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<li><span class="stability_1"><a href="#single-executable-applications">Single executable applications</a></span>
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<li><a href="#generating-single-executable-preparation-blobs">Generating single executable preparation blobs</a>
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<li><a href="#assets">Assets</a></li>
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<li><a href="#single-executable-application-api">Single-executable application API</a>
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<li><a href="#seaissea"><code>sea.isSea()</code></a></li>
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<li><a href="#seagetassetkey-encoding"><code>sea.getAsset(key[, encoding])</code></a></li>
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<li><a href="#requireid-in-the-injected-main-script-is-not-file-based"><code>require(id)</code> in the injected main script is not file based</a></li>
<li><a href="#__filename-and-modulefilename-in-the-injected-main-script"><code>__filename</code> and <code>module.filename</code> in the injected main script</a></li>
<li><a href="#__dirname-in-the-injected-main-script"><code>__dirname</code> in the injected main script</a></li>
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<li><a href="#notes">Notes</a>
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<li><a href="#single-executable-application-creation-process">Single executable application creation process</a></li>
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<details role="navigation" id="toc" open><summary>Table of contents</summary><ul>
<li><span class="stability_1"><a href="#single-executable-applications">Single executable applications</a></span>
<ul>
<li><a href="#generating-single-executable-preparation-blobs">Generating single executable preparation blobs</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#assets">Assets</a></li>
<li><a href="#startup-snapshot-support">Startup snapshot support</a></li>
<li><a href="#v8-code-cache-support">V8 code cache support</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#in-the-injected-main-script">In the injected main script</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#single-executable-application-api">Single-executable application API</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#seaissea"><code>sea.isSea()</code></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#seagetassetkey-encoding"><code>sea.getAsset(key[, encoding])</code></a></li>
<li><a href="#seagetassetasblobkey-options"><code>sea.getAssetAsBlob(key[, options])</code></a></li>
<li><a href="#seagetrawassetkey"><code>sea.getRawAsset(key)</code></a></li>
<li><a href="#requireid-in-the-injected-main-script-is-not-file-based"><code>require(id)</code> in the injected main script is not file based</a></li>
<li><a href="#__filename-and-modulefilename-in-the-injected-main-script"><code>__filename</code> and <code>module.filename</code> in the injected main script</a></li>
<li><a href="#__dirname-in-the-injected-main-script"><code>__dirname</code> in the injected main script</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#notes">Notes</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#single-executable-application-creation-process">Single executable application creation process</a></li>
<li><a href="#platform-support">Platform support</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul></details>
<div role="main" id="apicontent">
<h2>Single executable applications<span><a class="mark" href="#single-executable-applications" id="single-executable-applications">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_single_executable_applications"></a></h2>
<div class="api_metadata">
<details class="changelog"><summary>History</summary>
<table>
<tbody><tr><th>Version</th><th>Changes</th></tr>
<tr><td>v20.6.0</td>
<td><p>Added support for "useSnapshot".</p></td></tr>
<tr><td>v20.6.0</td>
<td><p>Added support for "useCodeCache".</p></td></tr>
<tr><td>v19.7.0, v18.16.0</td>
<td><p><span>Added in: v19.7.0, v18.16.0</span></p></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</details>
</div>
<p></p><div class="api_stability api_stability_1"><a href="documentation.html#stability-index">Stability: 1</a>.1 - Active development</div><p></p>
<p><strong>Source Code:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v20.18.0/src/node_sea.cc">src/node_sea.cc</a></p>
<p>This feature allows the distribution of a Node.js application conveniently to a
system that does not have Node.js installed.</p>
<p>Node.js supports the creation of <a href="https://github.com/nodejs/single-executable">single executable applications</a> by allowing
the injection of a blob prepared by Node.js, which can contain a bundled script,
into the <code>node</code> binary. During start up, the program checks if anything has been
injected. If the blob is found, it executes the script in the blob. Otherwise
Node.js operates as it normally does.</p>
<p>The single executable application feature currently only supports running a
single embedded script using the <a href="modules.html#modules-commonjs-modules">CommonJS</a> module system.</p>
<p>Users can create a single executable application from their bundled script
with the <code>node</code> binary itself and any tool which can inject resources into the
binary.</p>
