electron/docs/api/breaking-changes.md

API Contract

Breaking changes will be included in this documentation, and deprecation warnings added to JS code where possible, at least one major version before the change is made.

FIXME comments

The FIXME string is used in code comments to denote things that should be fixed for future releases. See https://github.com/electron/electron/search?q=fixme

Planned Breaking API Changes (4.0)

The following list includes the APIs that will be removed in Electron 4.0.

There is no timetable for when this release will occur but deprecation warnings will be added at least one major version beforehand.

app.makeSingleInstance

// Deprecated
app.makeSingleInstance(function (argv, cwd) {

})
// Replace with
app.requestSingleInstanceLock()
app.on('second-instance', function (argv, cwd) {

})

app.releaseSingleInstance

// Deprecated
app.releaseSingleInstance()
// Replace with
app.releaseSingleInstanceLock()

Planned Breaking API Changes (3.0)

The following list includes the APIs that will be removed in Electron 3.0.

app

// Deprecated
app.getAppMemoryInfo()
// Replace with
app.getAppMetrics()

BrowserWindow

// Deprecated
let optionsA = {webPreferences: {blinkFeatures: ''}}
let windowA = new BrowserWindow(optionsA)
// Replace with
let optionsB = {webPreferences: {enableBlinkFeatures: ''}}
let windowB = new BrowserWindow(optionsB)

// Deprecated
window.on('app-command', (e, cmd) => {
  if (cmd === 'media-play_pause') {
    // do something
  }
})
// Replace with
window.on('app-command', (e, cmd) => {
  if (cmd === 'media-play-pause') {
    // do something
  }
})

clipboard

// Deprecated
clipboard.readRtf()
// Replace with
clipboard.readRTF()

// Deprecated
clipboard.writeRtf()
// Replace with
clipboard.writeRTF()

// Deprecated
clipboard.readHtml()
// Replace with
clipboard.readHTML()

// Deprecated
clipboard.writeHtml()
// Replace with
clipboard.writeHTML()

crashReporter

// Deprecated
crashReporter.start({
  companyName: 'Crashly',
  submitURL: 'https://crash.server.com',
  autoSubmit: true
})
// Replace with
crashReporter.start({
  companyName: 'Crashly',
  submitURL: 'https://crash.server.com',
  uploadToServer: true
})

nativeImage

// Deprecated
nativeImage.createFromBuffer(buffer, 1.0)
// Replace with
nativeImage.createFromBuffer(buffer, {
  scaleFactor: 1.0
})

screen

// Deprecated
screen.getMenuBarHeight()
// Replace with
screen.getPrimaryDisplay().workArea

session

// Deprecated
ses.setCertificateVerifyProc(function (hostname, certificate, callback) {
  callback(true)
})
// Replace with
ses.setCertificateVerifyProc(function (request, callback) {
  callback(0)
})

Tray

// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(true)
// Replace with
tray.setHighlightMode('on')

// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(false)
// Replace with
tray.setHighlightMode('off')

webContents

// Deprecated
webContents.openDevTools({detach: true})
// Replace with
webContents.openDevTools({mode: 'detach'})

webFrame

// Deprecated
webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsSecure('app')
// Replace with
protocol.registerStandardSchemes(['app'], {secure: true})

// Deprecated
webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsPrivileged('app', {secure: true})
// Replace with
protocol.registerStandardSchemes(['app'], {secure: true})

Node Headers URL

This is the URL specified as disturl in a .npmrc file or as the --dist-url command line flag when building native Node modules.

Deprecated: https://atom.io/download/atom-shell

Replace with: https://atom.io/download/electron

Breaking API Changes (2.0)

BrowserWindow

// Deprecated
let optionsA = {titleBarStyle: 'hidden-inset'}
let windowA = new BrowserWindow(optionsA)
// Replace with
let optionsB = {titleBarStyle: 'hiddenInset'}
let windowB = new BrowserWindow(optionsB)

menu

// Deprecated
menu.popup(browserWindow, 100, 200, 2)
// Replace with
menu.popup(browserWindow, {x: 100, y: 200, positioningItem: 2})

nativeImage

// Deprecated
nativeImage.toPng()
// Replace with
nativeImage.toPNG()

// Deprecated
nativeImage.toJpeg()
// Replace with
nativeImage.toJPEG()

process

• process.versions.electron and process.version.chrome will be made read-only properties for consistency with the other process.versions properties set by Node.

webContents

// Deprecated
webContents.setZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)
// Replace with
webContents.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)

webFrame

// Deprecated
webFrame.setZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)
// Replace with
webFrame.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)

<webview>

// Deprecated
webview.setZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)
// Replace with
webview.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)

Duplicate ARM Assets

Each Electron release includes two identical ARM builds with slightly different filenames, like electron-v1.7.3-linux-arm.zip and electron-v1.7.3-linux-armv7l.zip. The asset with the v7l prefix was added to clarify to users which ARM version it supports, and to disambiguate it from future armv6l and arm64 assets that may be produced.

The file without the prefix is still being published to avoid breaking any setups that may be consuming it. Starting at 2.0, the un-prefixed file will no longer be published.

For details, see 6986 and 7189.