nativefier/docs/api.md

API

Table of Contents

• Command Line
  • Target Url
  • [dest]
  • Help
  • Version
  • [name]
  • [platform]
  • [arch]
  • [electron-version]
  • [no-overwrite]
  • [conceal]
  • [icon]
  • [counter]
  • [width]
  • [height]
  • [min-width]
  • [min-height]
  • [max-width]
  • [max-height]
  • [show-menu-bar]
  • [fast-quit]
  • [user-agent]
  • [honest]
  • [ignore-certificate]
  • [insecure]
  • [flash]
  • [flash-path]
  • [inject]
  • [full-screen]
  • [maximize]
  • [hide-window-frame]
  • [verbose]
  • [disable-context-menu]
  • [disable-dev-tools]
  • [zoom]
  • [crash-reporter]
  • [single-instance]
• Programmatic API

Command Line

nativefier [options] <targetUrl> [dest]

Command line options are listed below.

Target Url

The url to point the application at.

[dest]

Specifies the destination directory to build the app to, defaults to the current working directory.

Help

-h, --help

Prints the usage information.

Version

-V, --version

Prints the version of your nativefier install.

[name]

-n, --name <value>

The name of the application, which will affect strings in titles and the icon.

For Linux Users: Do not put spaces if you define the app name yourself with --name, as this will cause problems (tested on Ubuntu 14.04) when pinning a packaged app to the launcher.

[platform]

-p, --platform <value>

Automatically determined based on the current OS. Can be overwritten by specifying either linux, windows, or osx.

The alternative values win32 (for Windows) or darwin, mac (for OSX) can also be used.

[arch]

-a, --arch <value>

Processor architecture, automatically determined based on the current OS. Can be overwritten by specifying either ia32, x64 or armv7l.

[electron-version]

-e, --electron-version <value>

Electron version without the v, see https://github.com/atom/electron/releases.

[no-overwrite]

--no-overwrite

Specifies if the destination directory should be not overwritten, defaults to false.

[conceal]

-c, --conceal

Specifies if the source code within the nativefied app should be packaged into an archive, defaults to false, read more.

[icon]

-i, --icon <path>

Packaging for Windows and Linux

The icon parameter should be a path to a .png file.

Packaging for OSX

The icon parameter can either be a .icns or a .png file if the optional dependencies are installed.

If you have the optional dependencies iconutil, Imagemagick convert, and Imagemagick identify in your PATH, Nativefier will automatically convert the .png to a .icns for you.

Manually Converting .icns

iConvertIcons can be used to convert .pngs, though it can be quite cumbersome.

To retrieve the .icns file from the downloaded file, extract it first and press File > Get Info. Then select the icon in the top left corner of the info window and press ⌘-C. Open Preview and press File > New from clipboard and save the .icns file. It took me a while to figure out how to do that and question why a .icns file was not simply provided in the downloaded archive.

[counter]

--counter

Use a counter that persists even with window focus for the application badge for sites that use an "(X)" format counter in the page title (i.e. Gmail). Same limitations as the badge option (above).

[width]

--width <value>

Width of the packaged application, defaults to 1280px.

[height]

--height <value>

Height of the packaged application, defaults to 800px.

[min-width]

--min-width <value>

Minimum width of the packaged application, defaults to 0.

[min-height]

--min-height <value>

Minimum height of the packaged application, defaults to 0.

[max-width]

--max-width <value>

Maximum width of the packaged application, default is no limit.

[max-height]

--max-height <value>

Maximum height of the packaged application, default is no limit.

[show-menu-bar]

-m, --show-menu-bar

Specifies if the menu bar should be shown.

[fast-quit]

-f, --fast-quit

(OSX Only) Specifies to quit the app after closing all windows, defaults to false.

[user-agent]

-u, --user-agent <value>

Set the user agent to run the created app with.

[honest]

--honest

By default, Nativefier uses a preset user agent string for your OS and masquerades as a regular Google Chrome browser, so that sites like WhatsApp Web will not say that the current browser is unsupported.

If this flag is passed, it will not override the user agent.

[ignore-certificate]

--ignore-certificate

Forces the packaged app to ignore certificate errors.

[insecure]

--insecure

Forces the packaged app to ignore web security errors, such as Mixed Content errors when receiving HTTP content on a HTTPS site.

[flash]

--flash

If --flash is specified, Nativefier will automatically try to determine the location of your Google Chrome flash binary. Take note that the version of Chrome on your computer should be the same as the version used by the version of Electron for the Nativefied package.

Take note that if this flag is specified, the --insecure flag will be added automatically, to prevent the Mixed Content errors on sites such as Twitch.tv.

[flash-path]

--flash-path <value>

You can also specify the path to the Chrome flash plugin directly with this flag. The path can be found at chrome://plugins, under Adobe Flash Player > Location. This flag automatically enables the --flash flag as well.

[inject]

--inject <value>

Allows you to inject a javascript or css file. This command can be run multiple times to inject the files.

Example:

nativefier http://google.com --inject ./some-js-injection.js --inject ./some-css-injection.css ~/Desktop

[full-screen]

--full-screen

Makes the packaged app start in full screen.

[maximize]

--maximize

Makes the packaged app start maximized.

[hide-window-frame]

--hide-window-frame

Disable window frame and controls

[verbose]

--verbose

Shows detailed logs in the console.

[disable-context-menu]

--disable-context-menu

Disable the context menu

[disable-dev-tools]

--disable-dev-tools

Disable the Chrome developer tools

[crash-reporter]

--crash-reporter <value>

Enables crash reporting and set the URL to submit crash reports to

Example:

nativefier http://google.com --crash-reporter https://electron-crash-reporter.appspot.com/PROJECT_ID/create/

[zoom]

--zoom <value>

Sets a default zoom factor to be used when the app is opened, defaults to 1.0.

[single-instance]

--single-instance

Prevents application from being run multiple times. If such an attempt occurs the already running instance is brought to front.

Programmatic API

You can use the Nativefier programmatic API as well.

# install and save to package.json
npm install --save nativefier

In your .js file:

var nativefier = require('nativefier').default;

// possible options, defaults unless specified otherwise
var options = {
    name: 'Web WhatsApp', // will be inferred if not specified
    targetUrl: 'http://web.whatsapp.com', // required
    platform: 'darwin', // defaults to the current system
    arch: 'x64', // defaults to the current system
    version: '0.36.4',
    out: '.',
    overwrite: false,
    asar: false, // see conceal
    icon: '~/Desktop/icon.png',
    counter: false,
    width: 1280,
    height: 800,
    showMenuBar: false,
    fastQuit: false,
    userAgent: 'Mozilla ...', // will infer a default for your current system
    ignoreCertificate: false,
    insecure: false,
    honest: false,
    zoom: 1.0,
    singleInstance: false
};

nativefier(options, function(error, appPath) {
    if (error) {
        console.error(error);
        return;
    }
    console.log('App has been nativefied to', appPath);
});

More description about the options for nativefier can be found at the above section.