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electron-development
authentic
Master Electron desktop app development with secure IPC, contextIsolation, preload scripts, multi-process architecture, electron-builder packaging, code signing, and auto-update.
When to use
- Building new Electron desktop applications from scratch
- Securing an Electron app (contextIsolation, sandbox, CSP, nodeIntegration)
- Setting up IPC communication between main, renderer, and preload processes
- Packaging and distributing Electron apps with electron-builder or electron-forge
- Implementing auto-update with electron-updater
- Debugging main process issues or renderer crashes
- Managing multiple windows and application lifecycle
- Integrating native OS features (menus, tray, notifications, file system dialogs)
When not to use
- Building web-only applications without desktop distribution → use `react-patterns`, `nextjs-best-practices`
- Building Tauri apps (Rust-based desktop alternative) → use `tauri-development` if available
- Building Chrome extensions → use `chrome-extension-developer`
- Implementing deep backend/server logic → use `nodejs-backend-patterns`
- Building mobile apps → use `react-native-architecture` or `flutter-expert`
- Electron bundles Chromium + Node.js, resulting in a minimum ~150MB app size — this is a fundamental trade-off of the framework
- Not suitable for apps where minimal install size is critical (consider Tauri instead)
- Single-window apps are simpler to architect; multi-window state synchronization requires careful IPC design
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