Step by Step Guide

NeutralinoJS is a lightweight framework for building cross‑platform desktop applications using web technologies. Unlike Electron, it doesn’t bundle Chromium, making apps smaller and faster. Here’s how you can set up and build a standalone app.

1. Install Neutralino CLI

First, install the Neutralino command line tool globally:

npm install -g @neutralinojs/neu

2. Create a New Project

Generate a starter project with:

neu create myApp

This creates a folder with resources, neutralino.config.json, and other required files.

3. Run the App in Development

Navigate into the project folder and run:

cd myApp
neu run

This launches your app with the Neutralino runtime.

4. Edit Your App

Inside resources/index.html, you can add your UI. For example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>My Neutralino App</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hello Neutralino!</h1>
  <script src="neutralino.js"></script>
  <script src="main.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

5. Configure neutralino.config.json

Make sure your configuration points to the resources folder:

{
  "applicationId": "myApp",
  "documentRoot": "/resources",
  "url": "/index.html",
  "clientLibrary": "/resources/neutralino.js"
}

6. Build a Standalone Executable

To package your app into a standalone executable:

neu build --release

This generates platform‑specific binaries (Windows, Linux, macOS) inside the dist folder.

7. Distribute Your App

You can now share the generated .exe (Windows), .app (macOS), or binary (Linux). These are lightweight compared to Electron builds.

General Requirements

Across all platforms, you need Git for cloning repositories, Node.js and npm for installing the Neutralino CLI, and build tools such as CMake and Ninja. The Neutralino CLI itself is installed globally with the command:

npm install -g @neutralinojs/neu

Linux Requirements

On Debian or Ubuntu, install the following packages:

sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev cmake ninja-build libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0

On Fedora, use dnf to install development tools, GTK3, WebKit2GTK, CMake, and Ninja. On Arch Linux, use pacman to install gtk3, webkit2gtk, cmake, and ninja.

Windows Requirements

On Windows, you need Visual Studio Build Tools or the full Visual Studio IDE with the Desktop development with C++ workload. You also need the MSVC C++ compiler, Windows 10 SDK, and build tools CMake and Ninja.

macOS Requirements

On macOS, install Xcode Command Line Tools with:

xcode-select --install

Then use Homebrew to install CMake and Ninja:

brew install cmake ninja

Node.js Dependencies

The Neutralino CLI uses npm packages internally, such as chalk for output formatting and websocket libraries for communication. These are installed automatically when you install the CLI.

To summarize, the essential requirements are Git, Node.js, Neutralino CLI, CMake, and Ninja. Linux and macOS require GTK and WebKit libraries, while Windows requires Visual Studio Build Tools and the Windows SDK. Once these dependencies are installed, you can build and distribute standalone NeutralinoJS applications across all major platforms.

Conclusion

NeutralinoJS makes it easy to build cross‑platform desktop apps with minimal overhead. By installing the CLI, creating a project, editing your resources, and running neu build, you can quickly produce a standalone executable ready for distribution.

AFU Webs

How to Build a Standalone App Using NeutralinoJS