Cross-platform Electron Apps Detector

README.md

Electron Apps Detector

A single-file, cross-platform script that detects Electron Apps and their versions — without external dependencies.

Works on:

• macOS (via mdfind + strings)
• Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Flatpak, AppImage)
• Windows (via PowerShell)

Usage

Download the find-electron file

Depending on your OS you either have

macOS / Linux

chmod +x find-electron
./find-electron

or

Windows (PowerShell)

powershell -File .\find-electron

On first run in PowerShell, you may need:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

How It Works

• Scans application binaries (not package.json)
• Extracts version from embedded string: Chrome/... Electron/X.Y.Z
• Supports:
  • macOS .app bundles (framework or embedded)
  • Linux system installs, Flatpak, and AppImage
  • Windows .exe applications

Limitations

• Snap packages are not scanned (binaries are in read-only squashfs)
• Apps that strip version strings may show as unknown (rare)

Sample Output

Slack.app: Electron 38.1.2 (Electron Framework)
Visual Studio Code.app: Electron 37.3.1 (Electron Framework)

find-electon

#!/bin/sh
#/* 
# Electron Framework Version Detector
# - macOS: uses mdfind + strings on Electron Framework or main binary
# - Linux: scans standard, Flatpak, and AppImage locations
# - Windows: PowerShell scans .exe files for embedded Electron version
# */

# === COLOR SETUP (Shell) ===
if [ -t 1 ]; then
  GREEN='\033[0;32m'
  RED='\033[0;31m'
  BLUE='\033[0;34m'
  NC='\033[0m'
else
  GREEN=''; RED=''; BLUE=''; NC=''
fi

# === EXTRACT ELECTRON VERSION FROM BINARY (Shell) ===
extract_version() {
  strings "$1" 2>/dev/null | grep -i "Chrome/" | grep -i "Electron/" | head -n1 | sed -E 's/.*Electron\/([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*/\1/'
}

# === SHELL MODE: macOS / Linux ===
if [ -z "$RUNNING_IN_POWERSHELL" ]; then
  case $(uname -s 2>/dev/null) in
    Darwin)
      echo "${BLUE}Scanning for Electron apps (macOS)...${NC}"
      mdfind "kMDItemContentType == 'com.apple.application-bundle'" 2>/dev/null | while read -r app; do
        if [ -d "$app" ]; then
          BUNDLE_EXECUTABLE=$(defaults read "$app/Contents/Info.plist" CFBundleExecutable 2>/dev/null)
          MAIN_BIN="$app/Contents/MacOS/$BUNDLE_EXECUTABLE"
          FRAMEWORK_BIN="$app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework/Electron Framework"

          for bin in "$FRAMEWORK_BIN" "$MAIN_BIN"; do
            if [ -f "$bin" ]; then
              ver=$(extract_version "$bin")
              if [ -n "$ver" ]; then
                app_name=$(basename "$app")
                loc=$( [ "$bin" = "$MAIN_BIN" ] && echo "main executable" || echo "Electron Framework")
                echo "${GREEN}$app_name${NC}: Electron ${GREEN}$ver${NC} ($loc)"
                break
              fi
            fi
          done
        fi
      done
      ;;
    Linux)
      echo "${BLUE}Scanning for Electron apps (Linux)...${NC}"

      # Standard system & user locations
      STANDARD_DIRS="/usr/share /usr/lib /opt $HOME/.local $HOME/.config"

      # Flatpak (user + system)
      FLATPAK_DIRS="$HOME/.local/share/flatpak/app /var/lib/flatpak/app"

      # Common AppImage locations
      APPIMAGE_DIRS="$HOME/Applications $HOME/bin"

      ALL_DIRS="$STANDARD_DIRS $FLATPAK_DIRS $APPIMAGE_DIRS"

      for dir in $ALL_DIRS; do
        if [ -d "$dir" ]; then
          find "$dir" -type f -executable 2>/dev/null | while read -r bin; do
            # Skip known non-app paths
            case "$bin" in
              */bin/sh|*/bin/bash|*/bin/zsh|*/bin/dash|*/bin/python*|*/lib/*|*/share/*|*/node_modules/*|*/cache/*|*/\.cache/*)
                continue
                ;;
            esac

            # Skip files smaller than 1MB (unlikely to be Electron app)
            size=$(stat -c%s "$bin" 2>/dev/null)
            if [ -z "$size" ] || [ "$size" -lt 1048576 ]; then
              continue
            fi

            ver=$(extract_version "$bin")
            if [ -n "$ver" ]; then
              # Determine app name
              if echo "$bin" | grep -q "/flatpak/app/"; then
                app_id=$(echo "$bin" | sed -E 's|.*/flatpak/app/([^/]+).*|\1|')
                app_name=$(echo "$app_id" | sed 's/\./ /g' | awk '{print $NF}')
              elif echo "$bin" | grep -q "\.AppImage$"; then
                app_name=$(basename "$bin" .AppImage)
              else
                parent=$(basename "$(dirname "$bin")")
                if [ "$parent" = "bin" ]; then
                  app_name=$(basename "$(dirname "$(dirname "$bin")")")
                else
                  app_name="$parent"
                fi
                # Fallback
                if [ "$app_name" = "." ] || [ "$app_name" = "bin" ] || [ "$app_name" = "lib" ]; then
                  app_name=$(basename "$bin")
                fi
              fi

              echo "${GREEN}$app_name${NC}: Electron ${GREEN}$ver${NC} (binary: $(basename "$bin"))"
            fi
          done
        fi
      done
      ;;
    *)
      echo "${RED}Unsupported OS${NC}"
      ;;
  esac
  exit 0
fi

#><# End of shell — PowerShell starts below
# === POWERSHELL MODE (Windows) ===
$Host.UI.RawUI.ForegroundColor = "Blue"
Write-Host "Scanning for Electron apps (Windows)..."
$Host.UI.RawUI.ForegroundColor = "Gray"

function Extract-Version($Path) {
  try {
    $bytes = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($Path)
    $str = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString($bytes)
    if ($str -match 'Chrome/[^"]*Electron/(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)') {
      return $matches[1]
    }
  } catch { }
  return $null
}

$AppDirs = @("${env:ProgramFiles}", "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}", "${env:LOCALAPPDATA}")

foreach ($dir in $AppDirs) {
  if (-not (Test-Path $dir)) { continue }
  Get-ChildItem -Path $dir -Recurse -Filter "*.exe" -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object {
    $ver = Extract-Version $_.FullName
    if ($ver) {
      $appName = $_.Directory.Name
      Write-Host "$appName" -ForegroundColor Green -NoNewline
      Write-Host ": Electron " -NoNewline
      Write-Host $ver -ForegroundColor Green -NoNewline
      Write-Host " (binary: $($_.Name))"
    }
  }
}

Write-Host "Scan complete." -ForegroundColor Blue