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electron-vue

A starter template for building desktop apps with Electron and Vue.js, now archived.

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Stars
15.3k
Forks
1.5k
Licence
MIT
Language
JavaScript
Last update
4.8 years ago
Type
Learning resource

This repository is archived and no longer maintained.

What it is

electron-vue is a boilerplate, a ready-made project template, for building desktop applications with Electron (which wraps web technology as a desktop program) and Vue.js (a JavaScript UI framework). It sets up scaffolding, webpack, common Vue plugins, packaging tools, and test setup so you do not have to wire them together yourself. The repository is archived, and its last push was in January 2022.

  • Scaffold a new Electron app with Vue using vue-cli
  • Run a development build with hot module replacement in the main process
  • Package a finished app for distribution with electron-builder or electron-packager
  • Run unit tests with Karma and Mocha, or end-to-end tests with Spectron and Mocha

Great for

  • Developers who already know Vue and want to build a desktop app
  • Learners exploring how Electron and Vue fit together
  • Teams who want a starting structure with testing and packaging included

Not ideal for

  • Anyone starting a new project today, since the repository is archived and no longer maintained
  • People who need Vue 1 support, which the README says is deprecated
  • Non-developers, because setup requires Node.js, a package manager, and build tools

How to get it

  1. 1

    Clone and build from source

    You'll need: Node.js 7 or higher (per README) · npm or yarn (yarn recommended by the README) · vue-cli (installed globally by the README's steps)

    Install vue-cli globally

    npm install -g vue-cli

    Scaffold the boilerplate

    vue init simulatedgreg/electron-vue my-project

    Install dependencies (from inside the project)

    yarn # or npm install

    Run the app in development mode

    yarn run dev # or npm run dev
  2. 2

    Run it

    • Install vue-cli and run the vue init command to create a project folder
    • Change into the new project folder
    • Install dependencies with yarn or npm install
    • Start the app with yarn run dev or npm run dev
  3. 3

    Get the most out of it

    • Read the linked documentation for configuration, project structure, and building
    • Choose optional features like ESLint with standard or airbnb-base during vue-cli scaffolding
    • Use the included vue-devtools and devtron tools while developing
    • Use the appveyor.yml or .travis.yml files as a starting point for automated builds, after checking they still work

Downloads

Source code (.zip)master branch · straight from GitHubOfficial website & docssimulatedgreg.gitbooks.io/electron-vue/content/

Strengths

  • Bundles many common pieces (vue-router, vuex, webpack, packaging) into one starting point
  • Offers a scaffolding option, so you can choose linting and testing setups
  • Has detailed external documentation and a large number of example apps listed

Trade-offs

  • The repository is archived and the README gives no sign of current maintenance, so dependencies may be outdated
  • Relies on tools such as Spectron that are themselves no longer current, which the README does not address
  • The README says node@^7 or higher is required, which is very old, and it does not state which versions are tested today

How it compares

ProjectStarsTypeLevelUpdatedBest for
electron-vue (this)15.3kLearning resourceintermediate4.8 years agoDevelopers who already know Vue and want to build a desktop app
electron-react-boilerplate24.3kDev toolintermediate7 days agoDevelopers who know React and want to build a cross-platform desktop app
storybook91.4kDev toolintermediate4 days agoFrontend teams building a shared component library or design system
vue-element-admin90.1kOtherintermediate2.0 years agoDevelopers building internal admin dashboards in Vue
babel44.1kDev toolintermediate4 days agoWeb developers who want to use recent JavaScript syntax while still supporting older browsers
docsify31.6kDev toolbeginner4 days agoOpen-source maintainers who want a documentation site from existing Markdown files

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.