refactor(code): migrate from electron forge to electron-builder

[charlesvien]

Problem

Auto-update runs on Electron's native autoUpdater (Squirrel via update.electronjs.org) and has been a recurring source of failures we have repeatedly tried and failed to fix:

• Updates that download but never apply (ShipIt fails the macOS bundle swap, leaving users stuck on the old version).
• Users unable to download a new version at all.

It also gives us no control over the update UX: we cannot let users review and confirm an update before it downloads, show byte-level download progress, or surface "what's new" changelogs.

This migrates apps/code from Electron Forge to electron-builder + electron-updater, the more stable, production-standard toolchain. It fixes the reliability issues and gives us the primitives (explicit download/install, progress events, release manifests) to build that update UX.

Changes

Forge 7 to electron-builder 26, landed as small commits:

• Build/dev: replaced Forge's Vite plugin with scripts/build.mjs and scripts/dev.mjs (keeps the CDP :9222 debug port).
• Packaging: electron-builder.config.cjs (mac dmg+zip, win NSIS+Squirrel, linux AppImage/deb/rpm). A before-pack.cjs hook stages native modules from the hoisted root node_modules; files drops the deps Vite already inlines (bundle 1.7 GB to 669 MB).
• Auto-update: native autoUpdater to electron-updater, which reads latest*.yml from the GitHub release and exposes progress plus explicit download/install.
• Release CI: code-release.yml builds, signs and publishes via electron-builder (CSC_LINK signing, per-arch macOS manifest merge, dual Windows NSIS+Squirrel for the transition).
• Cleanup: removed Forge and the dead update.electronjs.org feed code; updated docs/UPDATES.md.

How did you test this?

Locally on macOS arm64, I ran:

• node scripts/build.mjs and electron-builder build --mac --arm64 (dmg + zip + latest-mac.yml). asar list confirms native JS is in the manifest with .node unpacked, the bundle is 669 MB, and artifact filenames match the manifest urls.
• Launched the packaged app: boots in ~2 to 3 s, renderer loads from the production asar, no module/ABI errors (over CDP).
• pnpm typecheck, pnpm lint, the updates unit tests (vitest run updates, 69 passing) and core's full suite (171 files). The PR's CI unit-test and build jobs pass.

Not validated locally (needs a tagged CI run because these cannot build on macOS): real signing/notarization, the Windows and Linux builds, the finalize manifest merge plus draft promotion, and end-to-end auto-update. Recommend a staging tag (for example v0.0.0-eb-test.1) before merge.

Migration strategy

Per-platform rollout:

• macOS: transparent. update.electronjs.org serves the new electron-builder zip to current users, who then move onto the electron-updater feed.
• Linux: AppImage/deb/rpm are published for manual download, with no auto-update. This is unchanged from the Forge setup (the updater already supported only macOS and Windows, isSupported() is byte-identical to main). electron-updater unlocks AppImage auto-update as a later, separate change.
• Windows: ships both NSIS and Squirrel for a transition window (detail below). electron-updater requires NSIS, but the live base is installed via Squirrel.Windows and a Squirrel install cannot auto-update across to NSIS, so this avoids stranding those users.

Windows dual installer (temporary):

• win.target: ["nsis", "squirrel"] produces the NSIS installer (*.exe + latest.yml, consumed by electron-updater) and the Squirrel.Windows artifacts (*.nupkg + RELEASES + Setup, under out/squirrel-windows/). CI uploads both to the same GitHub release.
• squirrelWindows.name: "PostHogCode" keeps the package identity identical to the old Forge MakerSquirrel build, so update.electronjs.org keeps serving the existing Squirrel installs.
• Flow: existing Squirrel users get one more update through the legacy feed, then reinstall once via the NSIS installer (communicated in the release notes). New users install NSIS directly. After that everyone is on NSIS + electron-updater.
• When to remove it: once a release or two have shipped both formats and the Windows base has moved to NSIS (confirm via telemetry, or after a fixed deprecation window), drop "squirrel" from win.target and delete the squirrelWindows block in electron-builder.config.cjs, leaving NSIS only.

No UI changes in this PR; the confirm/progress/changelog UX is a follow-up on top of these primitives.

Automatic notifications

• Publish to changelog?
• Alert Sales and Marketing teams?

