@webviewjs/webview

Build lightweight native desktop applications with JavaScript and the webview engine already provided by the operating system. WebviewJS is a typed N-API binding to tao and wry, with a small JavaScript surface and first-class support for Node.js, Bun, and Deno.

It is a good fit for utilities, internal tools, desktop companions, and existing web applications that need a native window without bundling a second browser engine.

Get started · API reference · Examples · Platform notes

Highlights

• Native windows backed by WebView2, WebKit, or WebKitGTK instead of a bundled browser runtime.
• Non-blocking event pumping that keeps ordinary JavaScript timers and I/O responsive.
• Typed APIs for windows, webviews, menus, dialogs, cookies, DevTools, and window controls.
• Shared browser contexts for profiles, cookies, cache, storage, and automation.
• System tray icons, native notifications, and platform-specific window extensions.
• IPC through window.ipc.postMessage() plus Promise-based webview.expose() namespaces.
• Fetch-compatible asynchronous custom protocols, including Hono routing without an HTTP server.
• A CLI for compiling Node.js, Deno, or Bun applications into standalone executables.

[!NOTE] WebviewJS provides the native window and webview layer. It is intentionally smaller than an application framework such as Electron or Tauri, so you can choose your own frontend, routing, state management, and build tools.

Documentation

The complete documentation is available at webview.js.org. For an index designed for documentation tools and assistants, see llms.txt.

Getting started

| | | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------- | | Installation | System requirements and setup | | Quick Start | Your first window in minutes | | Event Loop | How the non-blocking pump works |

API reference

| | | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Application | Root object, event loop, windows, menus | | BrowserWindow | OS window, size, position, cursor, decorations | | Webview | Embedded browser, navigation, cookies, script, bounds | | WebContext | Shared browser data, profiles, and automation | | System Tray | Tray icons, menus, updates, and pointer events | | Notification | Native desktop notifications and lifecycle events | | Menu | Native menu bar construction | | Types | Shared interfaces and enums |

Guides

| | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | Building Executables | Compile to .exe / binary with node, deno, bun | | IPC Messaging | Page ↔ Node communication | | Menus | Building menu bars with roles and accelerators | | Multiple Windows | Managing several windows | | Cookies & Storage | Reading, writing, and clearing cookies | | Custom Protocols | Serving local content to the webview |

Platform notes

| | | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------- | | Windows | WebView2, taskbar, DPI | | macOS | WebKit, main-thread requirement, app menu | | Linux | WebKitGTK, Wayland/X11, menu limitations | | iOS | Orientation, status bar, and gestures | | Android | Content rectangle and configuration |

Installation

Install the package with your preferred JavaScript package manager. The native platform package is resolved automatically through optional dependencies.

npm install @webviewjs/webview
# or
bun add @webviewjs/webview
# or
pnpm add @webviewjs/webview

Keep optional dependencies enabled when installing. They contain the native addon selected for the current operating system and architecture.

System requirements

| Platform | Requirements | | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Windows | WebView2. It ships with Windows 11 and current Edge installations; Windows 10 can install it automatically. | | macOS | macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. WebKit is built in. | | Linux | WebKitGTK 4.1 and libxdo. See the Linux platform guide. | | Android and iOS | Native project setup and platform SDKs. See the hosted documentation. |

For distribution and platform-specific behavior, review the complete installation guide before shipping.

Supported platforms

| Target | Platform | Architecture | Status | Notes | | ------------------------------- | -------- | ------------ | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------- | | x86_64-pc-windows-msvc | Windows | x64 | Supported | WebView2 | | i686-pc-windows-msvc | Windows | x86 | Supported | WebView2 | | aarch64-pc-windows-msvc | Windows | arm64 | Supported | WebView2 | | x86_64-apple-darwin | macOS | x64 | Supported | WebKit | | aarch64-apple-darwin | macOS | arm64 | Supported | WebKit | | x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu | Linux | x64 | Supported | WebKitGTK 4.1, X11, and Wayland | | i686-unknown-linux-gnu | Linux | x86 | Supported | WebKitGTK 4.1, X11, and Wayland | | aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu | Linux | arm64 | Supported | WebKitGTK 4.1, X11, and Wayland | | armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf | Linux | armv7 | Supported | WebKitGTK 4.1, X11, and Wayland | | aarch64-linux-android | Android | arm64 | Experimental | Platform APIs are still evolving | | armv7-linux-androideabi | Android | armv7 | Experimental | Platform APIs are still evolving | | x86_64-unknown-freebsd | FreeBSD | x64 | Stub | Package resolution only; no GUI implementation |

Examples

Quick start

import { Application } from '@webviewjs/webview';

const app = new Application();
const window = app.createBrowserWindow({
  title: 'WebviewJS',
  width: 1024,
  height: 768,
});

window.createWebview({ url: 'https://example.com' });
app.run();

