Developing nRF Connect for Desktop core

Developing the core of nRF Connect for Desktop is a bit different than developing an app.

You might want to work on the core part if you want to change the launcher or code that is common for the apps.

As detailed in the architecture summary, the core is split into the following projects:

• pc-nrfconnect-launcher - for the launcher part
• pc-nrfconnect-shared - for the shared code

Prerequisites

Besides the general prerequisites, you need some additional prerequisites for developing the core, depending on your operating system.

Linux

Install the following additional packages for building the project on Ubuntu Linux:

apt-get install build-essential python2.7 libudev-dev libgconf-2-4

Windows

Install the additional tools and configurations using Microsoft’s windows-build-tools from an elevated PowerShell or cmd.exe (run as Administrator):

npm install --global --production windows-build-tools

macOS

Installing the general prerequisites fulfills all prerequisites for developing the core on macOS.

Running the launcher from source

Complete the following steps:

1. Clone the source files from https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/pc-nrfconnect-launcher.

2. Install the dependencies by running the following command:

   npm ci
   

3. Start the continuous compilation by running the following command:

   npm run watch:build
   

   This transpiles and bundles all code into the dist directory. The process then watches for changes to source code and re-bundles to dist on each change.

4. Open a separate terminal window and run the following command:

   npm run app
   

   This opens Electron, which loads its content from dist. This instance also uses the apps it finds in your ~/.nrfconnect-apps directory. If you also have a binary installation of nRF Connect for Desktop or develop local apps, the same apps show up in this instance too.

Developing common code in pc-nrfconnect-shared

Development of pc-nrfconnect-shared is usually only done by the core nRF Connect for Desktop team, but everyone is welcome to propose changes to it.

Generally, it is recommended to stay up-to-date with the version of pc-nrfconnect-shared you are using, especially new releases of the launcher might require that all apps are updated to a certain version of it.

The pc-nrfconnect-shared repository contains a Changelog where the “Steps to upgrade when using this package” sections are especially important to read when upgrading to newer versions.