<p>Here are the steps for creating a single executable application using one such
tool, <a href="https://github.com/nodejs/postject">postject</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Create a JavaScript file:</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash"><span class="hljs-built_in">echo</span> <span class="hljs-string">'console.log(`Hello, ${process.argv[2]}!`);'</span> > hello.js</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>Create a configuration file building a blob that can be injected into the
single executable application (see
<a href="#generating-single-executable-preparation-blobs">Generating single executable preparation blobs</a> for details):</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash"><span class="hljs-built_in">echo</span> <span class="hljs-string">'{ "main": "hello.js", "output": "sea-prep.blob" }'</span> > sea-config.json</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>Generate the blob to be injected:</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash">node --experimental-sea-config sea-config.json</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>Create a copy of the <code>node</code> executable and name it according to your needs:</p>
<ul>
<li>On systems other than Windows:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-bash"><span class="hljs-built_in">cp</span> $(<span class="hljs-built_in">command</span> -v node) hello</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<ul>
<li>On Windows:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-text">node -e "require('fs').copyFileSync(process.execPath, 'hello.exe')"</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<p>The <code>.exe</code> extension is necessary.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Remove the signature of the binary (macOS and Windows only):</p>
<ul>
<li>On macOS:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-bash">codesign --remove-signature hello</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<ul>
<li>On Windows (optional):</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/seccrypto/signtool">signtool</a> can be used from the installed <a href="https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/windows-sdk/">Windows SDK</a>. If this step is
skipped, ignore any signature-related warning from postject.</p>
<pre><code class="language-powershell">signtool remove /s hello.exe</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>Inject the blob into the copied binary by running <code>postject</code> with
the following options:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>hello</code> / <code>hello.exe</code> - The name of the copy of the <code>node</code> executable
created in step 4.</li>
<li><code>NODE_SEA_BLOB</code> - The name of the resource / note / section in the binary
where the contents of the blob will be stored.</li>
<li><code>sea-prep.blob</code> - The name of the blob created in step 1.</li>
<li><code>--sentinel-fuse NODE_SEA_FUSE_fce680ab2cc467b6e072b8b5df1996b2</code> - The
<a href="https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/fuses">fuse</a> used by the Node.js project to detect if a file has been injected.</li>
<li><code>--macho-segment-name NODE_SEA</code> (only needed on macOS) - The name of the
segment in the binary where the contents of the blob will be
stored.</li>
</ul>
<p>To summarize, here is the required command for each platform:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>On Linux:</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash">npx postject hello NODE_SEA_BLOB sea-prep.blob \
--sentinel-fuse NODE_SEA_FUSE_fce680ab2cc467b6e072b8b5df1996b2</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>On Windows - PowerShell:</p>
<pre><code class="language-powershell">npx postject hello.exe NODE_SEA_BLOB sea<span class="hljs-literal">-prep</span>.blob `
<span class="hljs-literal">--sentinel-fuse</span> NODE_SEA_FUSE_fce680ab2cc467b6e072b8b5df1996b2</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>On Windows - Command Prompt:</p>
<pre><code class="language-text">npx postject hello.exe NODE_SEA_BLOB sea-prep.blob ^
--sentinel-fuse NODE_SEA_FUSE_fce680ab2cc467b6e072b8b5df1996b2</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>On macOS:</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash">npx postject hello NODE_SEA_BLOB sea-prep.blob \
--sentinel-fuse NODE_SEA_FUSE_fce680ab2cc467b6e072b8b5df1996b2 \
--macho-segment-name NODE_SEA</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>Sign the binary (macOS and Windows only):</p>
<ul>
<li>On macOS:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-bash">codesign --sign - hello</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<ul>
<li>On Windows (optional):</li>
</ul>
<p>A certificate needs to be present for this to work. However, the unsigned
binary would still be runnable.</p>
<pre><code class="language-powershell">signtool sign /fd SHA256 hello.exe</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
<li>
<p>Run the binary:</p>
<ul>
<li>On systems other than Windows</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-console"><span class="hljs-meta prompt_">$ </span><span class="language-bash">./hello world</span>
Hello, world!</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<ul>
<li>On Windows</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-console"><span class="hljs-meta prompt_">$ </span><span class="language-bash">.\hello.exe world</span>
