LightTable for npm

This package installs the LightTable desktop digital darkroom and exposes its bundled CLI. It requires Node.js 20+ and supports macOS on Apple silicon and Windows x64. It has no npm dependencies.

The registry package is lighttable-digital-darkroom. The unscoped name lighttable is unavailable on npm. The installed command is still lighttable.

npm install --global lighttable-digital-darkroom
lighttable install
lighttable --help

For a one-off installation without a global npm command:

npx lighttable-digital-darkroom install

The source package in this repository deliberately contains no desktop release URL or checksum claims until maintainers prepare it from actual assets.

Installing the npm package itself does not download the desktop app. The explicit lighttable install command downloads the exact release recorded in the npm package, checks its SHA-256, verifies the operating system signature, and installs it. It never requires a source checkout, Python installation, compiler, administrator password, or disabling Gatekeeper.

macOS installs to ~/Applications/LightTable.app. An existing app in /Applications is used automatically. Use --install-dir /absolute/directory to select another directory. Windows reuses the per-user installation registered by the NSIS installer, including a custom directory. With no existing install, it uses %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\LightTable. The --install-dir option is supported only on macOS.

An existing app is reused unless lighttable install --update is explicit. Updates keep the previous app beside it in a .backup-… location; a failed replacement restores that backup. Backups can be removed after verifying the new app. Quit LightTable before updating. The installer only replaces app files and does not remove photo libraries, catalogs, or preferences.

After installing a newer npm package, use lighttable install --update to install its desktop version. Other arguments go directly to the installed app's bundled CLI. On Windows this uses bundled Python directly so shell metacharacters in photo names are passed as arguments without cmd.exe interpretation.

npm uninstall --global lighttable removes the npm launcher, leaving the app and user data. Remove the Mac app or use Windows Installed Apps to remove the desktop app separately.

Maintainer release preparation

Build, sign, and verify the actual versioned assets. The supported names are LightTable-VERSION-macos-arm64.zip and LightTable-VERSION-windows-x64-setup.exe. A Mac app must have the production identifier com.reville.lighttable, a valid Developer ID signature and Gatekeeper approval. The Windows installer must pass Authenticode validation.

From the repository root:

node packaging/npm/scripts/prepare-release.mjs 1.0.0 /path/to/real/release-assets
cd packaging/npm
npm test
npm pack --dry-run

Preparation computes hashes from existing asset bytes and records only the platforms actually present. It updates release.json and the npm package version. It never invents checksums. Publish those exact assets under the matching vVERSION tag in reville/lighttable-digital-darkroom before npm publication. Downloads cannot be redirected to a custom repository or host. Preparation also copies the project's GPLv3 license into the package. The prepublishOnly check blocks unprepared metadata or missing license text.

Automatic downloading is available as an explicit maintainer choice: add "postinstall": "node scripts/postinstall.mjs" to scripts in package.json and update this README. The hook honors LIGHTTABLE_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=1 and reuses an existing app. It is currently disabled. npm users with lifecycle scripts disabled can always run lighttable install themselves.

Tests use temporary files and injected transport/process execution. They never download a production release or install an app on the test machine.