Set up environment

Before building the launcher, you need a working Node.js environment and an Electron project wired up with EML Lib.

Install Node.js

EML Lib requires Node.js v20 or later. Node.js v24 LTS is recommended.

Go to the Node.js website and download the LTS installer.
Run the installer and follow the instructions.
Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell and verify:

node -v
# Should output v24.x.x or higher

The easiest way is to use Homebrew. If you do not have it:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Then install Node.js:

brew install node@24
node -v
# Should output v24.x.x or higher

Use fnm (Fast Node Manager):

curl -fsSL https://fnm.vercel.app/install | bash
source ~/.bashrc  # or source ~/.zshrc

fnm install 24
fnm use 24
node -v
# Should output v24.x.x or higher

Initialize the project

There are two ways to get started: using EML Template (recommended for beginners) or setting up the environment manually.

Option 1 — EML Template

EML Template is an Electron + Vite boilerplate pre-configured with TypeScript, SCSS, and electron-builder. IPC handlers, preload script, and EML Lib wiring are already in place. It is the fastest way to get a working launcher.

Go to the EML Template repository on GitHub.
Click “Use this template” > “Create a new repository”, or click “Fork”, to create your own copy.

Clone and install:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/my-launcher.git
cd my-launcher
npm install

Open electron/const.ts and set the ADMINTOOL_URL constant to your EML AdminTool URL (or your self-hosted manifest URL if you are not using AdminTool).
Start the developer mode:
```
npm run dev
```

You can now move on to Frontend architecture.

Option 2 — Manual setup

npm create vite@latest my-launcher -- --template vanilla
cd my-launcher
npm install
npm install eml-lib
npm install electron electron-builder vite-plugin-electron --save-dev

Create vite.config.js:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import electron from 'vite-plugin-electron'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [electron({ entry: 'electron/main.js' })]
})

Update package.json:

{
  "name": "my-launcher",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "dist-electron/main.js",
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "vite",
    "build": "vite build && electron-builder"
  }
}

npm create vite@latest my-launcher -- --template vanilla-ts
cd my-launcher
npm install
npm install eml-lib
npm install electron electron-builder vite-plugin-electron --save-dev

Create vite.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import electron from 'vite-plugin-electron'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [electron({ entry: 'electron/main.ts' })]
})

Update package.json:

{
  "name": "my-launcher",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "dist-electron/main.js",
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "vite",
    "build": "tsc && vite build && electron-builder"
  }
}

Note

Even in TypeScript, the main field must point to the compiled output (dist-electron/main.js), not the source .ts file.

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