Basic Electron Download

Simple function for downloading the main Electron binary ZIP file for a specific version. This is the most common use case for downloading Electron distributions.

Capabilities

Download Function

Downloads the Electron binary for a specific version and returns an absolute path to the downloaded ZIP file.

/**
 * Downloads the Electron binary for a specific version and returns an absolute path to a
 * ZIP file.
 * 
 * @param version - The version of Electron you want to download (e.g. `31.0.0`)
 * @param options - Options to customize the download behavior
 * @returns An absolute path to the downloaded ZIP file
 */
function download(
  version: string,
  options?: ElectronDownloadRequestOptions
): Promise<string>;

Usage Examples:

import { download } from "@electron/get";

// Download latest version
const electronPath = await download('31.0.0');
console.log(`Electron downloaded to: ${electronPath}`);

// Download with custom cache directory
const electronPath = await download('31.0.0', {
  cacheRoot: '/custom/cache/dir'
});

// Download with mirror options
const electronPath = await download('31.0.0', {
  mirrorOptions: {
    mirror: 'https://mirror.example.com/electron/',
    customDir: 'v31.0.0',
    customFilename: 'electron-v31.0.0-linux-x64.zip'
  }
});

// Download with disabled checksums (not recommended)
const electronPath = await download('31.0.0', {
  unsafelyDisableChecksums: true
});

Version Format

The version parameter accepts standard semantic version strings:

• '31.0.0' - Stable release
• '31.0.0-beta.1' - Beta release
• '8.0.0-nightly.20190901' - Nightly release

Default Behavior

When called without options, the download function:

• Uses the current system platform (process.platform)
• Uses the current system architecture (process.arch)
• Downloads the main electron artifact (the full Electron binary)
• Caches downloads in the default system cache directory
• Validates downloaded artifacts using SHA256 checksums
• Shows a progress bar for downloads taking longer than 30 seconds

Cache Locations

Default cache directories by platform:

• Linux: $XDG_CACHE_HOME or ~/.cache/electron/
• macOS: ~/Library/Caches/electron/
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%/electron/Cache or ~/AppData/Local/electron/Cache/