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Turn any webpage into a desktop app with one command. appbun wraps a URL in an Electrobun project, pulls usable icons from site metadata, and gives you installer-friendly packaging for macOS with a clean path to Windows and Linux builds.
Supports macOS, Windows, and Linux.
appbun exists for the same reason people reach for Pake: the fast URL -> desktop app workflow is useful.
The difference is the output.
Instead of hiding everything behind a black box, appbun gives you a normal Electrobun project you can inspect, edit, version, and ship.
What it handles for you:
- fetches title, description, theme color, favicon, apple-touch icon, and manifest icons
- rejects obviously broken icon responses and low-quality raster assets before packaging
- generates a local Electrobun shell around the target URL
- lets you choose between common macOS window chrome presets instead of hard-coding one look
- produces cross-platform build output, plus a macOS DMG flow for drag-to-Applications installs
- asks before destructive or heavyweight steps in interactive terminals, with
--yesto skip prompts
bun add -g appbunnpm install -g appbunIf your npm global prefix is permission-locked, prefer bun add -g appbun or use npx appbun@latest ....
appbun https://chat.openai.com --name "ChatGPT" --dmgThat one command can scaffold the project, install dependencies, build the app, create a DMG on macOS, and open the installer window.
If you want the generated project without building immediately:
appbun https://linear.app --name "Linear Desktop"
cd linear-desktop
bun install
bun run buildNeed a tighter macOS chrome right away:
appbun https://chat.openai.com --name "ChatGPT" --titlebar compact --dmgappbun https://github.com --name "GitHub"appbun create https://calendar.google.com \
--name "Calendar" \
--out-dir ./calendar-app \
--width 1600 \
--height 1000appbun https://chat.openai.com --theme-color '#10a37f'appbun https://www.notion.so --package-manager npmappbun https://github.com --name "GitHub" --titlebar systemSkip confirmation prompts in scripted runs:
appbun https://github.com --name "GitHub" --out-dir ./github --yesIf you are building a web app and want a coding agent to turn it into a desktop app for you, copy the prompt from:
If you want appbun to prefill that prompt for a specific local URL, use:
appbun prompt http://localhost:3000 --name "My App"That outputs a ready-to-paste instruction block telling the agent to package the current web app into ./desktop/my-app with appbun@latest, then build it.
appbun now exposes the generated macOS title area as a user choice instead of locking every app to one look.
| Preset | Best for | macOS behavior |
|---|---|---|
system |
strict native window chrome | default system title bar, no local shell header |
unified |
default, balanced desktop wrapper | hidden inset traffic lights with a connected local toolbar |
compact |
content-heavy apps | same pattern, but shorter and tighter |
minimal |
distraction-free wrappers | same pattern, but lighter metadata and less visible chrome |
On Windows and Linux, generated apps fall back to the standard native title bar.
To inspect every option quickly:
appbun create --helpPublic no-login web apps captured with Playwright and framed to match the generated shell:
| App | URL | Command |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub | https://github.com |
appbun https://github.com --name "GitHub" --dmg |
| YouTube | https://www.youtube.com |
appbun https://www.youtube.com --name "YouTube" --dmg |
| YouTube Music | https://music.youtube.com |
appbun https://music.youtube.com --name "YouTube Music" --dmg |
| Excalidraw | https://excalidraw.com |
appbun https://excalidraw.com --name "Excalidraw" --dmg |
| Photopea | https://www.photopea.com |
appbun https://www.photopea.com --name "Photopea" --dmg |
| Google Maps | https://www.google.com/maps |
appbun https://www.google.com/maps --name "Google Maps" --dmg |
| Google Translate | https://translate.google.com |
appbun https://translate.google.com --name "Google Translate" --dmg |
| Squoosh | https://squoosh.app |
appbun https://squoosh.app --name "Squoosh" --dmg |
| Desmos | https://www.desmos.com/calculator |
appbun https://www.desmos.com/calculator --name "Desmos" --dmg |
More detail lives in docs/showcase/README.md.
my-app/
├── assets/ # Derived icon assets for packaging
├── icon.iconset/ # macOS iconset sizes (16 through 1024)
├── scripts/
│ └── create-dmg.mjs # macOS DMG helper
├── src/
│ ├── bun/
│ │ └── index.ts # Electrobun window entrypoint
│ └── mainview/
│ ├── index.html # Local shell markup
│ ├── index.css # Unified title area styles
│ └── index.ts # Embedded remote webview bootstrap
├── electrobun.config.ts
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json
Generated apps can use:
- the default system title bar with
--titlebar system hiddenInsettraffic lights with--titlebar unified,compact, orminimalUnifiedTitleAndToolbarplusFullSizeContentViewfor the connected presets- a local title area sized to match the selected preset instead of one fixed fake header
build:dmgfor installer-style distribution
The generated Electrobun project is already buildable there. appbun keeps the standard native title bar on those platforms today and focuses its installer automation on macOS first; Windows and Linux packaging helpers are still on the roadmap.
bun install
bun run check
bun run test
bun run buildbunx playwright install chromium
bun run showcase:captureThis updates:
docs/screenshots/*.pngdocs/assets/social-card.pngdocs/showcase/manifest.json
bun run release:checkThe contribution bar is straightforward: improve the generated app quality, packaging flow, or docs, and prove it with a reproducible test or sample scaffold.
Start here:
High-value contribution areas:
- better site-specific icon heuristics
- Windows installer helpers
- Linux packaging helpers
- auth-heavy web app presets
- navigation controls and app menus
- docs, gallery, and compatibility notes
If you are searching for any of these, this project is in the right lane:
- Pake alternative for Electrobun
- turn website into desktop app with Bun
- website to desktop app CLI
- package URL as a macOS app
- create DMG from a web app wrapper
- Electrobun app generator
- website wrapper for macOS, Windows, and Linux
MIT