[Demo][Electron] Load prebuilt binaries at runtime

demo/electron/car/README.md

@@ -66,11 +66,14 @@ npm run build
    npm install
    ```
 
-3. **Rebuild native modules for Electron:**
+3. **Native modules — no manual rebuild needed:**
 
-   ```bash
-   npm run rebuild
-   ```
+   rclnodejs ships prebuilt binaries for Electron and selects the matching one at
+   runtime from `ROS_DISTRO` + Linux codename + architecture, so just make sure
+   ROS 2 is sourced (next step) before launching. Do not run `electron-rebuild`
+   against rclnodejs — it recompiles from source and bypasses the prebuilt binary.
+   The Forge `rebuildConfig` in `package.json` already excludes `rclnodejs` from
+   the automatic rebuild step.
 
 4. **Start the demo:**
    ```bash
@@ -291,13 +294,12 @@ Extend the joystick commands by modifying the switch statement in `main.js` and
    - Ensure ROS2 is properly sourced before running npm start
    - Check that rclnodejs is built correctly
 
-2. **Native Module Rebuild Issues**
-
-   ```bash
-   npm run rebuild
-   # or manually:
-   ./node_modules/.bin/electron-rebuild
-   ```
+2. **Native module fails to load**
+   - Ensure ROS 2 is sourced so rclnodejs can match its prebuilt binary
+     (`ROS_DISTRO` must be set; prebuilt binaries are provided for Ubuntu).
+   - As a last resort, force a from-source rebuild by setting
+     `RCLNODEJS_FORCE_BUILD=1` before `npm start` (needs a compiler toolchain and
+     network access).
 
 3. **Topic Not Appearing**
    - Verify ROS2 daemon is running: `ros2 daemon status`

demo/electron/car/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "electron-forge start",
-    "rebuild": "electron-rebuild",
     "package": "electron-forge package",
     "make": "electron-forge make"
   },
@@ -39,6 +38,11 @@
           "unpack": "**/node_modules/rclnodejs/**"
         }
       },
+      "rebuildConfig": {
+        "ignoreModules": [
+          "rclnodejs"
+        ]
+      },
       "makers": [
         {
           "name": "@electron-forge/maker-squirrel",

demo/electron/manipulator/README.md

@@ -34,17 +34,27 @@ An interactive Electron application demonstrating a two-joint robotic manipulato
    npm install
    ```
 
-3. **Rebuild native modules for Electron**:
+3. **Source your ROS 2 environment** (required so the matching prebuilt binary is selected):
+
    ```bash
-   npm run rebuild
+   source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO/setup.bash  # or your ROS 2 installation path
    ```
 
+   rclnodejs ships prebuilt native binaries for Electron, so no compilation is needed.
+   The binary is selected at runtime from `ROS_DISTRO`, the Linux distro codename, and
+   the CPU architecture, so `ROS_DISTRO` must be set before launching the app. If no
+   matching prebuilt binary is available for your platform, rclnodejs falls back to
+   building from source.
+
+   > Note: do not run `electron-rebuild` against rclnodejs — it recompiles the addon
+   > from source and bypasses the prebuilt binary. The Electron Forge `rebuildConfig`
+   > in `package.json` already excludes `rclnodejs` from the automatic rebuild step.
+
 ## 📜 Available Scripts
 
 - **`npm start`** - Launch the application in development mode
 - **`npm run package`** - Package the application into a standalone executable folder
 - **`npm run make`** - Create platform-specific installers (requires system tools like `zip`, `dpkg`)
-- **`npm run rebuild`** - Rebuild native modules after dependency changes
 
 ## 🚀 Quick Start
 
@@ -54,9 +64,9 @@ An interactive Electron application demonstrating a two-joint robotic manipulato
 npm start
 ```
 
-- ✅ **No ROS2 environment required**
-- ✅ **Works without external setup**
+- ✅ **No ROS2 topic publishing required**
 - ✅ **Pure visualization and manual control**
+- ⚠️ ROS 2 must still be sourced so the prebuilt native binary is selected (otherwise rclnodejs builds from source)
 - ⚠️ No ROS2 topic publishing (local mode only)
 
 ### Option 2: Manual ROS2 Setup (Recommended for ROS2 Integration)
@@ -308,7 +318,7 @@ manipulator/
 2. **Build errors with Electron**
 
 - This demo currently uses Electron 40.1.0
-- If you change Electron or other native-module dependencies, rerun `npm run rebuild`
+- rclnodejs loads its prebuilt Electron binary at runtime; if it fails to load, ensure ROS 2 is sourced so the matching prebuild is selected. To force a from-source rebuild of rclnodejs, set `RCLNODEJS_FORCE_BUILD=1`
 - The versions recorded in `package.json` and `package-lock.json` are the tested baseline for this demo
 
