electron-better-ipc

Simplified IPC communication for Electron apps

The biggest benefit of this module over the built-in IPC is that it enables you to send a message and get the response back in the same call. This would usually require multiple IPC subscriptions.

You can use this module directly in both the main and renderer process.

Install

npm install electron-better-ipc

Requires Electron 10 or later.

Usage

Using the built-in IPC

Here, as an example, we use the built-in IPC to get an emoji by name in the renderer process from the main process. Notice how it requires coordinating multiple IPC subscriptions.

Main

const {ipcMain: ipc} = require('electron');

ipc.on('get-emoji', async (event, emojiName) => {
	const emoji = await getEmoji(emojiName);
	event.sender.send('get-emoji-response', emoji);
});

Renderer

const {ipcRenderer: ipc} = require('electron');

ipc.on('get-emoji-response', (event, emoji) => {
	console.log(emoji);
	//=> '🦄'
});

ipc.send('get-emoji', 'unicorn');

Using this module

As you can see below, this module makes it much simpler to handle the communication. You no longer need multiple IPC subscriptions and you can just await the response in the same call.

Main

const {ipcMain: ipc} = require('electron-better-ipc');

ipc.answerRenderer('get-emoji', async emojiName => {
	const emoji = await getEmoji(emojiName);
	return emoji;
});

Renderer

const {ipcRenderer: ipc} = require('electron-better-ipc');

(async () => {
	const emoji = await ipc.callMain('get-emoji', 'unicorn');
	console.log(emoji);
	//=> '🦄'
})();

Here we do the inverse of the above, we get an emoji by name in the main process from the renderer process:

Renderer

const {ipcRenderer: ipc} = require('electron-better-ipc');

ipc.answerMain('get-emoji', async emojiName => {
	const emoji = await getEmoji(emojiName);
	return emoji;
});

Main

const {ipcMain: ipc} = require('electron-better-ipc');

(async () => {
	const emoji = await ipc.callFocusedRenderer('get-emoji', 'unicorn');
	console.log(emoji);
	//=> '🦄'
})();

API

The module exports ipcMain and ipcRenderer objects which enhance the built-in ipc module with some added methods, so you can use them as a replacement for electron.ipcMain/electron.ipcRenderer.

Main process

ipcMain.callRenderer(browserWindow, channel, data?)

Send a message to the given window.

In the renderer process, use ipcRenderer.answerMain to reply to this message.

Returns a Promise<unknown> with the reply from the renderer process.

browserWindow

Type: BrowserWindow

The window to send the message to.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: unknown

The data to send to the receiver.

ipcMain.callFocusedRenderer(channel, data?)

Send a message to the focused window, as determined by electron.BrowserWindow.getFocusedWindow.

In the renderer process, use ipcRenderer.answerMain to reply to this message.

Returns a Promise<unknown> with the reply from the renderer process.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: unknown

The data to send to the receiver.

ipcMain.answerRenderer(channel, callback)

This method listens for a message from ipcRenderer.callMain defined in a renderer process and replies back.

Returns a function, that when called, removes the listener.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

callback(data?, browserWindow)

Type: Function | AsyncFunction

The return value is sent back to the ipcRenderer.callMain in the renderer process.

ipcMain.answerRenderer(browserWindow, channel, callback)

This method listens for a message from ipcRenderer.callMain defined in the given BrowserWindow's renderer process and replies back.

Returns a function, that when called, removes the listener.

browserWindow

Type: BrowserWindow

The window for which to expect the message.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

callback(data?, browserWindow)

Type: Function | AsyncFunction

The return value is sent back to the ipcRenderer.callMain in the renderer process.

ipcMain.sendToRenderers(channel, data?)

Send a message to all renderer processes (windows).

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: unknown

The data to send to the receiver.

Renderer process

ipcRenderer.callMain(channel, data?)

Send a message to the main process.

In the main process, use ipcMain.answerRenderer to reply to this message.

Returns a Promise<unknown> with the reply from the main process.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: unknown

The data to send to the receiver.

ipcRenderer.answerMain(channel, callback)

This method listens for a message from ipcMain.callRenderer defined in the main process and replies back.

Returns a function, that when called, removes the listener.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

callback(data?)

Type: Function | AsyncFunction

The return value is sent back to the ipcMain.callRenderer in the main process.

Related

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• electron-timber - Pretty logger for Electron apps
• electron-serve - Static file serving for Electron apps
• electron-debug - Adds useful debug features to your Electron app
• electron-unhandled - Catch unhandled errors and promise rejections in your Electron app
• electron-context-menu - Context menu for your Electron app
• electron-dl - Simplified file downloads for your Electron app