Hello, world!</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
</li>
</ol>
<section><h3>Generating single executable preparation blobs<span><a class="mark" href="#generating-single-executable-preparation-blobs" id="generating-single-executable-preparation-blobs">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_generating_single_executable_preparation_blobs"></a></h3>
<p>Single executable preparation blobs that are injected into the application can
be generated using the <code>--experimental-sea-config</code> flag of the Node.js binary
that will be used to build the single executable. It takes a path to a
configuration file in JSON format. If the path passed to it isn't absolute,
Node.js will use the path relative to the current working directory.</p>
<p>The configuration currently reads the following top-level fields:</p>
<pre><code class="language-json"><span class="hljs-punctuation">{</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"main"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/bundled/script.js"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"output"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/write/the/generated/blob.blob"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"disableExperimentalSEAWarning"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-literal"><span class="hljs-keyword">true</span></span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span> <span class="hljs-comment">// Default: false</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"useSnapshot"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-literal"><span class="hljs-keyword">false</span></span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span> <span class="hljs-comment">// Default: false</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"useCodeCache"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-literal"><span class="hljs-keyword">true</span></span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span> <span class="hljs-comment">// Default: false</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"assets"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-punctuation">{</span> <span class="hljs-comment">// Optional</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"a.dat"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/a.dat"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"b.txt"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/b.txt"</span>
<span class="hljs-punctuation">}</span>
<span class="hljs-punctuation">}</span></code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<p>If the paths are not absolute, Node.js will use the path relative to the
current working directory. The version of the Node.js binary used to produce
the blob must be the same as the one to which the blob will be injected.</p>
<p>Note: When generating cross-platform SEAs (e.g., generating a SEA
for <code>linux-x64</code> on <code>darwin-arm64</code>), <code>useCodeCache</code> and <code>useSnapshot</code>
must be set to false to avoid generating incompatible executables.
Since code cache and snapshots can only be loaded on the same platform
where they are compiled, the generated executable might crash on startup when
trying to load code cache or snapshots built on a different platform.</p>
<h4>Assets<span><a class="mark" href="#assets" id="assets">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_assets"></a></h4>
<p>Users can include assets by adding a key-path dictionary to the configuration
as the <code>assets</code> field. At build time, Node.js would read the assets from the
specified paths and bundle them into the preparation blob. In the generated
executable, users can retrieve the assets using the <a href="#seagetassetkey-encoding"><code>sea.getAsset()</code></a> and
<a href="#seagetassetasblobkey-options"><code>sea.getAssetAsBlob()</code></a> APIs.</p>
<pre><code class="language-json"><span class="hljs-punctuation">{</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"main"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/bundled/script.js"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"output"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/write/the/generated/blob.blob"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"assets"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-punctuation">{</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"a.jpg"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/a.jpg"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">,</span>
<span class="hljs-attr">"b.txt"</span><span class="hljs-punctuation">:</span> <span class="hljs-string">"/path/to/b.txt"</span>
<span class="hljs-punctuation">}</span>
<span class="hljs-punctuation">}</span></code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<p>The single-executable application can access the assets as follows:</p>
<pre><code class="language-js cjs"><span class="hljs-keyword">const</span> { getAsset, getAssetAsBlob, getRawAsset } = <span class="hljs-built_in">require</span>(<span class="hljs-string">'node:sea'</span>);
<span class="hljs-comment">// Returns a copy of the data in an ArrayBuffer.</span>
<span class="hljs-keyword">const</span> image = <span class="hljs-title function_">getAsset</span>(<span class="hljs-string">'a.jpg'</span>);
<span class="hljs-comment">// Returns a string decoded from the asset as UTF8.</span>