 3. **No ROS2 messages received**

demo/electron/manipulator/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "electron-forge start",
-    "rebuild": "electron-rebuild",
     "package": "electron-forge package",
     "make": "electron-forge make"
   },
@@ -43,6 +42,11 @@
           "unpack": "**/node_modules/rclnodejs/**"
         }
       },
+      "rebuildConfig": {
+        "ignoreModules": [
+          "rclnodejs"
+        ]
+      },
       "makers": [
         {
           "name": "@electron-forge/maker-squirrel",

demo/electron/topics/README.md

@@ -45,10 +45,13 @@ A minimal Electron application demonstrating basic ROS2 topic communication usin
    npm install
    ```
 
-4. **Rebuild rclnodejs for Electron**:
-   ```bash
-   ./node_modules/.bin/electron-rebuild
-   ```
+4. **Native modules — no manual rebuild needed**:
+
+   rclnodejs ships prebuilt binaries for Electron and picks the matching one at
+   runtime from `ROS_DISTRO` + Linux codename + architecture (ROS 2 was sourced in
+   step 2). Do not run `electron-rebuild` against rclnodejs — it recompiles from
+   source and bypasses the prebuilt binary; the Forge `rebuildConfig` already
+   excludes `rclnodejs`.
 
 ## 🚀 Running the Demo
 

demo/electron/topics/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "electron-forge start",
-    "rebuild": "electron-rebuild",
     "package": "electron-forge package",
     "make": "electron-forge make"
   },
@@ -36,6 +35,11 @@
           "unpack": "**/node_modules/rclnodejs/**"
         }
       },
+      "rebuildConfig": {
+        "ignoreModules": [
+          "rclnodejs"
+        ]
+      },
       "makers": [
         {
           "name": "@electron-forge/maker-squirrel",

demo/electron/turtle_tf2/README.md

@@ -86,13 +86,13 @@ The demo uses the following key dependencies:
    npm install
    ```
 
-3. **Rebuild native modules**:
+3. **Native modules — no manual rebuild needed**:
 
-   ```bash
-   npm run rebuild
-   ```
-
-   This step is crucial for ensuring that rclnodejs and other native dependencies are properly compiled for your system.
+   rclnodejs ships prebuilt binaries for Electron and selects the matching one at
+   runtime from `ROS_DISTRO` + Linux codename + architecture, so make sure ROS 2 is
+   sourced (next step) before launching. Do not run `electron-rebuild` against
+   rclnodejs — it recompiles from source and bypasses the prebuilt binary; the Forge
+   `rebuildConfig` in `package.json` already excludes `rclnodejs`.
 
 4. **Source ROS2 environment**:
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ The demo uses the following key dependencies:
 
