Fix native module compilation for macOS (Electron 38) and Windows (Spectre mitigation) #24

mikejoseph23 · 2025-10-22T20:11:31Z

Summary

Fixes native module compilation issues on both macOS and Windows by patching native-keymap binding
configuration.

Issues Fixed

macOS (Electron 38)

Problem: Native modules failed to compile with Electron 38 due to missing C++20 standard configuration
Error: error: 'value' is unavailable: introduced in macOS 11.0
Solution: Added C++20 xcode_settings with macOS 11.0 deployment target

Windows

Problem: Native modules required Spectre-mitigated libraries not installed by default
Error: MSB8040: Spectre-mitigated libraries are required for this project
Solution: Disabled SpectreMitigation requirement in msvs_configuration_attributes

Changes

Added Dependencies

Added patch-package as devDependency to apply native module patches during installation

Patch File

Created patches/native-keymap+3.3.5.patch with:

Line 10: Set 'SpectreMitigation': 'false' (Windows fix)
Lines 18-22: Added xcode_settings for C++20 compilation (macOS fix):
'CLANG_CXX_LANGUAGE_STANDARD': 'c++20'
'CLANG_CXX_LIBRARY': 'libc++'
'MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET': '11.0'

Package.json

Added "postinstall": "patch-package" script to automatically apply patches after npm install

Build Requirements

⚠️ Node.js ≥20.19.0 required

Newer electron-vite v4.0.1 requires Node.js ^20.19.0 or >=22.12.0
Earlier versions (v20.18.0) will encounter ESM/CommonJS compatibility errors

Installation Instructions

Standard Installation (Recommended)

npm install
The patch will be applied automatically via the postinstall script.

Manual Installation (If needed)

npm install --ignore-scripts
npx patch-package
npm rebuild

Testing

macOS ✅

- Native modules compile successfully with Electron 38
- Dev and production builds work

Windows ✅

- Native modules compile without MSB8040 Spectre errors
- Full Windows installer built successfully: marktext-win-x64-0.18.5-setup.exe
- Dev and production builds work
- Tested on Windows with Node.js v20.19.5

Affected Modules

All native modules now compile successfully:
- [email protected]
- ced
- keytar

Fixes Issue #8

Resolves native-keymap build failures on macOS caused by missing C++20 compiler flags. The native-keymap dependency requires C++20 features (constexpr, concept, requires) for Electron 38 compatibility, but the macOS build configuration was missing the necessary xcode_settings. Changes: - Added patch-package to apply C++20 fix to native-keymap binding.gyp - Created patches/native-keymap+3.3.5.patch with xcode_settings for macOS - Enabled npmRebuild in electron-builder.yml to properly rebuild native modules for both x64 and arm64 architectures - Added postinstall script to automatically apply patches The patch adds CLANG_CXX_LANGUAGE_STANDARD: 'c++20' to the macOS build configuration in native-keymap, allowing it to compile successfully against Electron 38 headers. Tested on: - macOS Ventura 13.7 (Intel iMac 2017) - x64 build - macOS Sequoia 15.x (M4 MacBook Air 2025) - arm64 build Fixes Tkaixiang#8

The postinstall script requires patch-package to be installed as a devDependency. Without it, npm install fails with 'patch-package: command not found'. This commit completes the native module compilation fix by ensuring patch-package is available to apply the native-keymap patches during installation.

Extends the existing native-keymap patch to disable Spectre mitigation requirements on Windows. This allows the native module to compile without requiring Spectre-mitigated libraries from Visual Studio. Changes: - Set 'SpectreMitigation': 'false' in binding.gyp msvs_configuration_attributes - Retains existing macOS C++20 fix This is a test commit to verify the fix works on Windows before merging into the main PR branch.

- Updated package-lock.json for Node.js 20.19.5 compatibility - Added test results showing successful Windows build - Confirmed Spectre mitigation bypass patch works correctly - Windows installer created: marktext-win-x64-0.18.5-setup.exe (123.5 MB) All native modules (native-keymap, ced, keytar) compiled successfully without MSB8040 Spectre errors.

mikejoseph23 · 2025-11-07T17:35:32Z

Hey @Tkaixiang ... This PR should fix macOS! Let me know if you need me too change anything! I'd be glad to walk you through the other PR's I've submitted as well...