For CommonJS projects, use the same API through require():

const { Application } = require('@webviewjs/webview');

const app = new Application();
const window = app.createBrowserWindow({ title: 'WebviewJS' });
window.createWebview({ html: '<h1>Hello from WebviewJS</h1>' });
app.run();

The application owns native resources created through it. Call app.exit() when your application needs to shut down explicitly:

process.on('SIGINT', () => {
  app.exit();
});

Event pumping

app.whenReady() starts the non-blocking event pump by default:

await app.whenReady({ interval: 16, ref: true });

For manual startup, disable auto-run:

const ready = app.whenReady({ autoRun: false });
app.run({ interval: 16, ref: true });
await ready;

interval defaults to 16 milliseconds and ref defaults to true. Use app.pumpEvents() for manual pumping.

System tray

Keep a strong JavaScript reference when you need to call tray methods or keep its listeners reachable:

let tray = null;

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  tray = app.createTrayIcon({
    id: 'main',
    icon: { data: rgba, width: 16, height: 16 },
    tooltip: 'My application',
    menu: { items: [{ id: 'quit', label: 'Quit' }] },
  });

  tray.on('click', (event) => console.log(event));
});

See the system tray reference and runnable tray example.

Notifications

import { Notification } from '@webviewjs/webview';

const notification = new Notification('Build complete', {
  body: 'The release executable is ready.',
});

notification.on('click', () => console.log('notification clicked'));
notification.on('error', ({ error }) => console.error(error));

Notification permission is always "granted" for native applications. See the notification reference and runnable notification example.

IPC and exposed functions

The webview page can send messages to Node through window.ipc.postMessage():

const webview = window.createWebview({ ipcName: 'bindings' });
webview.onIpcMessage((message) => console.log(message.body.toString()));

ipcName adds an alias, so the page can use window.bindings.postMessage(...); window.ipc remains available.

For typed request/response style calls, expose a namespace:

webview.expose('native', {
  version: '0.1.4',
  readConfig: async () => JSON.parse(await readFile('./config.json', 'utf8')),
});

In the page:

console.log(window.native.version);
const config = await window.native.readConfig();

Every exposed function returns a Promise in the page. Values, arguments, and results must be JSON-serializable. Violations use SerializationError.

Asynchronous custom protocols

Register a protocol before creating its webview:

window.registerProtocol('app', async (request) => {
  const filePath = join(process.cwd(), 'dist', new URL(request.url).pathname);
  try {
    return new Response(await readFile(filePath), {
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8' },
    });
  } catch {
    return new Response('Not found', {
      status: 404,
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8' },
    });
  }
});

window.createWebview({ url: 'app://localhost/index.html' });

See Custom Protocols, IPC, and the runnable custom protocol and expose examples.

Menu system

WebviewJS provides a cross-platform menu system that works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Basic menu setup

import { Application } from '@webviewjs/webview';

const app = new Application();

// Set global application menu
app.setMenu({
  items: [
    {
      label: 'File',
      submenu: {
        items: [
          { id: 'new', label: 'New', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+N' },
          { id: 'open', label: 'Open', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+O' },
          { role: 'separator' },
          { id: 'quit', label: 'Quit', accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+Q' },
        ],
      },
    },
    {
      label: 'Edit',
      submenu: {
        items: [{ role: 'copy' }, { role: 'paste' }, { role: 'cut' }, { role: 'selectall' }],
      },
    },
  ],
});

const window = app.createBrowserWindow();
const webview = window.createWebview({ url: 'https://nodejs.org' });

app.run();

Menu event handling

import { Application } from '@webviewjs/webview';

const app = new Application();

// Handle menu events
app.on('custom-menu-click', ({ customMenuEvent: menuEvent }) => {
  console.log(`Menu item clicked: ${menuEvent.id}`);
  console.log(`From window: ${menuEvent.windowId}`);

  // Handle specific menu items
  switch (menuEvent.id) {
    case 'new':
      console.log('Creating new document...');
      break;
    case 'open':
      console.log('Opening file...');
      break;
    case 'quit':
      app.exit();
      break;
  }
});

// Set up menu...
app.setMenu({/* ... */});

Window-specific menus

const app = new Application();

// Create window with custom menu
const window = app.createBrowserWindow({
  title: 'Custom Window',
  menu: {
    items: [
      {
        id: 'window-action',
        label: 'Window Action',
        accelerator: 'Ctrl+W',
      },
    ],
  },
});

// Or check if window has a menu
if (window.hasMenu()) {
  console.log('This window has a menu');
}

