Command-Line Options

electron-builder command-line options and flags

electron-builder provides extensive command-line options for controlling the build process.

Building Options

Platform Selection

--mac · array

Build for macOS. Accepts target list.

Aliases: -m, -o, --macos

electron-builder --mac
electron-builder --mac dmg zip

--win · array

Build for Windows. Accepts target list.

Aliases: -w, --windows

electron-builder --win
electron-builder --win nsis portable

--linux · array

Build for Linux. Accepts target list.

Aliases: -l

electron-builder --linux
electron-builder --linux deb rpm AppImage

Architecture Options

--x64 · boolean

Build for x64 (64-bit) architecture.

electron-builder --win --x64

--ia32 · boolean

Build for ia32 (32-bit) architecture.

electron-builder --win --ia32

--armv7l · boolean

Build for armv7l architecture.

electron-builder --linux --armv7l

--arm64 · boolean

Build for arm64 architecture (Apple Silicon, ARM-based systems).

electron-builder --mac --arm64

--universal · boolean

Build universal binary for macOS (supports both Intel and Apple Silicon).

electron-builder --mac --universal

Build Configuration

--dir · boolean

Build unpacked directory instead of distributable packages. Useful for testing.

electron-builder --dir

--config · string

Path to an electron-builder config file. Defaults to electron-builder.yml (or json, json5, js, ts).

Aliases: -c

electron-builder --config custom-config.json

See Configuration for more details.

--projectDir · string

Path to project directory. Defaults to current working directory.

Aliases: --project

electron-builder --projectDir /path/to/project

--prepackaged · string

Path to prepackaged app directory (to pack in a distributable format).

Aliases: --pd

electron-builder --prepackaged /path/to/app

Publishing Options

--publish · string

When to publish artifacts. See Publishing for more details.

Aliases: -p

Choices:

• onTag - Publish only on tagged releases
• onTagOrDraft - Publish on tagged releases or drafts
• always - Always publish
• never - Never publish

electron-builder --publish always
electron-builder -p onTag

Configuration Overrides

You can override configuration values using dot notation:

# Set package.json property `foo` to `bar`
electron-builder -c.extraMetadata.foo=bar

# Configure NSIS unicode option
electron-builder --config.nsis.unicode=false

# Set application ID
electron-builder -c.appId=com.example.myapp

Common Examples

Multi-platform builds

# Build for all platforms
electron-builder -mwl

# Build for macOS and Windows only
electron-builder -mw

Platform-specific targets

# Build specific Linux targets
electron-builder --linux deb tar.xz

# Build NSIS installer for Windows
electron-builder --win nsis

# Build DMG and ZIP for macOS
electron-builder --mac dmg zip

Architecture combinations

# Build for both x64 and ia32
electron-builder --win --x64 --ia32

# Build ARM64 and x64 for macOS
electron-builder --mac --arm64 --x64

Target with specific architecture

# Build 32-bit NSIS installer
electron-builder --windows nsis:ia32

# Build 64-bit AppImage
electron-builder --linux AppImage:x64

Other Options

--help · boolean

Show help information.

electron-builder --help

--version · boolean

Show version number.

electron-builder --version

Default Targets

Without target configuration, electron-builder builds for the current platform and architecture using default targets:

• macOS: DMG and ZIP for Squirrel.Mac
• Windows: NSIS
• Linux:
  • If building on Windows or macOS: Snap and AppImage for x64
  • If building on Linux: Snap and AppImage for current architecture

Environment Variables

electron-builder respects various environment variables. You can also use an electron-builder.env file in your project root to set environment-specific configuration.

For more information, see the Configuration documentation.