NPM to EXE

Pack a JavaScript local project to a portable executable.

Usage

package.json

{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "bin": "dist/index.js",
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^6",
    "npm2exe": "^0.4"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc",
    "bundle": "npm run build  &&  npm2exe ."
  }
}

Command

cd path/to/project
npm install
npm run bundle

more options

• --arch <x86|ia32|x64|arm|arm64> target runtime architecture (ia32 maps to x86, arm maps to armv7l)
• --platform <linux|darwin|win|win32> target platform (default current platform)
• --node-version <version> specific runtime version (for example v22.18.0)
• --output <name> output bundle file name (default package name; Windows appends .exe)
• --compression-level <0-9> compression level (default 0, no compression; higher levels trade speed for a smaller archive)
• --verbose or -V enable Verbose output

npm2exe reads your package.json#bin, installs only production dependencies into a temporary staging directory, downloads a matching stock Node.js runtime, then wraps both into a self-extracting package.

Feature comparison

| Feature | npm2exe | Node SEA | pkg | nexe | caxa | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | OS / CPU | ✅ linux / darwin / win; x64 / arm64 / armv7l; Windows x86 | ✅ stock Node target | ✅ Linux / macOS / Windows / Alpine / static Linux | ✅ target triple | ✅ Windows / macOS / Linux | | Node version | ✅ build >=22; runtime auto-resolved or overridden | ✅ Node SEA in official Node | ✅ build >=22; node22 / node24 / latest | ✅ runtime version in target string | ✅ build >=22.15.0 | | Entry model | ✅ package.json#bin, one or many launchers | ⚠️ one main only | ⚠️ one package entry | ⚠️ one input or stdin bundle | ✅ command array; multi-target output | | Monorepo | ✅ workspace: staging | ❓ no dedicated flow documented | ❓ no dedicated flow documented | ❓ no dedicated flow documented | ❓ no dedicated flow documented | | Installed layout | ✅ real app tree in home/profile | ⚠️ in-binary VFS | ⚠️ snapshot FS + cache extraction | ⚠️ single executable VFS | ✅ extracted app tree in temp/cache | | Native addons | ✅ normal on-disk loading | ⚠️ must extract first | ⚠️ supported, but extracted to cache | ❌ ship beside binary | ✅ extracted before run | | Config | ✅ low (npm2exe configuration) | ⚠️ medium | ⚠️ medium / high | ⚠️ medium / high | ⚠️ low / medium | | Wrapper form | ✅ 7z SFX / makeself | ⚠️ injected stock Node binary | ⚠️ patched runtime or SEA | ⚠️ compiled single executable | ⚠️ Rust self-extractor |

In short: SEA, pkg, and nexe lean toward a tighter single-binary image, while caxa and npm2exe lean toward extracting and running a real app tree. That makes npm2exe especially friendly to regular Node.js install behavior and workspace: monorepos.

GitHub Actions release workflow

cd path/to/your/project

npx git-utility download https://github.com/idea2app/npm2exe main .github/workflows/ .github/workflows/

Notes:

• The downloaded workflow example keeps a single packaging step, so no per-OS shell switching is needed.
• Build on each native runner instead of cross-packaging from one host, because npm2exe currently uses different wrapping backends for Windows and POSIX targets.
• Linux/macOS outputs are self-extracting shell archives; Windows output is a self-extracting .exe.
• The release asset is the installer wrapper. The final launcher gets installed into the user home/profile when the asset is executed.
• Code signing, notarization, and checksum publishing are intentionally left to the application repository.