Codesign Electron macOS apps
npm install @electron/osx-signCodesign Electron macOS apps
[@electron/osx-sign][electron-osx-sign] minimizes the extra work needed to eventually prepare
your apps for shipping, providing options that work out of the box for most applications.
Additional configuration is available via its API.
There are two main functionalities exposed via this package:
* Signing macOS apps via sign functions. Under the hood, this uses the codesign utility.
* Creating .pkg installer packages via flat functions. Under the hood, this uses the productbuild utility.
@electron/osx-sign is integrated into other Electron packaging tools, and can be configured accordingly:
* Electron Packager
* Electron Forge
You can also install @electron/osx-sign separately if your packaging pipeline does not involve those tools:
``sh`
npm install --save-dev @electron/osx-sign
The signing procedure implemented in this package is based on what described in Electron's Code Signing Guide.
* You must be a registered member of the Apple Developer Program.
Please note that you could be charged by Apple in order to get issued with the required certificates.
* You must have Xcode installed from the
Mac App Store. It is not recommended to download your
copy from other 3rd party sources for security reasons.
* You must have Xcode Command Line Tools installed. To check whether it is available,
try xcode-select --install and follow the instructions.
* To distribute your app on the Mac App Store, You must create a Mac App on App Store Connect.
* You must give your app a unique Bundle ID.
* You must give your app a version number.
In order to distribute your application either inside or outside the Mac App Store,
you will have to have the following certificates from Apple after becoming a registered developer.
Certificates can be created through the
Certificates, Identities & Profiles
page in the Apple Developer website or via Account Preferences in Xcode.
For distribution inside the Mac App Store, you will need to create:
Mac App Distribution: 3rd Party Mac Developer Application: (*)
Mac Installer Distribution:
For distribution outside the Mac App Store:
Developer ID Application: Developer ID Application: (*)
Developer ID Installer:
After you create the necessary certifications, download them and open each so that they are
installed in your keychain. We recommend installing them in your system default keychain so
that @electron/osx-sign can detect them automatically.
> [!TIP]
> Apple developer certificates tend to come in related pairs. It’s simplest to install
> both of them for future use. However, if you only want to distribute outside the Mac App Store,
> there is no need to have the 3rd Party Mac Developer ones installed, and vice versa.
`javascript`
import { sign } = from '@electron/osx-sign'
const opts = {
app: 'path/to/my.app'
};
sign(opts)
.then(function () {
// Application signed
})
.catch(function (err) {
// Handle the error
})
The only mandatory option for sign is a path to your .app package.
Configuration for most Electron apps should work out of the box.
For full configuration options, see the [API documentation].
#### Signing for Mac App Store distribution
`javascript`
import { sign } from '@electron/osx-sign'
const opts = {
app: 'path/to/my.app',
// optional parameters for additional customization
platform: "mas", // should be auto-detected if your app was packaged for MAS via Packager or Forge
type: "distribution", // defaults to "distribution" for submission to App Store Connect
provisioningProfile: 'path/to/my.provisionprofile', // defaults to the current working directory
keychain: 'my-keychain', // defaults to the system default login keychain
};
sign(opts)
.then(function () {
// Application signed
})
.catch(function (err) {
// Handle the error
})
Mac App Store apps require a Provisioning Profile
for submission to App Store Connect. We recommend having the provisioning profile for distribution
placed in the current working directory and the signing identity installed in the default keychain.
The app is not expected to run after codesigning since there is no provisioned device, and it is
intended only for submission to App Store Connect. Since @electron/osx-sign adds the entrycom.apple.developer.team-identifier to a temporary copy of the specified entitlements filepreAutoEntitlements
(with the default option ), distribution builds can no longer be run directly.
To run an app codesigned for distribution locally after codesigning, you may manually add
ElectronTeamID in your Info.plist and com.apple.security.application-groups in thepreAutoEntitlements: false
entitlements file, and set for @electron/osx-sign to avoid
this extra bit. Note that "certain features are only allowed across apps whose team-identifier value match"
(Technical Note TN2415).
Alternatively, set the app's type to development to codesign a development version of your app,
which will allow it to be run on your development provisioned machine. Apps signed for development
will not be eligible for submission via App Store Connect.
#### Signing with --deep
Some subresources that you may include in your Electron app may need to be signed with --deep.
This is not typically safe to apply to the entire Electron app and therefore should be applied to _just_ your file.
`javascript
sign({
app: 'path/to/my.app',
optionsForFile: (filePath) => {
// For our one specific file we can pass extra options to be merged
// with the default options
if (path.basename(filePath) === 'myStrangeFile.jar') {
return {
additionalArguments: ['--deep'],
};
}
// Just use the default options for everything else
return null;
},
});
`
#### Signing legacy versions of Electron
@electron/osx-sign maintains backwards compatibility with older versions of Electron, but
generally assumes that you are on the latest stable version.
If you are running an older unsupported version of Electron, you should pass in the version
option as such:
`javascript`
sign({
app: 'path/to/my.app',
version: '0.34.0',
});
This module also handles the creation of flat installer packages (.pkg installers).
> [!NOTE]
> Modern .pkg installers are also named "flat" packages for historical purposes. Prior.pkg
> to Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), installation packages were organized in hierarchical
> directories. OS X Leopard introduced a new flat package format that is used for modern
> installers.
`javascript`
import { flat } = '@electron/osx-sign'
flat({
app: 'path/to/my.app'
})
.then(function () {
// Application flattened
})
.catch(function (err) {
// Handle the error
})
The only mandatory option for flat is a path to your .app package.
For full configuration options, see the [API documentation].
@electron/osx-sign also exposes a legacy command-line interface (CLI) for both signingoptionsForFile
and installer generation. However, we recommend using the JavaScript API as it has a more
complete API surface (e.g. is only available via JS).
`shinstall the package locally into devDependencies
npm install --save-dev @electron/osx-sign
For full options, use the
flag for either command.
Debug
debug module is used to display advanced logs and messages.
If you are having problems with signing your app with @electron/osx-sign, run your signing scripts with
the DEBUG=electron-osx-sign* environment variable.Test
The project's configured to run automated tests on GitHub Actions.
If you wish to manually test the module, you need to first generate a self-signed certificate
via the
spec/ci/generate-identity.sh` script.[Electron]: https://github.com/electron/electron
[electron-osx-sign]: https://github.com/electron/osx-sign
[npm_img]: https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@electron/osx-sign.svg
[npm_url]: https://npmjs.org/package/@electron/osx-sign
[gha_img]: https://github.com/electron/osx-sign/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg
[gha_url]: https://github.com/electron/osx-sign/actions/workflows/test.yml