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Publish

The publish key contains a set of options instructing electron-builder on how it should publish artifacts and build update info files for auto update.

String | Object | Array<Object | String> where Object it is Keygen, Generic Server, GitHub, S3, Spaces or Snap Store options. Order is important — first item will be used as a default auto-update server. Can be specified in the top-level configuration or any platform- (mac, linux, win) or target- (e.g. nsis) specific configuration.

Travis and AppVeyor support publishing artifacts. But it requires additional configuration for each CI and you need to configure what to publish. electron-builder makes publishing dead simple.

If GH_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN is defined — defaults to [{provider: "github"}].

If KEYGEN_TOKEN is defined and GH_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN is not — defaults to [{provider: "keygen"}].

If GITHUB_RELEASE_TOKEN is defined, it will be used instead of (GH_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN) to publish your release. - e.g. mac: export GITHUB_RELEASE_TOKEN=<my token> - the GITHUB_TOKEN will still be used when your app checks for updates, etc. - you could make your GITHUB_TOKEN “Read-only” when creating a fine-grained personal access token, and “Read and write” for the GITHUB_RELEASE_TOKEN. - “Contents” fine-grained permission was sufficient. (at time of writing - Apr 2024)

Snap store

snap target by default publishes to snap store (the app store for Linux). To force publishing to another providers, explicitly specify publish configuration for snap.

You can publish to multiple providers. For example, to publish Windows artifacts to both GitHub and Bitbucket (order is important — first item will be used as a default auto-update server, so, in this example app will use github as auto-update provider):

{
  "build": {
    "win": {
      "publish": ["github", "bitbucket"]
    }
  }
}

win:
  publish:
      # an object provider for github with additional options
    - provider: github
      protocol: https
      # a string provider for bitbucket that will use default options
    - bitbucket

You can also configure publishing using CLI arguments, for example, to force publishing snap not to Snap Store, but to GitHub: -c.snap.publish=github

Custom publish provider can be used if need.

Macros

In all publish options File Macros are supported.

How to Publish

Excerpt from CLI Usage of electron-builder command: 

Publishing:
  --publish, -p  [choices: "onTag", "onTagOrDraft", "always", "never"]
CLI --publish option values:

Value Description
onTag on tag push only
onTagOrDraft on tag push or if draft release exists
always always publish
never never publish

But please consider using automatic rules instead of explicitly specifying publish:

  • If CI server detected, — onTagOrDraft.

  • If CI server reports that tag was pushed, — onTag.

Release will be drafted (if doesn’t already exist) and artifacts published only if tag was pushed.

Add to scripts in the development package.json:

"release": "electron-builder"

and if you run yarn release, a release will be drafted (if doesn’t already exist) and artifacts published.

  1. Draft a new release. Set the “Tag version” to the value of version in your application package.json, and prefix it with v. “Release title” can be anything you want.

    For example, if your application package.json version is 1.0, your draft’s “Tag version” would be v1.0.

  2. Push some commits. Every CI build will update the artifacts attached to this draft.

  3. Once you are done, publish the release. GitHub will tag the latest commit for you.

The benefit of this workflow is that it allows you to always have the latest artifacts, and the release can be published once it is ready.

Continuous Deployment Workflow on Amazon S3 and other non-GitHub

This example workflow is modelled on how releases are handled in maven (it is an example of one of many possible workflows, you are not forced to follow it).

  1. Setup your CI to publish on each commit. E.g. "dist": "electron-builder --publish always" in your package.json.
  2. Set your version in your application package.json to 1.9.0-snapshot (or 1.9.0-master or whatever you want your development channel to be named). This will publish a file named snapshot.yml and a build named something-snapshot.exe (and corresponding for mac) to S3.
  3. When you are ready to deploy, simply change you package version to 1.9.0 and push. This will then produce a latest.yml and something.exe on s3. Usually you’ll git-tag this version as well (just to keep track of it).
  4. Change the version back to a snapshot version right after, i.e. 1.10.0-snapshot, and commit it.