[github-actions]

React Doctor found no issues in the changed files. 🎉

_{Reviewed by React Doctor for commit 118ea82.}

[greptile-apps]

Prompt To Fix All With AI

Fix the following 4 code review issues. Work through them one at a time, proposing concise fixes.

---

### Issue 1 of 4
apps/code/scripts/before-pack.cjs:66-86
**Silent failure for required arch-specific watcher package**

`copyDep` only emits `console.warn` when a package is missing instead of throwing. For the arch-specific `@parcel/watcher-*` packages this is dangerous: the old Forge `packageAfterCopy` hook threw a hard error on the same condition. The CI "Verify package" step only checks for `@parcel/watcher` (the base package), not the arch-specific variant, so a missing `@parcel/watcher-darwin-arm64` (or the Linux/Windows equivalents) silently passes verification. Later in this same hook the fallback `@parcel/watcher/build` directory is removed, leaving no native binary at all — the packaged app would fail at runtime with no prior signal.

### Issue 2 of 4
apps/code/scripts/dev.mjs:64-118
**`waitForLine` is defined but never called**

This function is not invoked anywhere in `dev.mjs` or the rest of the codebase. Its line-buffering logic is redundant with the `forwardAndCheck` helper that is actually used. Keeping it around violates the "no superfluous parts" simplicity rule and could confuse readers into thinking it is wired up.

### Issue 3 of 4
apps/code/scripts/dev.mjs:120-145
**Renderer server crash is not handled**

`rendererServer` has no `close` event listener. If the Vite dev server exits unexpectedly after Electron has already started, the Electron window will point to a dead URL with no feedback. The pattern used for the Electron process (`electron.on('close', () => killAll(...))`) should be mirrored here to propagate the crash back to the parent and clean up all child processes.

### Issue 4 of 4
apps/code/scripts/merge-mac-manifests.mjs:27
**Merged manifest inherits arm64 top-level `path`/`sha512`/`size`**

`{ ...arm64, files: mergedFiles }` copies the arm64 `path`, `sha512`, and `size` fields into the merged `latest-mac.yml`. `electron-updater` 6.x selects the correct arch entry from the `files` array, so in practice this works — but any tool or older client that falls back to the top-level `path` would receive an arm64 artifact on an x64 machine, and the SHA512 verification would fail. The safer approach is to either drop those top-level fields or derive a neutral value (e.g. `version`, `releaseDate` only) that does not point to a single arch artifact.

_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "remove electron forge and update release..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[greptile-apps]

Prompt To Fix All With AI

Fix the following 1 code review issue. Work through them one at a time, proposing concise fixes.

---

### Issue 1 of 1
apps/code/scripts/dev.mjs:140-155
**Watch build crashes silently abandoned**

`startWatchBuild` pushes each child into `children` but never attaches a `close` handler. If any of the three watch processes (main, preload, ws) exits unexpectedly after Electron has already started, `killAll` is never called, the Electron window keeps running against stale/missing output, and there is no feedback or cleanup. The `rendererServer` and `electron` processes both have proper `close` handlers for exactly this reason — the same guard should apply to the watch builds.

_{Reviews (2): Last reviewed commit: "Update vite.renderer.config.mts" | Re-trigger Greptile}

[charlesvien]

• feat(updates): update modal, auto-download setting, changelog #2818
• chore(code): upgrade Electron 42, React 19.2, Vite 7 and deps #2817
• refactor(code): migrate build and dev to electron-vite #2811
• refactor(code): migrate from electron forge to electron-builder #2795 👈 (View in Graphite)
• main

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[stamphog]

Gates denied this PR: it touches CI/CD workflows, build toolchain dependencies (migrating from electron-forge to electron-builder), and crypto/signing secrets handling — all on the deny-list. The PR is also well above size limits at 4416 lines across 30 files.

[stamphog]

Gates denied this PR: it touches CI/CD workflows, build toolchain dependencies (migrating from electron-forge to electron-builder), and crypto/signing secrets handling — all on the deny-list. The PR is also well above size limits at 4427 lines across 30 files.

[stamphog]

Gates denied this PR: it touches CI/CD workflows, build toolchain dependencies (full migration from electron-forge to electron-builder), and crypto/signing secrets handling — all on the deny-list. The PR also far exceeds size limits at 4427 lines across 30 files.