Tkaixiang · 2025-11-07T17:41:41Z

Hi Mike, thank you for your PRs. Unfortuantely I do not have the time to review them at the moment due to irl commitments. I should be more free in a few weeks time :)

Tkaixiang · 2025-11-07T17:42:58Z

scratchpad/scratchpad.md

Hi, please remove this file as it is not related to the repository :)

Tkaixiang · 2025-11-07T17:45:25Z

patches/native-keymap+3.3.5.patch

+       'msvs_configuration_attributes': {
+-        'SpectreMitigation': 'Spectre'
+        'SpectreMitigation': 'false'


Is there a need to remove SpectreMitigation when it can be installed easily via the Visual Studio Installer?

SpectreMitigation is a useful security feature with minimal performance impact.

Tkaixiang · 2025-11-07T17:51:48Z

package.json

    "build:unpack": "npm run minify-locales && npm run build && electron-builder --dir",
    "build:win": "npm run minify-locales && npx @electron/rebuild && npm run build && electron-builder --win --publish never",
-    "build:mac": "npm run minify-locales && npx @electron/rebuild && npm run build && electron-builder --mac --publish never",
-    "build:linux": "npm run minify-locales && npx @electron/rebuild && npm run build && electron-builder --linux --publish never"
+    "build:mac": "npm run minify-locales && npm run build && electron-builder --mac --publish never",
+    "build:linux": "npm run minify-locales && npx @electron/rebuild && npm run build && electron-builder --linux --publish never",
+    "postinstall": "patch-package"


Is there a specific reason why we removed npx @electron/rebuild and instead relied on npmRebuild in electron-builder.yml? The GitHub Mac runners seem to compile the builds just fine?

The scratchpad file has been moved to a separate branch (feature/scratchpad-notes) as it is not related to the native module compilation fixes in this PR.

mikejoseph23 · 2025-11-07T19:01:50Z

Re: removing @electron/rebuild from build:mac

The @electron/rebuild was removed from build:mac because it was failing on macOS with the C++20 compilation issues that this PR fixes. Since electron-builder.yml already has npmRebuild: true (line 49), electron-builder handles the native module rebuild automatically during packaging. The GitHub Mac runners work fine because they likely have the correct toolchain already configured, but local macOS builds were failing before the patch was applied.

The current approach relies on:

patch-package (postinstall) to apply the C++20 fix
npmRebuild: true in electron-builder.yml to rebuild during packaging

This is cleaner and avoids the redundant @electron/rebuild step.

mikejoseph23 · 2025-11-07T19:05:33Z

I just removed those extraneous files. Sorry about that. I'm new to the git PR workflow since I mostly just work by myself most of the time. Apologies for the confusion.

mikejoseph23 added 5 commits October 22, 2025 15:59

Add Windows testing instructions to scratchpad

07bb1e4

mikejoseph23 changed the title ~~Fix macOS native module compilation for Electron 38~~ Fix native module compilation for macOS (Electron 38) and Windows (Spectre mitigation) Oct 24, 2025

Tkaixiang requested changes Nov 7, 2025

View reviewed changes

Remove scratchpad file from PR branch

0032d55

The scratchpad file has been moved to a separate branch (feature/scratchpad-notes) as it is not related to the native module compilation fixes in this PR.

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Uh oh!

Fix native module compilation for macOS (Electron 38) and Windows (Spectre mitigation) #24

Fix native module compilation for macOS (Electron 38) and Windows (Spectre mitigation) #24

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Oct 22, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

Fix native module compilation for macOS (Electron 38) and Windows (Spectre mitigation) #24

Are you sure you want to change the base?

Fix native module compilation for macOS (Electron 38) and Windows (Spectre mitigation) #24

Uh oh!

Conversation

mikejoseph23 commented Oct 22, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Summary

Issues Fixed

macOS (Electron 38)

Windows

Changes

Added Dependencies

Patch File

Package.json

Build Requirements

Installation Instructions

Standard Installation (Recommended)

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang Nov 7, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang Nov 7, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Tkaixiang Nov 7, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

mikejoseph23 commented Nov 7, 2025

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

mikejoseph23 commented Oct 22, 2025 •

edited

Loading