<span class="hljs-keyword">const</span> text = <span class="hljs-title function_">getAsset</span>(<span class="hljs-string">'b.txt'</span>, <span class="hljs-string">'utf8'</span>);
<span class="hljs-comment">// Returns a Blob containing the asset.</span>
<span class="hljs-keyword">const</span> blob = <span class="hljs-title function_">getAssetAsBlob</span>(<span class="hljs-string">'a.jpg'</span>);
<span class="hljs-comment">// Returns an ArrayBuffer containing the raw asset without copying.</span>
<span class="hljs-keyword">const</span> raw = <span class="hljs-title function_">getRawAsset</span>(<span class="hljs-string">'a.jpg'</span>);</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<p>See documentation of the <a href="#seagetassetkey-encoding"><code>sea.getAsset()</code></a>, <a href="#seagetassetasblobkey-options"><code>sea.getAssetAsBlob()</code></a> and <a href="#seagetrawassetkey"><code>sea.getRawAsset()</code></a>
APIs for more information.</p>
<h4>Startup snapshot support<span><a class="mark" href="#startup-snapshot-support" id="startup-snapshot-support">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_startup_snapshot_support"></a></h4>
<p>The <code>useSnapshot</code> field can be used to enable startup snapshot support. In this
case the <code>main</code> script would not be when the final executable is launched.
Instead, it would be run when the single executable application preparation
blob is generated on the building machine. The generated preparation blob would
then include a snapshot capturing the states initialized by the <code>main</code> script.
The final executable with the preparation blob injected would deserialize
the snapshot at run time.</p>
<p>When <code>useSnapshot</code> is true, the main script must invoke the
<a href="v8.html#v8startupsnapshotsetdeserializemainfunctioncallback-data"><code>v8.startupSnapshot.setDeserializeMainFunction()</code></a> API to configure code
that needs to be run when the final executable is launched by the users.</p>
<p>The typical pattern for an application to use snapshot in a single executable
application is:</p>
<ol>
<li>At build time, on the building machine, the main script is run to
initialize the heap to a state that's ready to take user input. The script
should also configure a main function with
<a href="v8.html#v8startupsnapshotsetdeserializemainfunctioncallback-data"><code>v8.startupSnapshot.setDeserializeMainFunction()</code></a>. This function will be
compiled and serialized into the snapshot, but not invoked at build time.</li>
<li>At run time, the main function will be run on top of the deserialized heap
on the user machine to process user input and generate output.</li>
</ol>
<p>The general constraints of the startup snapshot scripts also apply to the main
script when it's used to build snapshot for the single executable application,
and the main script can use the <a href="v8.html#startup-snapshot-api"><code>v8.startupSnapshot</code> API</a> to adapt to
these constraints. See
<a href="cli.html#--build-snapshot">documentation about startup snapshot support in Node.js</a>.</p>
<h4>V8 code cache support<span><a class="mark" href="#v8-code-cache-support" id="v8-code-cache-support">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_v8_code_cache_support"></a></h4>
<p>When <code>useCodeCache</code> is set to <code>true</code> in the configuration, during the generation
of the single executable preparation blob, Node.js will compile the <code>main</code>
script to generate the V8 code cache. The generated code cache would be part of
the preparation blob and get injected into the final executable. When the single
executable application is launched, instead of compiling the <code>main</code> script from
scratch, Node.js would use the code cache to speed up the compilation, then
execute the script, which would improve the startup performance.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> <code>import()</code> does not work when <code>useCodeCache</code> is <code>true</code>.</p>
</section><section><h3>In the injected main script<span><a class="mark" href="#in-the-injected-main-script" id="in-the-injected-main-script">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_in_the_injected_main_script"></a></h3>
<h4>Single-executable application API<span><a class="mark" href="#single-executable-application-api" id="single-executable-application-api">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_single_executable_application_api"></a></h4>
<p>The <code>node:sea</code> builtin allows interaction with the single-executable application
from the JavaScript main script embedded into the executable.</p>
<h5><code>sea.isSea()</code><span><a class="mark" href="#seaissea" id="seaissea">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_sea_issea"></a></h5>
<div class="api_metadata">
<span>Added in: v20.12.0</span>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Returns: <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#Boolean_type" class="type"><boolean></a> Whether this script is running inside a single-executable
application.</li>
</ul>
<h4><code>sea.getAsset(key[, encoding])</code><span><a class="mark" href="#seagetassetkey-encoding" id="seagetassetkey-encoding">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_sea_getasset_key_encoding"></a></h4>
<div class="api_metadata">
<span>Added in: v20.12.0</span>
</div>
<p>This method can be used to retrieve the assets configured to be bundled into the
single-executable application at build time.
