AppX

The top-level appx key contains set of options instructing electron-builder on how it should build AppX (Windows Store).

All options are optional. All required for AppX configuration is inferred and computed automatically.

AppX Package Code Signing¶

If the AppX package is meant for enterprise or self-made distribution (manually install the app without using the Store for testing or for enterprise distribution), it must be signed.
If the AppX package is meant for Windows Store distribution, no need to sign the package with any certificate. The Windows Store will take care of signing it with a Microsoft certificate during the submission process.

AppX Assets¶

AppX assets need to be placed in the appx folder in the build directory.

The assets should follow these naming conventions:

Logo: StoreLogo.png
Square150x150Logo: Square150x150Logo.png
Square44x44Logo: Square44x44Logo.png
Wide310x150Logo: Wide310x150Logo.png
Optional BadgeLogo: BadgeLogo.png
Optional Square310x310Logo: LargeTile.png
Optional Square71x71Logo: SmallTile.png
Optional SplashScreen: SplashScreen.png

All official AppX asset types are supported by the build process. These assets can include scaled assets by using target size and scale in the name. See Guidelines for tile and icon assets for more information.

Default assets will be used for Logo, Square150x150Logo, Square44x44Logo and Wide310x150Logo if not provided. For assets marked Optional, these assets will not be listed in the manifest file if not provided.

How to publish your Electron App to the Windows App Store¶

You’ll need a microsoft developer account (pay some small fee). Use your favourite search engine to find the registration form.
Register you app for the desktop bridge here.
Wait for MS to answer and further guide you.
In the meantime, build and test your appx. It’s dead simple.

json "win": { "target": "appx", }, 5. The rest should be pretty straight forward — upload the appx to the store and wait for approval.

Building AppX on macOS¶

The only solution for now — using Parallels Desktop for Mac (Pro Edition is required). Create Windows 10 virtual machine and start it. It will be detected and used automatically to build AppX on your macOS machine. Nothing is required to setup on Windows. It allows you to not copy project to Windows and to not setup build environment on Windows.

Common Questions¶

How do install AppX without trusted certificate?¶

If you use self-signed certificate, you need to add it to “Trusted People”. See Install the certificate.

Configuration¶

Electron-Builder / app-builder-lib / AppXOptions

Extends¶

TargetSpecificOptions

Properties¶

addAutoLaunchExtension?¶

readonly optional addAutoLaunchExtension: boolean

Whether to add auto launch extension. Defaults to true if electron-winstore-auto-launch in the dependencies.

applicationId?¶

readonly optional applicationId: string

The application id. Defaults to identityName. This string contains alpha-numeric fields separated by periods. Each field must begin with an ASCII alphabetic character.

artifactName?¶

readonly optional artifactName: null | string

The artifact file name template.

Inherited from¶

TargetSpecificOptions.artifactName

backgroundColor?¶

readonly optional backgroundColor: null | string

The background color of the app tile. See Visual Elements.

Default¶

###464646

customExtensionsPath?¶

readonly optional customExtensionsPath: string

Relative path to custom extensions xml to be included in an appmanifest.xml.

displayName?¶

readonly optional displayName: null | string

A friendly name that can be displayed to users. Corresponds to Properties.DisplayName. Defaults to the application product name.

identityName?¶

readonly optional identityName: null | string

The name. Corresponds to Identity.Name. Defaults to the application name.

languages?¶

readonly optional languages: null | string | string[]

The list of supported languages that will be listed in the Windows Store. The first entry (index 0) will be the default language. Defaults to en-US if omitted.

maxVersionTested?¶

readonly optional maxVersionTested: null | string

Set the MaxVersionTested field in the appx manifest.xml

Default¶

arch === Arch.arm64 ? "10.0.16299.0" : "10.0.14316.0"

minVersion?¶

readonly optional minVersion: null | string

Set the MinVersion field in the appx manifest.xml

Default¶

arch === Arch.arm64 ? "10.0.16299.0" : "10.0.14316.0"

publish?¶

optional publish: Publish

Inherited from¶

TargetSpecificOptions.publish

publisher?¶

readonly optional publisher: null | string

The Windows Store publisher. Not used if AppX is build for testing. See AppX Package Code Signing below.

publisherDisplayName?¶

readonly optional publisherDisplayName: null | string

A friendly name for the publisher that can be displayed to users. Corresponds to Properties.PublisherDisplayName. Defaults to company name from the application metadata.

setBuildNumber?¶

readonly optional setBuildNumber: boolean

Whether to set build number. See https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/issues/3875

Default¶

false

showNameOnTiles?¶

readonly optional showNameOnTiles: boolean

Whether to overlay the app’s name on top of tile images on the Start screen. Defaults to false. (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/uwp/schemas/appxpackage/uapmanifestschema/element-uap-shownameontiles) in the dependencies.

Default¶

false