Menu item options

• id: Unique identifier for the menu item (used in events)
• label: Display text for the menu item
• enabled: Whether the item is clickable (default: true)
• accelerator: Keyboard shortcut (e.g., "CmdOrCtrl+N", "Alt+F4")
• submenu: Nested menu items
• role: Predefined menu items with built-in behavior

Predefined menu roles

• "copy": Standard copy action
• "paste": Standard paste action
• "cut": Standard cut action
• "selectall": Select all text action
• "separator": Visual separator line

IPC

const app = new Application();
const window = app.createBrowserWindow();

const webview = window.createWebview({
  html: `<!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
        <head>
            <title>Webview</title>
        </head>
        <body>
            <h1 id="output">Hello world!</h1>
            <button id="btn">Click me!</button>
            <script>
                btn.onclick = function send() {
                    window.ipc.postMessage('Hello from webview');
                }
            </script>
        </body>
    </html>
    `,
  preload: `window.onIpcMessage = function(data) {
        const output = document.getElementById('output');
        output.innerText = \`Server Sent A Message: \${data}\`;
    }`,
});

if (!webview.isDevtoolsOpen()) webview.openDevtools();

webview.onIpcMessage((data) => {
  const reply = `You sent ${data.body.toString('utf-8')}`;
  webview.evaluateScript(`onIpcMessage("${reply}")`);
});

app.run();

Closing the application

You can close the application, windows, and webviews gracefully to ensure all resources (including temporary folders) are cleaned up properly.

const app = new Application();
const window = app.createBrowserWindow();
const webview = window.createWebview({ url: 'https://nodejs.org' });

app.on('application-close-requested', () => {
  console.log('Application is closing, cleaning up resources...');
});

app.on('window-close-requested', () => {
  console.log('Window close requested');
});

// Close the application gracefully (cleans up temp folders)
app.exit();

// Or hide/show the window
window.hide(); // Hide the window
window.show(); // Show the window again

// Or reload the webview
webview.reload();

For more details on application lifecycle and disposal, see the Application API reference and the closing example.

Keep strong references

Retain BrowserWindow, Webview, WebContext, and TrayIcon wrappers for as long as you need to call their methods or retain their JavaScript listeners. Avoid discarded temporary handles:

const windows = [];

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  const window = app.createBrowserWindow();
  const webview = window.createWebview({ url: 'https://example.com' });
  windows.push({ window, webview });
});

The root Application owns native resources created through it. app.exit(), app[Symbol.dispose](), and application garbage collection dispose those resources in shutdown order. Retained wrappers then report isDisposed() === true, and method calls fail with a disposed error. Individual windows, webviews, contexts, and tray icons also support dispose() and Symbol.dispose.

Check out examples directory for more examples:

• menu-system.mjs - Comprehensive menu system demonstration with all features
• window-menus.mjs - Window-specific vs global menu examples
• http/ - Serving content from a web server to webview
• transparent.mjs - Transparent window example
• close-example.mjs - Graceful application closing

Run any example with: node examples/menu-system.mjs (after building the project)

Building executables

The webview CLI creates a standalone executable by delegating to the selected runtime's compiler:

• Node.js uses Node's Single Executable Application (SEA) workflow.
• Deno uses deno compile.
• Bun uses bun build --compile.

It is not a desktop application installer builder, package manager, or full application bundler. It does not create platform installers or perform cross-compilation. The WebviewJS .node addon is platform-specific, so build on the target operating system and architecture, or prepare the matching native addon and runtime toolchain manually before packaging. Use platform distribution tools alongside this CLI for installers, release metadata, signing, and notarization.

[!NOTE] The CLI is evolving. Review the runtime and platform requirements before distributing an executable.

The webview CLI compiles your app into a single self-contained executable. The runtime is auto-detected (Bun → bun, Deno → deno, otherwise Node.js), or you can override it:

# Auto-detected runtime
webview --build --input ./path/to/your/script.js --output ./dist --name my-app

# Explicit runtime
webview --build --runtime node --input ./src/index.js --name my-app
webview --build --runtime deno --input ./src/index.ts --name my-app
webview --build --runtime bun  --input ./src/index.ts --name my-app

| Flag | Default | Description | | -------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------- | | --runtime / -R | auto-detected | node, deno, or bun | | --input / -i | ./index.js | Entry file | | --output / -o | ./dist | Output directory | | --name / -n | webviewjs | Executable name | | --resources / -r | none | JSON asset map (Node.js only) |

For runtime-specific details, asset embedding, code signing, and release guidance, see Building Executables.

Agent skill

This repository includes a reusable WebviewJS skill for coding agents. Install it with:

npx skills add webviewjs/webview

It covers application structure, native prerequisites, platform constraints, API patterns, and executable builds.

Development

Prerequisites

• Bun >= 1.3.0
• Rust stable toolchain
• Node.js >= 24 (for testing)

Setup

bun install

Build

bun run build