GitHub Repository

Detected automatically using:

  • repository in the application or development package.json,
  • if not set, env
    • TRAVIS_REPO_SLUG
    • or APPVEYOR_REPO_NAME
    • or CIRCLE_PROJECT_USERNAME/CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME,
  • if no env, from .git/config origin url.

Publishers

Options Available: - GenericServerOptions - GithubOptions - SnapStoreOptions - SpacesOptions - KeygenOptions - BitbucketOptions - S3Options

GenericServerOptions

Generic (any HTTP(S) server) options. In all publish options File Macros are supported.

  • provider “generic” - The provider. Must be generic.
  • url String - The base url. e.g. https://bucket_name.s3.amazonaws.com.
  • channel = latest String | “undefined” - The channel.
  • useMultipleRangeRequest Boolean - Whether to use multiple range requests for differential update. Defaults to true if url doesn’t contain s3.amazonaws.com.

Inherited from PublishConfiguration:

  • publishAutoUpdate = true Boolean - Whether to publish auto update info files.

    Auto update relies only on the first provider in the list (you can specify several publishers). Thus, probably, there`s no need to upload the metadata files for the other configured providers. But by default will be uploaded.

  • requestHeaders module:http.OutgoingHttpHeaders - Any custom request headers

  • timeout = 120000 Number | “undefined” - Request timeout in milliseconds. (Default is 2 minutes; O is ignored)

GithubOptions

GitHub options.

GitHub personal access token is required. You can generate by going to https://github.com/settings/tokens/new. The access token should have the repo scope/permission. Define GH_TOKEN environment variable.

  • provider “github” - The provider. Must be github.

  • repo String | “undefined” - The repository name. Detected automatically.

  • owner String | “undefined” - The owner.

  • vPrefixedTagName = true Boolean - Whether to use v-prefixed tag name.

  • host = github.com String | “undefined” - The host (including the port if need).

  • protocol = https “https” | “http” | “undefined” - The protocol. GitHub Publisher supports only https.

  • token String | “undefined” - The access token to support auto-update from private github repositories. Never specify it in the configuration files. Only for setFeedURL.

  • private Boolean | “undefined” - Whether to use private github auto-update provider if GH_TOKEN environment variable is defined. See Private GitHub Update Repo.

  • channel = latest String | “undefined” - The channel.

  • releaseType = draft “draft” | “prerelease” | “release” | “undefined” - The type of release. By default draft release will be created.

    Also you can set release type using environment variable. If EP_DRAFTis set to true — draft, if EP_PRE_RELEASEis set to true — prerelease.

Inherited from PublishConfiguration:

  • publishAutoUpdate = true Boolean - Whether to publish auto update info files.

    Auto update relies only on the first provider in the list (you can specify several publishers). Thus, probably, there`s no need to upload the metadata files for the other configured providers. But by default will be uploaded.

  • requestHeaders module:http.OutgoingHttpHeaders - Any custom request headers

  • timeout = 120000 Number | “undefined” - Request timeout in milliseconds. (Default is 2 minutes; O is ignored)

SnapStoreOptions

Snap Store options. To publish directly to Snapcraft, see Snapcraft authentication options for local or CI/CD authentication options.

  • provider “snapStore” - The provider. Must be snapStore.
  • repo String - snapcraft repo name
  • channels = ["edge"] String | Array<String> | “undefined” - The list of channels the snap would be released.

Inherited from PublishConfiguration:

  • publishAutoUpdate = true Boolean - Whether to publish auto update info files.

    Auto update relies only on the first provider in the list (you can specify several publishers). Thus, probably, there`s no need to upload the metadata files for the other configured providers. But by default will be uploaded.

  • requestHeaders module:http.OutgoingHttpHeaders - Any custom request headers

  • timeout = 120000 Number | “undefined” - Request timeout in milliseconds. (Default is 2 minutes; O is ignored)

SpacesOptions

DigitalOcean Spaces options. Access key is required, define DO_KEY_ID and DO_SECRET_KEY environment variables.

  • provider “spaces” - The provider. Must be spaces.
  • name String - The space name.
  • region String - The region (e.g. nyc3).
  • channel = latest String | “undefined” - The update channel.
  • path = / String | “undefined” - The directory path.
  • acl = public-read “private” | “public-read” | “undefined” - The ACL. Set to null to not add.