 ### Method 1: Complete Demo
 
-Start the full demo with all components (ensure you have run `npm install && npm run rebuild` first):
+Start the full demo with all components (ensure you have run `npm install` first):
 
 ```bash
 # Source ROS2 first
@@ -345,14 +345,14 @@ You can observe the following behavior by:
    - Try restarting the Electron application
 
 6. **"electron: not found" or native module errors**
-   - Make sure you ran `npm run rebuild` after `npm install`
+   - Make sure ROS 2 is sourced so rclnodejs can match its prebuilt binary (`ROS_DISTRO` must be set; prebuilt binaries are provided for Ubuntu)
    - Ensure Node.js version is compatible (20.20.2 or higher)
-   - Try deleting `node_modules` and running `npm install && npm run rebuild` again
+   - Try deleting `node_modules` and running `npm install` again; to force a from-source rebuild of rclnodejs set `RCLNODEJS_FORCE_BUILD=1`
 
 7. **"THREE is not defined" or script loading errors**
    - Ensure Three.js is properly installed: `npm install three@0.155.0`
    - Check that `node_modules/three/build/three.min.js` exists
-   - If issues persist, try reinstalling: `rm -rf node_modules && npm install && npm run rebuild`
+   - If issues persist, try reinstalling: `rm -rf node_modules && npm install`
 
 8. **WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) specific issues**
    - Install audio libraries: `sudo apt install libasound2t64 libasound2-dev`

demo/electron/turtle_tf2/main.js

@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@
 const { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain } = require('electron');
 const rclnodejs = require('rclnodejs');
 
+// Allow WebGL to work on systems without a usable GPU (e.g. WSL2, headless,
+// or VMs) where Chromium blocklists hardware WebGL. Without this, the 3D
+// renderer fails to create a WebGL context and the visualization cannot start.
+app.commandLine.appendSwitch('ignore-gpu-blocklist');
+app.commandLine.appendSwitch('enable-unsafe-swiftshader');
+
 let mainWindow;
 let turtleTf2Nodes = {};
 

demo/electron/turtle_tf2/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "electron-forge start",
-    "rebuild": "electron-rebuild",
     "package": "electron-forge package",
     "make": "electron-forge make"
   },
@@ -42,6 +41,11 @@
           "unpack": "**/node_modules/rclnodejs/**"
         }
       },
+      "rebuildConfig": {
+        "ignoreModules": [
+          "rclnodejs"
+        ]
+      },
       "makers": [
         {
           "name": "@electron-forge/maker-squirrel",

demo/electron/turtle_tf2/renderer.js

@@ -55,11 +55,27 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
   versionDiv.innerText = 'Electron: ' + process.versions.electron;
   document.body.appendChild(versionDiv);
 
-  initializeScene();
-  setupEventListeners();
-  setupKeyboardControls();
+  // Register ROS2 status listeners first so the loading screen always reflects
+  // initialization progress, even if 3D scene setup fails below.
   setupROSListeners();
 
+  try {
+    initializeScene();
+    setupEventListeners();
+    setupKeyboardControls();
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error('Failed to initialize 3D scene:', err);
+    const loadingScreen = document.getElementById('loading-screen');
+    if (loadingScreen) {
+      const loadingText = loadingScreen.querySelector('div:last-child');
+      if (loadingText) {
+        loadingText.textContent =
+          'Failed to initialize 3D view (WebGL unavailable): ' + err.message;
+        loadingText.style.color = '#ff4444';
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   updateStatus();
 
   // Don't automatically hide loading screen - wait for ROS2 initialization

lib/native_loader.js

@@ -34,6 +34,51 @@ const debug = createDebug('rclnodejs');
 
 let nativeModule = null;
 
+// Copy a matched prebuilt binary into build/Release so that standard binary
+// resolution (and packaged Electron apps where ROS_DISTRO may be unset at
+// runtime) can still locate it. Non-destructive: never overwrites an existing
+// build output, so local source builds are preserved.
+function mirrorPrebuiltToBuildRelease(srcPath) {
+  try {
+    const destDir = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'build', 'Release');
+    const destPath = path.join(destDir, 'rclnodejs.node');
+    if (fs.existsSync(destPath)) {
+      return;
+    }
+    fs.mkdirSync(destDir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.copyFileSync(srcPath, destPath);
+    debug(`Mirrored prebuilt binary to ${destPath}`);
+  } catch (e) {
+    debug('Could not mirror prebuilt binary to build/Release:', e.message);
+  }
+}
+
+// Build the native addon from source. When running under Electron, target
+// Electron's headers/ABI so the resulting binary matches the runtime instead
+// of producing a Node-targeted binary (the addon links libuv directly, so the
+// host runtime matters).
+function buildFromSource() {
+  const env = { ...process.env };
+
+  if (detectPrebuildRuntime() === 'electron' && process.versions.electron) {
+    // node-gyp targets Electron via --target (Electron version) + --dist-url
+    // (Electron headers); it reads these from npm_config_* env vars.
+    env.npm_config_target = process.versions.electron;
+    env.npm_config_dist_url = 'https://electronjs.org/headers';
+    env.npm_config_arch = process.arch;
+    debug(`Building from source for Electron ${process.versions.electron}`);
+  } else {
+    debug('Building from source for Node.js');
+  }
+
+  childProcess.execSync('npm run rebuild', {
+    stdio: 'inherit',
+    cwd: path.join(__dirname, '..'),
+    timeout: 300000, // 5 minute timeout
+    env,
+  });
+}
+
 // Simplified loader: only use prebuilt binaries with exact Ubuntu/ROS2/arch match
 // Note: Prebuilt binaries are only supported on Linux (Ubuntu) platform
 function customFallbackLoader() {
@@ -79,6 +124,7 @@ function customFallbackLoader() {
 
     if (fs.existsSync(candidatePath)) {
       debug(`Found ${runtime} prebuilt binary: ${candidate}`);
+      mirrorPrebuiltToBuildRelease(candidatePath);
       return require(candidatePath);
     }
 
@@ -106,11 +152,7 @@ function loadNativeAddon() {
     // Trigger actual compilation
     try {
       debug('Running forced node-gyp rebuild...');
-      childProcess.execSync('npm run rebuild', {
-        stdio: 'inherit',
-        cwd: path.join(__dirname, '..'),
-        timeout: 300000, // 5 minute timeout
-      });
+      buildFromSource();
 
       // Load the newly built binary
       nativeModule = bindings('rclnodejs');
@@ -172,11 +214,7 @@ function loadNativeAddon() {
     // Trigger actual compilation
     try {
       debug('Running node-gyp rebuild...');
-      childProcess.execSync('npm run rebuild', {
-        stdio: 'inherit',
-        cwd: path.join(__dirname, '..'),
-        timeout: 300000, // 5 minute timeout
-      });
+      buildFromSource();
 
       // Try to load the newly built binary
       nativeModule = bindings('rclnodejs');