An error is thrown when no matching asset can be found.</p>
<ul>
<li><code>key</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> the key for the asset in the dictionary specified by the
<code>assets</code> field in the single-executable application configuration.</li>
<li><code>encoding</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> If specified, the asset will be decoded as
a string. Any encoding supported by the <code>TextDecoder</code> is accepted.
If unspecified, an <code>ArrayBuffer</code> containing a copy of the asset would be
returned instead.</li>
<li>Returns: <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> | <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/ArrayBuffer" class="type"><ArrayBuffer></a></li>
</ul>
<h4><code>sea.getAssetAsBlob(key[, options])</code><span><a class="mark" href="#seagetassetasblobkey-options" id="seagetassetasblobkey-options">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_sea_getassetasblob_key_options"></a></h4>
<div class="api_metadata">
<span>Added in: v20.12.0</span>
</div>
<p>Similar to <a href="#seagetassetkey-encoding"><code>sea.getAsset()</code></a>, but returns the result in a <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Blob"><code>Blob</code></a>.
An error is thrown when no matching asset can be found.</p>
<ul>
<li><code>key</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> the key for the asset in the dictionary specified by the
<code>assets</code> field in the single-executable application configuration.</li>
<li><code>options</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object" class="type"><Object></a>
<ul>
<li><code>type</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> An optional mime type for the blob.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Returns: <a href="buffer.html#class-blob" class="type"><Blob></a></li>
</ul>
<h4><code>sea.getRawAsset(key)</code><span><a class="mark" href="#seagetrawassetkey" id="seagetrawassetkey">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_sea_getrawasset_key"></a></h4>
<div class="api_metadata">
<span>Added in: v20.12.0</span>
</div>
<p>This method can be used to retrieve the assets configured to be bundled into the
single-executable application at build time.
An error is thrown when no matching asset can be found.</p>
<p>Unlike <code>sea.getAsset()</code> or <code>sea.getAssetAsBlob()</code>, this method does not
return a copy. Instead, it returns the raw asset bundled inside the executable.</p>
<p>For now, users should avoid writing to the returned array buffer. If the
injected section is not marked as writable or not aligned properly,
writes to the returned array buffer is likely to result in a crash.</p>
<ul>
<li><code>key</code> <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> the key for the asset in the dictionary specified by the
<code>assets</code> field in the single-executable application configuration.</li>
<li>Returns: <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures#String_type" class="type"><string></a> | <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/ArrayBuffer" class="type"><ArrayBuffer></a></li>
</ul>
<h4><code>require(id)</code> in the injected main script is not file based<span><a class="mark" href="#requireid-in-the-injected-main-script-is-not-file-based" id="requireid-in-the-injected-main-script-is-not-file-based">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_require_id_in_the_injected_main_script_is_not_file_based"></a></h4>
<p><code>require()</code> in the injected main script is not the same as the <a href="modules.html#requireid"><code>require()</code></a>
available to modules that are not injected. It also does not have any of the
properties that non-injected <a href="modules.html#requireid"><code>require()</code></a> has except <a href="modules.html#accessing-the-main-module"><code>require.main</code></a>. It
can only be used to load built-in modules. Attempting to load a module that can
only be found in the file system will throw an error.</p>
<p>Instead of relying on a file based <code>require()</code>, users can bundle their
application into a standalone JavaScript file to inject into the executable.