KeygenOptions

Keygen options. https://keygen.sh/ Define KEYGEN_TOKEN environment variable.

  • provider “keygen” - The provider. Must be keygen.
  • account String - Keygen account’s UUID
  • product String - Keygen product’s UUID
  • channel = stable “stable” | “rc” | “beta” | “alpha” | “dev” | “undefined” - The channel.
  • platform String | “undefined” - The target Platform. Is set programmatically explicitly during publishing.

Inherited from PublishConfiguration:

  • publishAutoUpdate = true Boolean - Whether to publish auto update info files.

    Auto update relies only on the first provider in the list (you can specify several publishers). Thus, probably, there`s no need to upload the metadata files for the other configured providers. But by default will be uploaded.

  • requestHeaders module:http.OutgoingHttpHeaders - Any custom request headers

  • timeout = 120000 Number | “undefined” - Request timeout in milliseconds. (Default is 2 minutes; O is ignored)

BitbucketOptions

Bitbucket options. https://bitbucket.org/ Define BITBUCKET_TOKEN environment variable.

For converting an app password to a usable token, you can utilize this

convertAppPassword(owner: string, appPassword: string) {
const base64encodedData = Buffer.from(`${owner}:${appPassword.trim()}`).toString("base64")
return `Basic ${base64encodedData}`
}
  • provider “bitbucket” - The provider. Must be bitbucket.
  • owner String - Repository owner
  • token String | “undefined” - The app password to support auto-update from private bitbucket repositories.
  • username String | “undefined” - The user name to support auto-update from private bitbucket repositories.
  • slug String - Repository slug/name
  • channel = latest String | “undefined” - The channel.

Inherited from PublishConfiguration:

  • publishAutoUpdate = true Boolean - Whether to publish auto update info files.

    Auto update relies only on the first provider in the list (you can specify several publishers). Thus, probably, there`s no need to upload the metadata files for the other configured providers. But by default will be uploaded.

  • requestHeaders module:http.OutgoingHttpHeaders - Any custom request headers

  • timeout = 120000 Number | “undefined” - Request timeout in milliseconds. (Default is 2 minutes; O is ignored)

S3Options

Amazon S3 options. AWS credentials are required, please see getting your credentials. Define AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables. Or in the ~/.aws/credentials.

Example configuration:

{
"build":
"publish": {
"provider": "s3",
"bucket": "bucket-name"
}
}
}

  • provider “s3” - The provider. Must be s3.

  • bucket String - The bucket name.

  • region String | “undefined” - The region. Is determined and set automatically when publishing.

  • acl = public-read “private” | “public-read” | “undefined” - The ACL. Set to null to not add.

    Please see required permissions for the S3 provider.

  • storageClass = STANDARD “STANDARD” | “REDUCED_REDUNDANCY” | “STANDARD_IA” | “undefined” - The type of storage to use for the object.

  • encryption “AES256” | “aws:kms” | “undefined” - Server-side encryption algorithm to use for the object.

  • endpoint String | “undefined” - The endpoint URI to send requests to. The default endpoint is built from the configured region. The endpoint should be a string like https://{service}.{region}.amazonaws.com.

  • accelerate Boolean - If set to true, this will enable the s3 accelerated endpoint These endpoints have a particular format of: ${bucketname}.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com

  • channel = latest String | “undefined” - The update channel.

  • path = / String | “undefined” - The directory path.

CustomPublishOptions

undefined

  • provider “custom” - The provider. Must be custom.
  • updateProvider module:builder-util-runtime/out/publishOptions.__type - The Provider to provide UpdateInfo regarding available updates. Required to use custom providers with electron-updater.

Inherited from PublishConfiguration:

  • publishAutoUpdate = true Boolean - Whether to publish auto update info files.

    Auto update relies only on the first provider in the list (you can specify several publishers). Thus, probably, there`s no need to upload the metadata files for the other configured providers. But by default will be uploaded.

  • requestHeaders module:http.OutgoingHttpHeaders - Any custom request headers

  • timeout = 120000 Number | “undefined” - Request timeout in milliseconds. (Default is 2 minutes; O is ignored)