webview

Building Standalone Executables

The webview CLI can package your application into a single self-contained executable — no Node.js, Deno, or Bun installation required on the target machine.

Quick start

# Install globally (or use npx)
npm install -g @webviewjs/webview

# Build with your current runtime (Node.js by default)
webview --build --input src/index.js --name myapp

The executable is written to dist/ by default. On Windows it gets a .exe extension automatically.

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Choosing a runtime

Use --runtime (short: -R) to select how the executable is compiled:

Runtime	Flag	Tool used
Node.js	--runtime node	Node.js SEA (default)
Deno	--runtime deno	deno compile
Bun	--runtime bun	bun build --compile

Node.js (default)

Node.js does not have a one-shot compile command, so the CLI automates the multi-step Single Executable Application (SEA) workflow for you:

1. Writes a sea-config.json in the output directory.
2. Runs node --experimental-sea-config sea-config.json to produce sea-prep.blob.
3. Copies the current node binary.
4. Removes its existing signature (macOS / Windows).
5. Injects the blob via postject (downloaded automatically with npx).
6. Re-signs the binary (codesign on macOS, signtool on Windows — optional).

webview --build --runtime node --input src/index.js --name myapp --output dist

Bundling assets (Node.js only)

Pass a JSON file mapping asset names to file paths via --resources:

{
  "icon.png": "./assets/icon.png",
  "config.json": "./config.json"
}

webview --build --runtime node --resources assets.json --input src/index.js --name myapp

Inside your script, read them with the node:sea API:

const { getAsset } = require('node:sea');
const iconBuffer = getAsset('icon.png');

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Deno

Requires deno on your PATH. Uses deno compile which bundles everything into a single binary.

webview --build --runtime deno --input src/index.ts --name myapp --output dist

The CLI runs:

deno compile --allow-all --no-check --output dist/myapp src/index.ts

--allow-all grants all permissions. Restrict them in your own build script if needed.

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Bun

Requires bun on your PATH. Uses bun build --compile.

webview --build --runtime bun --input src/index.ts --name myapp --output dist

The CLI runs:

bun build --compile src/index.ts --outfile dist/myapp

On Windows, Bun automatically appends .exe if not already present.

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All options

  -b, --build        Build the project into a standalone executable
  -R, --runtime      Runtime to use for compilation: node (default), deno, bun
  -n, --name         Executable name (default: webviewjs)
  -i, --input        Entry file (default: index.js in cwd)
  -o, --output       Output directory (default: dist/)
  -r, --resources    Resources mapping JSON file path (node runtime only)
  -d, --dry-run      Print what would be done without executing
  -h, --help         Show help
  -v, --version      Show version

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Examples

# Node.js SEA — default, no extra tools needed beyond node + npx
webview --build --input src/main.js --name myapp

# Deno — produces a single binary including the Deno runtime
webview --build --runtime deno --input src/main.ts --name myapp

# Bun — fast compilation, includes the Bun runtime
webview --build --runtime bun --input src/main.ts --name myapp

# Custom output directory and project name
webview --build --runtime bun --input src/main.ts --name "MyDesktopApp" --output ./release

# Dry-run to see what would happen
webview --build --runtime node --input src/main.js --name myapp --dry-run

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Platform notes

Platform	Node SEA	Deno compile	Bun compile
Windows	✅ .exe auto-added	✅ .exe auto-added	✅ .exe auto-added
macOS	✅ codesign applied	✅ ad-hoc signed	✅
Linux	✅	✅	✅

Code signing

• Node.js — the CLI removes the existing signature and re-signs with codesign -s - (macOS) or signtool (Windows) if available.
• Deno — applies an ad-hoc signature on macOS automatically. Use codesign / signtool for distribution.
• Bun — use codesign on macOS after building. On Windows, use signtool.

Cross-compilation

• Deno: pass --target directly to deno compile. Use a custom build script rather than the webviewjs CLI for cross-compile targets.
• Bun: pass --target to bun build. Same recommendation.
• Node SEA: cross-compilation is not supported; build on the target OS.

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