This also ensures a more deterministic dependency graph.</p>
<p>However, if a file based <code>require()</code> is still needed, that can also be achieved:</p>
<pre><code class="language-js"><span class="hljs-keyword">const</span> { createRequire } = <span class="hljs-built_in">require</span>(<span class="hljs-string">'node:module'</span>);
<span class="hljs-built_in">require</span> = <span class="hljs-title function_">createRequire</span>(__filename);</code> <button class="copy-button">copy</button></pre>
<h4><code>__filename</code> and <code>module.filename</code> in the injected main script<span><a class="mark" href="#__filename-and-modulefilename-in-the-injected-main-script" id="__filename-and-modulefilename-in-the-injected-main-script">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_filename_and_module_filename_in_the_injected_main_script"></a></h4>
<p>The values of <code>__filename</code> and <code>module.filename</code> in the injected main script
are equal to <a href="process.html#processexecpath"><code>process.execPath</code></a>.</p>
<h4><code>__dirname</code> in the injected main script<span><a class="mark" href="#__dirname-in-the-injected-main-script" id="__dirname-in-the-injected-main-script">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_dirname_in_the_injected_main_script"></a></h4>
<p>The value of <code>__dirname</code> in the injected main script is equal to the directory
name of <a href="process.html#processexecpath"><code>process.execPath</code></a>.</p>
</section><section><h3>Notes<span><a class="mark" href="#notes" id="notes">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_notes"></a></h3>
<h4>Single executable application creation process<span><a class="mark" href="#single-executable-application-creation-process" id="single-executable-application-creation-process">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_single_executable_application_creation_process"></a></h4>
<p>A tool aiming to create a single executable Node.js application must
inject the contents of the blob prepared with <code>--experimental-sea-config"</code>
into:</p>
<ul>
<li>a resource named <code>NODE_SEA_BLOB</code> if the <code>node</code> binary is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Executable">PE</a> file</li>
<li>a section named <code>NODE_SEA_BLOB</code> in the <code>NODE_SEA</code> segment if the <code>node</code> binary
is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach-O">Mach-O</a> file</li>
<li>a note named <code>NODE_SEA_BLOB</code> if the <code>node</code> binary is an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format">ELF</a> file</li>
</ul>
<p>Search the binary for the
<code>NODE_SEA_FUSE_fce680ab2cc467b6e072b8b5df1996b2:0</code> <a href="https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/fuses">fuse</a> string and flip the
last character to <code>1</code> to indicate that a resource has been injected.</p>
<h4>Platform support<span><a class="mark" href="#platform-support" id="platform-support">#</a></span><a aria-hidden="true" class="legacy" id="single_executable_applications_platform_support"></a></h4>
<p>Single-executable support is tested regularly on CI only on the following
platforms:</p>
<ul>
<li>Windows</li>
<li>macOS</li>
<li>Linux (all distributions <a href="https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#platform-list">supported by Node.js</a> except Alpine and all
architectures <a href="https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#platform-list">supported by Node.js</a> except s390x)</li>
</ul>
<p>This is due to a lack of better tools to generate single-executables that can be
used to test this feature on other platforms.</p>
<p>Suggestions for other resource injection tools/workflows are welcomed. Please
start a discussion at <a href="https://github.com/nodejs/single-executable/discussions">https://github.com/nodejs/single-executable/discussions</a>
to help us document them.</p></section>
<!-- API END -->
</div>
</div>
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