> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 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

<ParamField path="--mac" type="array">
  Build for macOS. Accepts target list.

  Aliases: `-m`, `-o`, `--macos`

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --mac
  electron-builder --mac dmg zip
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--win" type="array">
  Build for Windows. Accepts target list.

  Aliases: `-w`, `--windows`

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --win
  electron-builder --win nsis portable
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--linux" type="array">
  Build for Linux. Accepts target list.

  Aliases: `-l`

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --linux
  electron-builder --linux deb rpm AppImage
  ```
</ParamField>

### Architecture Options

<ParamField path="--x64" type="boolean">
  Build for x64 (64-bit) architecture.

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --win --x64
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--ia32" type="boolean">
  Build for ia32 (32-bit) architecture.

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --win --ia32
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--armv7l" type="boolean">
  Build for armv7l architecture.

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --linux --armv7l
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--arm64" type="boolean">
  Build for arm64 architecture (Apple Silicon, ARM-based systems).

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --mac --arm64
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--universal" type="boolean">
  Build universal binary for macOS (supports both Intel and Apple Silicon).

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --mac --universal
  ```
</ParamField>

### Build Configuration

<ParamField path="--dir" type="boolean">
  Build unpacked directory instead of distributable packages. Useful for testing.

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --dir
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--config" type="string">
  Path to an electron-builder config file. Defaults to `electron-builder.yml` (or `json`, `json5`, `js`, `ts`).

  Aliases: `-c`

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --config custom-config.json
  ```

  See [Configuration](/configuration/configuration) for more details.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--projectDir" type="string">
  Path to project directory. Defaults to current working directory.

  Aliases: `--project`

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --projectDir /path/to/project
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--prepackaged" type="string">
  Path to prepackaged app directory (to pack in a distributable format).

  Aliases: `--pd`

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --prepackaged /path/to/app
  ```
</ParamField>

## Publishing Options

<ParamField path="--publish" type="string">
  When to publish artifacts. See [Publishing](/publish/publish) 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

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --publish always
  electron-builder -p onTag
  ```
</ParamField>

## Configuration Overrides

You can override configuration values using dot notation:

```bash theme={null}
# 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

```bash theme={null}
# Build for all platforms
electron-builder -mwl

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

### Platform-specific targets

```bash theme={null}
# 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

```bash theme={null}
# 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

```bash theme={null}
# Build 32-bit NSIS installer
electron-builder --windows nsis:ia32

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

## Other Options

<ParamField path="--help" type="boolean">
  Show help information.

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --help
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--version" type="boolean">
  Show version number.

  ```bash theme={null}
  electron-builder --version
  ```
</ParamField>

## 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](/configuration/configuration) documentation.