Electron Compilers

5.9.0 verified Fri May 01 auth: no javascript maintenance

Provides compiler implementations (Babel, TypeScript, CoffeeScript, GraphQL, LESS, Stylus, Jade, CSON) for electron-compile in Electron apps. Current stable version is 5.9.0, but the package is in maintenance mode and tightly coupled to the deprecated electron-compile ecosystem. Key differentiator: designed to be a devDependency to avoid bloating production builds. Not actively developed; users are strongly advised to migrate to modern Electron tooling (e.g., Webpack, Vite).

Common errors

error Error: Cannot find module 'babel-core' ↓

cause electron-compilers expects babel-core installed as a peer dependency, but it may be missing or mismatched.

fix

Install the required Babel version: npm install babel-core@6.26.3 (for v5) or check README.

error Cannot find module 'typescript' ↓

cause TypeScript compiler requires the typescript package installed but it is not declared as a dependency.

fix

Install typescript: npm install typescript@2.9.2 (or version compatible with your project).

error TypeError: Cannot read property 'transpile' of undefined ↓

cause The BabelCompiler is initialized without a babelConfig or with invalid config, so babel is not properly set up.

fix

Provide a valid babelConfig object with presets/plugins (e.g., { presets: ['env'] }).

error Compiler 'jade' not found ↓

cause Jade is deprecated and may not be installed; the compiler looks for a 'jade' module.

fix

If you need Jade support, install jade (npm install jade). Better: use pug instead.

Warnings

deprecated The entire electron-compile ecosystem is deprecated. electron-compilers will not receive updates for modern compilers (e.g., Babel 7+). ↓

fix Migrate to a modern build tool like Webpack, Rollup, or Vite.

breaking Version 5.0 removed support for Babel 5 and switched to Babel 6. Existing code relying on Babel 5 presets will break. ↓

fix Update presets/plugins to Babel 6 compatible versions (e.g., 'babel-preset-es2015' -> '@babel/preset-env' with additional packages).

gotcha TypeScript compiler may not support all TypeScript 4+ features; only tested with TypeScript 2.x. ↓

fix If using TypeScript >=3, consider using tsc directly instead of this compiler.

gotcha The Jade compiler expects the jade package, but jade was renamed to pug. The package uses the deprecated 'jade' npm package. ↓

fix Use pug directly instead of the Jade compiler; or pin an old jade version.

breaking GraphQL compiler uses an outdated graphql-tag version; may not parse modern GraphQL schema syntax. ↓

fix Process .graphql files with a current version of graphql-tag instead of relying on this compiler.

Install

npm install electron-compilers

yarn add electron-compilers

pnpm add electron-compilers

Imports

BabelCompiler

wrong

const BabelCompiler = require('electron-compilers').BabelCompiler

correct

import { BabelCompiler } from 'electron-compilers'

ESM and CJS both supported; named export works with destructuring.

TypeScriptCompiler

wrong

import TypeScriptCompiler from 'electron-compilers'

correct

import { TypeScriptCompiler } from 'electron-compilers'

Not a default export; must use named import.

CoffeeScriptCompiler
wrong
```
import { CoffeeScript } from 'electron-compilers'
```
correct
```
const { CoffeeScriptCompiler } = require('electron-compilers')
```
CommonJS require is also valid; the export is named 'CoffeeScriptCompiler', not 'CoffeeScript'.

Quickstart

Shows how to instantiate the BabelCompiler and use it with electron-compile's CompilerHost to compile a file.

import { BabelCompiler } from 'electron-compilers';
import { CompilerHost } from 'electron-compile';

const compiler = new BabelCompiler({
  babelConfig: {
    presets: ['@babel/preset-env', '@babel/preset-react']
  }
});

const host = new CompilerHost({
  compiler,
  cacheDir: './.compiler-cache'
});

host.compile('/path/to/input.js', 'path/to/output.js')
  .then(result => console.log('Compiled successfully', result))
  .catch(err => console.error('Compilation failed', err));