React Native for NeutralinoJS

Unofficial neutralinojs integration with the react-native-cli.

This tool allows you to export your react-native apps to a lightweight, cross-platform desktop application using neutralinojs. It serves as an alternative to heavier solutions like react-native-windows and react-native-macos.

Installation

1. Install react-dom (Exact Version Match):

   This is the most critical step. The version of react-dom must exactly match the version of react installed in your project. A mismatch will cause your app to crash.

   First, check the exact react version in your package.json or lock file. Then, install the corresponding react-dom version using the --save-exact (for npm) or --exact (for Yarn) flag. This is crucial because package managers might otherwise install a newer patch version that is incompatible.

   For example, if your project uses react version 18.2.0, you must install react-dom@18.2.0.

   Using npm:

   npm install react-dom@<EXACT_REACT_VERSION> --save-exact

   Using Yarn:

   yarn add react-dom@<EXACT_REACT_VERSION> --exact

2. Add the package to your project:

   Using npm:

   npm install react-native-neutralinojs

   Using Yarn:

   yarn add react-native-neutralinojs

3. Install Peer Dependencies:

   Finally, install the other required peer dependencies. While some package managers might install these automatically, others do not. To be safe and avoid potential issues, it's recommended to run the installation command manually.

   Using npm:

   npm install @neutralinojs/lib react-native-web

   Using Yarn:

   yarn add @neutralinojs/lib react-native-web

Usage

This package extends the React Native CLI with commands to control the NeutralinoJS application.

Note: This library uses Vite internally to bundle your application. This means you do not need to start the Metro server with npm run start or npx react-native start for the NeutralinoJS app to work.

Running the app

To initialize your NeutralinoJS project and run it for the first time, simply use the run-neu command. This command will set up the necessary NeutralinoJS files if they don't exist and then launch your application.

npx react-native run-neu

Available Commands

Here are all the available commands for the neu platform:

• run-neu: Initializes the NeutralinoJS project (if not already done) and starts the application in a development window. This is the most common command you'll use.
• init-neu: Initializes the NeutralinoJS project by creating the neutralino directory and necessary configuration files. You only need to run this once, and run-neu does it for you automatically.
• build-neu: Builds your React Native application and packages it into a distributable NeutralinoJS application for all platforms.
• update-neu: Updates the NeutralinoJS binaries to the latest version defined in the package.

You can run any of these commands using the React Native CLI:

npx react-native <command-name>

For example:

npx react-native build-neu

Advanced Configuration

You can further customize the behavior of both Vite and NeutralinoJS.

Extending Vite Configuration

To extend the default Vite configuration, you can create a vite.config.js, vite.config.ts, or similar config file inside the neutralino/ directory. It's important that this file is located in this specific directory, otherwise it will not be loaded.

For more details on what you can configure, please refer to the official Vite documentation.

NeutralinoJS Configuration

The behavior of the NeutralinoJS application window, permissions, and other native-level features can be configured by editing the neutralino/neutralino.config.json file.

For a complete list of all available options, check out the official NeutralinoJS documentation.

Adding scripts to package.json

For convenience, you can add these commands to the scripts section of your package.json file, just like the default android and ios scripts in a standard React Native project.

"scripts": {
  "android": "react-native run-android",
  "ios": "react-native run-ios",
  "start": "react-native start",
  "neu": "react-native run-neu",
  "build:neu": "react-native build-neu"
},

With this configuration, you can simply run:

npm run neu

Or to build the application:

npm run build:neu

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.