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Build and CLI commands

Build​

Here's a list of all the commands used by the Desktop App. These can all be found in package.json, and should be run using npm, using the following syntax: npm run <command>.

Testing and Verification​

  • check - Runs ESLint, checks types, validates the build config and runs the unit tests
    • check-build-config - Builds and validates the build config
    • check-types - Runs the TypeScript compiler against the code to check the types for errors
  • lint:js - Runs ESLint against the code and displays results
    • lint:js-quiet - Same as above, but with the --quiet option
    • fix:js - Save as above, but attempts to fix some of the issues
  • test - Builds and runs all of the automated tests for the Desktop App
    • test:e2e - Builds and runs the E2E tests for the Desktop App
      • test:e2e:no-rebuild - Runs the E2E tests without rebuilding the entire app
      • test:e2e:run - Runs the E2E tests without building them
      • test:e2e:send-report - Uploads E2E results
    • test:unit - Runs the unit tests for the main module
      • test:unit-coverage - Runs the unit tests and displays a coverage breakdown

Building and Running​

  • build - An amalgam of the following build commands, used to build the Desktop App:
    • build:main - Builds the source code used by the Electron Main process
    • build:renderer - Builds the source code used by the Electron Renderer process
    • build:preload - Builds the source code used by the preload scripts run in the preload context of the Electron Renderer process
  • build-prod - Builds the app in production mode
    • build-prod-mas - Builds the app in production mode for Mac App Store distribution
    • build-prod-upgrade - Builds the app in production mode with auto-update functionality
  • build-test- Builds the app for E2E testing
    • build-test:e2e - Builds only the E2E tests and not the app
    • build-test:robotjs - Builds the RobotJS test module for the current Electron version
  • start - Runs the Desktop App using the current code built in the dist/ folder
  • restart - Re-runs the build process and then starts the app (amalgam of build and start)
  • watch - Runs the app, but watches for code changes and re-compiles on the fly when a file is changed

Packaging​

  • package - Builds and creates distributable packages for all OSes
    • package:windows - Builds and creates distributable packages for Windows
      • package:windows-zip - Builds and create distributable ZIP packages for Windows
      • package:windows-installers - Builds and creates distributable MSI and EXE packages for Windows
    • package:mac - Builds and creates distributable packages for macOS
      • package:mac-with-universal - Same as above, but includes a universal binary
    • package:mas - Builds and creates distributable packages for Mac App Store
      • package:mas-dev - Same as above, but builds the development version for testing
    • package:linux - Builds and creates distributable packages for Linux
      • package:linux-tar - Builds and creates distributable .tar.gz packagesfor Linux
      • package:linux-pkg - Builds and creates distributable .deb packages for Ubuntu/Debian and .rpm for Red Hat/Fedora
      • package:linux-appImage - Builds and creates distributable .AppImage packages for Linux

Workspace Utility​

  • clean - Removes all installed Node modules and built code
    • clean-install - Same as above, but then runs npm install to reinstall the Node modules
    • clean-dist - Only removes the built code
  • prune - Runs ts-prune to display unused code
  • i18n-extract - Scrape the codebase and adds missing translations to the translation file
  • create-linux-dev-shortcut: Creates a shortcut for Linux developers to ensure deep linking works

CLI options​

Some useful CLI options the desktop app uses are shown below. You can also display these options by running: npm run start help.

--version, -v: Prints the application version
--dataDir, -d: Set the path to where user data is stored
--disableDevMode, -p: Disable development mode to allow for testing as if it was Production

Environment variables​

Some common environment variables that are used include:

  • NODE_ENV: Defines the Node environment
    • PRODUCTION: Used for Production mode
    • DEVELOPMENT: Development mode
    • TEST: Used when running automated tests
  • MM_DEBUG_MODALS: Used for debugging modals, set to 1 to show Developer Tools when a modal is opened