your Electron app now has auto-updates.

Available Endpoints

Once configured, these endpoints are available (relative to /api/releases):

| Endpoint | Description | |----------|-------------| | GET / | List releases. Use ?channel=beta to filter. | | GET /download | Auto-redirect based on User-Agent. | | GET /download/:platform | Download for specific platform. | | GET /update/:platform/:version | Check for updates (Squirrel format). | | GET /update/win32/:version/RELEASES | Squirrel.Windows RELEASES file. |

Configuration Options

configureNextjsAdapter({
  // Required: Provider for release metadata
  releases: githubProvider.releases,

  // Required: Provider for download URLs  
  assets: githubProvider.assets,

  // Optional: Release channels (default: ["alpha", "beta", "stable"])
  channels: ["alpha", "beta", "stable"],
});

Channel Support

Support multiple release channels for staged rollouts:

// Your API route supports channels automatically
export const GET = configureNextjsAdapter({
  channels: ["alpha", "beta", "stable"],
  releases: githubProvider.releases,
  assets: githubProvider.assets,
});

In your Electron app:

// Check for beta updates
autoUpdater.setFeedURL({
  url: `https://your-domain.com/api/releases/update/darwin/${version}?channel=beta`,
});

Channel detection from versions:

• 1.0.0 → stable
• 1.0.0-beta.1 → beta
• 1.0.0-alpha.3 → alpha

Platform Support

The adapter supports all major Electron platforms:

| Platform | Identifier | Aliases | |----------|------------|---------| | macOS (Intel) | darwin | mac, macos, osx | | macOS (Apple Silicon) | darwin_arm64 | mac_arm64 | | Windows | exe | win32, windows, win | | Windows ARM | exe_arm64 | win32_arm64 | | Linux DEB | deb | debian | | Linux RPM | rpm | fedora | | Linux AppImage | AppImage | appimage |

Squirrel Integration

macOS (Squirrel.Mac)

import { autoUpdater } from "electron";

autoUpdater.setFeedURL({
  url: `https://your-domain.com/api/releases/update/darwin/${app.getVersion()}`,
});

autoUpdater.on("update-available", () => {
  console.log("Update available!");
});

autoUpdater.on("update-downloaded", () => {
  autoUpdater.quitAndInstall();
});

autoUpdater.checkForUpdates();

Windows (Squirrel.Windows)

import { autoUpdater } from "electron";

autoUpdater.setFeedURL({
  url: `https://your-domain.com/api/releases/update/win32/${app.getVersion()}`,
});

autoUpdater.checkForUpdates();

Using electron-updater

If you're using electron-builder with electron-updater:

import { autoUpdater } from "electron-updater";

autoUpdater.setFeedURL({
  provider: "generic",
  url: "https://your-domain.com/api/releases",
});

autoUpdater.checkForUpdatesAndNotify();

Direct Download Links

Provide download links on your website:

<!-- Auto-detect platform -->
<a href="https://your-domain.com/api/releases/download">Download</a>

<!-- Specific platforms -->
<a href="https://your-domain.com/api/releases/download/mac">Download for macOS</a>
<a href="https://your-domain.com/api/releases/download/win32">Download for Windows</a>
<a href="https://your-domain.com/api/releases/download/mac_arm64">Download for Apple Silicon</a>

<!-- Specific channel -->
<a href="https://your-domain.com/api/releases/download/mac?channel=beta">Download Beta</a>

API Response Examples

List Releases

GET /api/releases

{
  "channel": "stable",
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "date": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "files": {
    "darwin": {
      "name": "MyApp-1.2.3-mac.zip",
      "url": "https://github.com/.../MyApp-1.2.3-mac.zip",
      "size": 85.2
    },
    "exe": {
      "name": "MyApp-1.2.3-win.exe", 
      "url": "https://github.com/.../MyApp-1.2.3-win.exe",
      "size": 72.1
    }
  }
}

Check for Updates

GET /api/releases/update/darwin/1.0.0

Update available:

{
  "name": "1.2.3",
  "notes": "## What's New\n- Bug fixes\n- Performance improvements",
  "pub_date": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "url": "https://your-domain.com/api/releases/download/darwin?update=true&channel=stable"
}

No update (returns 204 No Content)

Private Repositories

For private GitHub repos, ensure your GITHUB_TOKEN has repo scope:

const githubProvider = configureGithubProvider({
  token: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN!, // Needs repo scope for private repos
  owner: "your-org",
  repo: "your-private-app",
});

The adapter automatically generates signed URLs for private asset downloads.

Error Handling

The adapter returns appropriate HTTP status codes:

| Status | Meaning | |--------|---------| | 200 | Success | | 204 | No update available | | 302 | Redirect to download | | 400 | Invalid request (bad platform/version) | | 404 | Not found | | 500 | Server error |

Environment Variables

# Required for GitHub provider
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TypeScript Support

Full TypeScript support with exported types:

import type {
  AdapterConfig,
  ReleaseInfo,
  PlatformAsset,
  ReleasesProvider,
  AssetsProvider,
} from "@electron-releases/adapter-nextjs";

Related Packages

• @electron-releases/core - Core types and routing
• @electron-releases/provider-github - GitHub releases provider

License

MIT