NebulaBrowser/ELECTRON_UPGRADE_FIXES.md

Electron Upgrade Feature - Bug Fixes

Problem Identified

The upgrade feature was downloading and installing new Electron versions successfully, but the app always showed the old version (1.0.0) after restart because:

1. Version Source Issue: The app was reading app.getVersion() which gets the version from package.json at startup time
2. Package.json Not Re-read: Even after npm installed a new Electron version, the app didn't re-read the updated package.json
3. Runtime Display: The About tab showed the bundled Electron version (37.x) which is baked into the binary at build time

Solutions Implemented

1. New Helper Function: getInstalledElectronVersion()

• Reads package.json directly every time it's called (not cached)
• Extracts the actual installed Electron version from devDependencies
• Handles both stable (electron) and nightly (electron-nightly) packages
• Strips version specifiers (^, ~, etc.) to get the clean version number
• Falls back to app.getVersion() if reading fails

function getInstalledElectronVersion() {
  try {
    const packageJsonPath = path.join(__dirname, 'package.json');
    const packageJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(packageJsonPath, 'utf8'));
    
    const electronDep = packageJson.devDependencies?.electron;
    const electronNightlyDep = packageJson.devDependencies?.['electron-nightly'];
    
    if (electronDep) {
      return electronDep.replace(/^\D+/, '');
    }
    if (electronNightlyDep) {
      return electronNightlyDep.replace(/^\D+/, '');
    }
    return app.getVersion();
  } catch (err) {
    return app.getVersion();
  }
}

2. Updated get-electron-versions Handler

• Now uses getInstalledElectronVersion() instead of app.getVersion()
• Returns the actual installed version that was modified by npm
• Performs fresh version checks each time (no caching)

3. Improved upgrade-electron Handler

• Increased maxBuffer to handle large npm output
• Added cleanup logic to remove the old Electron variant when switching types
  • Removes electron when upgrading to nightly
  • Removes electron-nightly when upgrading to stable
• Better error logging to debug npm failures
• Returns clearer messages about installation status

4. Enhanced UI/UX in settings.js

• Added more descriptive status text ("Downloading and installing..." instead of just "Upgrading...")
• Disables all controls during upgrade to prevent multiple clicks
• Reduced restart delay from 2000ms to 1500ms for faster feedback
• Better error handling with proper cleanup of disabled states

How It Works Now

1. User clicks "Check for Updates"

   • Queries npm registry for latest version
   • Uses getInstalledElectronVersion() to read current version from package.json
   • Compares versions and shows if update is available

2. User clicks "Upgrade Electron"

   • Confirms action
   • Runs npm install --save-dev electron@latest (or electron-nightly@latest)
   • npm downloads and installs new version
   • Handler removes the other Electron variant from package.json if needed
   • Shows success message

3. App Restarts

   • Uses app.relaunch() and app.quit()
   • When app relaunches, it:
     • Loads new Electron binary from node_modules
     • Runs new Electron version
     • Settings page shows correct new version on next check

Testing Recommendations

1. Test upgrading from stable to nightly version
2. Test upgrading from nightly back to stable
3. Verify version display updates after restart
4. Check that old variant is removed from package.json
5. Verify app runs stably with new Electron version

Notes for Future Development

• The About tab displays process.versions.electron which is the bundled Chromium version, not the Electron framework version
• The Electron version we display in the upgrade section comes from package.json which is the actual framework version
• When building with electron-builder, the bundled version becomes fixed until next rebuild
• For development/testing, the upgrade feature reads live from package.json