🚀 Easily convert your Node.js application into an executable with SEA (Single Executable Application).

Supported on: Windows, macOS, Linux

Made with ❤️ by Klicat - France

npm install --save-dev node2exe

In your project, run:

npx node2exe

npx node2exe -V

This generates app-1.0.0.exe (or app-1.0.0 on macOS/Linux) based on your package.json version.

Add to your package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "build:exe": "node2exe"
  }
}

Then run:

npm run build:exe
npm run build:exe -- -V  # with version

• Node.js 24+ (with SEA support)
• A file specified in package.json main field (e.g., server.js, app.js, index.js)
• A package.json file

Note: The executable name is based on the main field filename. If not defined, it defaults to app.

• Generates: app.exe (Windows executable)
• Run: Double-click or app.exe

• Generates: app (macOS executable)
• Run: ./app in terminal
• Note: Automatic code signing

• Generates: app (Linux executable)
• Run: ./app in terminal

1. ✅ Reads entry point from package.json main field
2. ✅ Installs postject if not already present
3. ✅ Creates sea-config.json automatically
4. ✅ Generates the SEA blob
5. ✅ Creates the executable for your platform
6. ✅ Cleans up temporary files

# Installation
npm install --save-dev node2exe

# Usage
npx node2exe

# Result
# ✅ app.exe created! (Windows)
# ✅ app created! (macOS/Linux)

• app.exe / app - Your final executable (ready to distribute)
• sea-config.json - SEA configuration (optional after creation)
• node_modules/ - Contains postject and dependencies

⚠️ SEA (Single Executable Applications) only supports CommonJS modules (require), not ES Modules (import).

However, with node2exe's automatic bundling, you can write in ES Modules! Here's how:

1. You write ES Modules:

import colors from 'colors';
import https from 'https';

console.log('Hello'.blue);

2. esbuild automatically converts to CommonJS:

const colors = require('colors');
const https = require('https');

console.log('Hello'.blue);

3. SEA runs the CommonJS version in the executable

Don't forget to add "type": "module" to package.json:

{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "main": "server.js"
}

Your code:

import express from 'express';
import colors from 'colors';

const app = express();
const PORT = 3000;

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  console.log(colors.blue('→ Request received on /'));
  res.send('Hello World from Express!');
});

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(colors.green(`✓ Server running on http://localhost:${PORT}`));
});

{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "server.js"
}

Your code:

const express = require('express');
const colors = require('colors');

const app = express();
const PORT = 3000;

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  console.log(colors.blue('→ Request received on /'));
  res.send('Hello World from Express!');
});

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(colors.green(`✓ Server running on http://localhost:${PORT}`));
});

Some advanced ES Module features may not work:

• Dynamic imports - import() at runtime
• Top-level await - await outside async function
• Circular dependencies - complex import cycles

Simple rule: If your imports look straightforward, they'll work!

Official documentation: https://nodejs.org/api/single-executable-applications.html

"The single executable application feature currently only supports running a single embedded script using the CommonJS module system."

The name of your executable is automatically determined by the main field in your package.json:

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "main": "server.js",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Running npx node2exe creates: server.exe (or server on macOS/Linux)

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Running npx node2exe creates: app.exe (default name, since main is not defined)

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "main": "index.js",
  "version": "2.5.0"
}

Running npx node2exe -V creates: index-2.5.0.exe

• node2exe reads the main field from package.json
• Extracts the filename without extension: server.js → server
• Uses that as the executable name
• If main is not defined, defaults to app
• With -V flag, appends the version: server-1.0.0.exe

• The created executable includes all your code and Node.js
• No external dependencies required to run
• Typical size: 60-80 MB depending on your app
• The script is written in pure JavaScript (cross-platform)
• Each platform generates its own executable
• Use the -V flag to include version in the filename

When building on Windows, you may see this warning during the injection step:

warning: The signature seems corrupted!

This is completely normal and harmless!

Here's why it happens:

• Windows signs all .exe files with a digital signature for security
• When postject injects the SEA blob, it modifies the binary structure
• This breaks the original Windows signature (but the file still works perfectly)
• The warning is just informational and can be safely ignored

The executable will work perfectly fine without the signature. If you want to sign it with a code signing certificate, you can use signtool from the Windows SDK (requires a valid certificate).

⏳ Important: The injection step (step 4/5) can take 30-60 seconds depending on your disk speed.

This is because postject needs to:

• Read the entire Node.js binary (50-80 MB)
• Inject the SEA blob into it
• Write the complete file back to disk

This is normal and expected. Just wait for the process to complete. Do not interrupt it during this step!

When you have npm packages in your node_modules, node2exe automatically bundles them into the executable using esbuild. This works great for most packages!

npm install colors
npx node2exe
# This automatically bundles 'colors' into the executable

Some npm packages require external data files (like databases or configuration files). These cannot be automatically bundled into the executable because:

1. SEA doesn't support file system access for bundled assets by default
2. Data files are not code - esbuild bundler only handles JavaScript
3. Path resolution fails - packages looking for files on disk won't find them in the executable

Examples of packages with data files:

• geoip-lite - requires .dat files
• SQLite databases - .db files
• Font files, images, config files

Solutions:

1. Use online APIs instead - Replace local data with API calls (recommended) ✅

   // Instead of: const geoip = require('geoip-lite');
   // Use: fetch('https://ip-api.com/json/' + ip)

2. Use web services - Move data-heavy operations to cloud services

3. Manually add assets - Edit sea-config.json to include assets (advanced, complex)