remix-electron

Electron integration for Remix

Setup

Use degit to create a new project from the template.

npx degit itsMapleLeaf/remix-electron/template my-desktop-app

Adding to an existing Remix project

Install remix-electron and peer dependencies:

npm i remix-electron electron @remix-run/node @remix-run/server-runtime react react-dom

Add a file at desktop/main.ts to run the electron app. The initRemix function returns a url to load in the browser window.

// desktop/main.ts
import * as serverBuild from "@remix-run/dev/server-build"
import { app, BrowserWindow } from "electron"
import { initRemix } from "remix-electron"

let win: BrowserWindow | undefined

app.on("ready", async () => {
  try {
    const url = await initRemix({ serverBuild })

    win = new BrowserWindow({ show: false })
    await win.loadURL(url)
    win.show()
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error)
  }
})

Update your Remix config:

// remix.config.js
/**
 * @type {import('@remix-run/dev/config').AppConfig}
 */
module.exports = {
  // point this to your electron entry file
  server: "desktop/main.ts",

  // this is the file that will be run by electron
  serverBuildPath: "desktop/build/index.js",

  // everything else can stay the same
  appDirectory: "app",
  assetsBuildDirectory: "public/build",
  publicPath: "/build/",
  devServerPort: 8002,
  ignoredRouteFiles: [".*"],
}

Build the app with npm run build, then run npx electron desktop/build/index.js to start the app! 🚀

Using Electron APIs

Importing "electron" directly in route files results in Electron trying to get bundled and called in the browser / renderer process.

To circumvent this, create a electron.server.js file, which re-exports from electron. The .server suffix tells Remix to only load it in the main process. You should use .server for any code that runs in the main process and uses node/electron APIs.

// app/electron.server.js
export * from "electron"

Note for TypeScript users: The way that the Electron definitions are written doesn't let you do this in a .ts file. Instead, add this .d.ts file next to the .js file:
// app/electron.server.d.ts
import * as electron from "electron"
export = electron

Likewise, for any code running in the renderer process, e.g. using the clipboard module, you can use the .client suffix. Renderer process modules require nodeIntegration.

// desktop/main.ts
function createWindow() {
  // ...
  win = new BrowserWindow({
    // ...
    webPreferences: {
      nodeIntegration: true,
    },
  })
}

API

`initRemix({ remixConfig[, mode, getLoadContext] })`

Initializes remix-electron. Returns a promise with a url to load in the browser window.

Options:

remixConfig: The remix config object. Require it from remix.config.js.
mode: The mode the app is running in. Can be "development" or "production". Defaults to "production" when packaged, otherwise uses process.env.NODE_ENV.
getLoadContext: Use this to inject some value into all of your remix loaders, e.g. an API client. The loaders receive it as context

Load context TS example

app/context.ts

import type * as remix from "@remix-run/server-runtime"

// your context type
export type LoadContext = {
  secret: string
}

// a custom data function args type to use for loaders/actions
export type DataFunctionArgs = Omit<remix.DataFunctionArgs, "context"> & {
  context: LoadContext
}

desktop/main.ts

import type { LoadContext } from "~/context"

const url = await initRemix({
  remixConfig,
  getLoadContext: (): LoadContext => ({
    secret: "123",
  }),
})

In a route file:

import type { DataFunctionArgs, LoadContext } from "~/context"

export async function loader({ context }: DataFunctionArgs) {
  // do something with context
}

Motivation

Electron has a comprehensive list of security recommendations to follow when building an app, especially if that app interacts with the web. Which includes, but is not limited to:

Using preload.js files to expose specific electron functionality to your app, via globals
Using IPC communication
Avoiding remote.require (which has since been removed)

These practices can lead to a lot of awkward boilerplate and splitting up related code across multiple files and domains.

With remix-electron, you can freely use Electron APIs in Remix loader functions. It's a Node process with full Node capabilities, with access to the full Electron API, none of which runs in the browser.

The browser only receives data and renders a view. Additionally, you can neatly colocate your main process code right beside the related renderer code in a route file.

Thinking about it another way: it's like a normal Remix web app, except Electron is your backend.

Joseph-Cardwell/remix-electron