explaingit

sindresorhus/awesome-electron

27,133Audience · developerComplexity · 1/5ActiveLicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A curated list of tools, libraries, and resources for building desktop apps with Electron, a framework that lets you package web code into cross-platform desktop applications.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Curated resource list
      Links to tools
      Example apps
    Tech stack
      Electron
      JavaScript
      Node.js
      Chromium
    Use cases
      Find libraries
      Learn from examples
      Discover dev tools
    Audience
      Web developers
      Desktop app builders
      Beginners

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Discover open-source libraries and UI components to speed up your Electron app development.

USE CASE 2

Find example apps built with Electron to learn patterns and see what's possible.

USE CASE 3

Locate packaging, distribution, and build tools to prepare your desktop app for release.

Tech stack

ElectronJavaScriptNode.jsChromiumHTMLCSS

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

This repository, "Awesome Electron," is a curated list of useful resources for people building desktop apps with Electron. As the README explains, Electron is an open-source framework that lets you build desktop applications using web technologies, it combines the Chromium rendering engine, the same engine behind the Chrome browser, with the Node.js runtime so that code written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can run as a native Mac, Windows, or Linux app. The repository itself contains no actual code. It is a long Markdown document that links out to projects, tools, and writing that the maintainer has gathered. The README's table of contents groups everything into sections: example Apps made with Electron (open source and commercial), Boilerplates you can start a new project from, Tools, reusable Components, Documentation, Articles, Books, Videos, Podcasts, Community resources, and Related awesome-lists. Inside the Apps section there are dozens of examples ranging from text and Markdown editors and note-taking apps to terminals, SQL clients, music players, password managers, and download managers. You would use this repository when you are considering Electron for a project, when you want to see how other people have built something similar before starting your own, or when you are looking for a known-good boilerplate, tool, or article to learn from. It is part of the broader "awesome list" pattern on GitHub: a single, hand-maintained index people can return to instead of searching from scratch every time. The description notes submissions are currently paused. The full README is longer than what was provided.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I'm building a desktop app with Electron. What libraries from awesome-electron would help me add a code editor, file browser, and settings panel?
Prompt 2
Show me examples of real-world Electron apps from awesome-electron that do similar things to what I want to build.
Prompt 3
What are the best boilerplate starter projects listed in awesome-electron for a new Electron app?
Prompt 4
Which packaging and distribution tools does awesome-electron recommend for shipping my Electron app to Windows, Mac, and Linux?
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