Electron Release Guide

Complete release workflow for Electron applications with auto-update support.

Supported Configurations

Stack	Platform	Build Type	Status
Vite + electron-builder	macOS	Local	✅ Documented
Other configurations	-	-	📝 To be added

Quick Start (macOS + Vite + electron-builder)

bash

# 1. Build with notarization
APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PROFILE=your-profile pnpm build:mac

# 2. Rename ZIPs (GitHub converts spaces to dots)
cp "dist/App Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip" "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip"
cp "dist/App Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip" "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip"

# 3. Create release with ALL files
gh release create vX.Y.Z \
  dist/latest-mac.yml \
  "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip" \
  "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip" \
  dist/app-name-X.Y.Z-arm64.dmg \
  dist/app-name-X.Y.Z-x64.dmg \
  --title "vX.Y.Z" --notes "Release notes..."

Complete Workflow

Phase 1: Pre-Release

•Update version in package.json

•Commit version bump:

bash

git add package.json
git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to X.Y.Z"
git push origin main

Phase 2: Build

•
Build with notarization:
bash
```
APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PROFILE=your-profile pnpm build:mac
```
Env Var Purpose
APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PROFILE Keychain profile for notarization
Alternative: APPLE_ID, APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD, APPLE_TEAM_ID Direct credentials
•
Verify build output:
bash
```
ls -la dist/*.dmg dist/*.zip dist/*.yml
```
Expected files:
- •latest-mac.yml - Auto-update metadata
- •App Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip - ARM64 update payload
- •App Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip - x64 update payload
- •app-name-X.Y.Z-arm64.dmg - ARM64 installer
- •app-name-X.Y.Z-x64.dmg - x64 installer

Phase 3: Prepare Release Assets

•

Rename ZIP files (critical for auto-update):

bash

# GitHub converts spaces to dots, but latest-mac.yml expects hyphens
cp "dist/App Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip" "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip"
cp "dist/App Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip" "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip"

•

Verify latest-mac.yml URLs match renamed files:

bash

cat dist/latest-mac.yml
# Check that 'url:' entries match your renamed ZIP filenames

Phase 4: GitHub Release

•

Create release with all required files:

bash

gh release create vX.Y.Z \
  dist/latest-mac.yml \
  "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-arm64-mac.zip" \
  "dist/App-Name-X.Y.Z-mac.zip" \
  dist/app-name-X.Y.Z-arm64.dmg \
  dist/app-name-X.Y.Z-x64.dmg \
  --title "vX.Y.Z" \
  --notes "$(cat <<'EOF'
## What's Changed
- Feature 1
- Bug fix 2
EOF
)"

•

Verify release assets:

bash

gh release view vX.Y.Z --json assets --jq '.assets[].name'

Required Files for Auto-Update

File	Purpose	Missing =
`latest-mac.yml`	Version + SHA512 hashes	"No updates available"
`*-arm64-mac.zip`	ARM64 update payload	Download fails on M1/M2/M3
`*-mac.zip`	x64 update payload	Download fails on Intel
`*.dmg`	Manual download	No manual install option

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Symptom	Fix
DMG only, no ZIP	Auto-update silently fails	Upload all ZIP files
Missing `latest-mac.yml`	"No updates available"	Upload `latest-mac.yml`
Wrong ZIP filename	Download error	Rename to match `latest-mac.yml` URLs
No notarization env var	Gatekeeper blocks app	Set `APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PROFILE`
Spaces in filename	404 on download	Rename: spaces → hyphens

Troubleshooting

"Download error" on auto-update

bash

# Check if filenames match
cat dist/latest-mac.yml | grep url:
gh release view vX.Y.Z --json assets --jq '.assets[].name'
# URLs in yml must exactly match asset names

"No updates available"

bash

# Verify latest-mac.yml is uploaded
gh release view vX.Y.Z --json assets --jq '.assets[].name' | grep yml

Gatekeeper blocks app

bash

# Rebuild with notarization
APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PROFILE=your-profile pnpm build:mac
# Check build log for "notarization successful"

electron-builder.yml Reference

yaml

mac:
  target:
    - target: dmg
      arch: [arm64, x64]
    - target: zip
      arch: [arm64, x64]
  notarize: true
  hardenedRuntime: true

publish:
  provider: github
  owner: your-org
  repo: your-repo

Success Criteria

• Build completes with "notarization successful"
• All 5 files uploaded to GitHub Release
• ZIP filenames match latest-mac.yml URLs exactly
• Test: older version detects update
• Test: download and install succeeds

Env Var	Purpose
`APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PROFILE`	Keychain profile for notarization
Alternative: `APPLE_ID`, `APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD`, `APPLE_TEAM_ID`	Direct credentials