neovate-code-desktop

Electron boilerplate with React, TypeScript, Vite, and auto-update support.

Features

• Electron 30+ - Latest Electron framework
• React 18 - Modern React with hooks
• TypeScript - Type-safe development
• Vite - Fast HMR and bundling for renderer
• electron-builder - Package for macOS (arm64)
• electron-updater - Auto-update from GitHub releases
• @electron/rebuild - Native module support

Project Structure

neovate-code-desktop/
├── src/
│   ├── main/           # Electron main process
│   │   ├── main.ts     # App entry point
│   │   └── preload.ts  # IPC bridge
│   ├── renderer/       # React UI
│   │   ├── App.tsx     # Root component
│   │   ├── main.tsx    # React entry
│   │   ├── index.html  # HTML shell
│   │   └── index.css   # Global styles
│   └── shared/         # Shared types
│       └── types.ts
├── dist/               # Compiled output
├── release/            # Packaged apps
└── package.json

Development

Install Dependencies

npm install

Run Development Mode

npm run dev

This runs both main and renderer processes concurrently with hot reload.

Build for Production

npm run build

Compiles TypeScript and bundles React app.

Package Application

npm run package:mac

Creates DMG and ZIP installers in release/ folder.

Auto-Update Setup

1. Create a GitHub repository (e.g., neovateai/neovate-code-desktop)
2. Update build.publish in package.json with your GitHub username/repo
3. Build and package: npm run package:mac
4. Create a GitHub release with a version tag (e.g., v0.1.0)
5. Upload the DMG and ZIP files from release/ folder to the GitHub release
6. Users will receive auto-update notifications on app launch

Scripts

• npm run dev - Start development mode (concurrent main + renderer)
• npm run dev:main - Start main process only
• npm run dev:renderer - Start renderer dev server only
• npm run build - Build both main and renderer
• npm run build:main - Compile main process TypeScript
• npm run build:renderer - Bundle renderer with Vite
• npm run package - Build and package for all platforms
• npm run package:mac - Build and package for macOS arm64

Technology Stack

Main Process

• Electron - Desktop framework
• TypeScript - Compiled with tsc
• electron-updater - Auto-update functionality

Renderer Process

• React 18 - UI framework
• TypeScript - Type safety
• Vite - Build tool with HMR
• CSS - Basic styling

Build Tools

• electron-builder - Packaging and distribution
• @electron/rebuild - Native module compilation
• TypeScript Compiler - Main process compilation
• Vite - Renderer bundling

Configuration Files

• package.json - Dependencies, scripts, and electron-builder config
• tsconfig.json - TypeScript config for renderer (ESNext modules)
• tsconfig.main.json - TypeScript config for main (CommonJS)
• vite.config.ts - Vite bundler configuration

Requirements

• Node.js 20.x - 22.x
• npm 9.x+
• macOS (for building macOS apps)

License

MIT