Cross-Platform Electron Launcher with License Management
A desktop scripting / licensing product
Overview
A cross-platform desktop launcher (internally “license-manager”) for a desktop scripting product, built with Electron and React. It manages license activation and machine binding before launching the underlying tooling, and packages for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The Challenge
A commercial desktop product needs a polished entry point that validates licenses, ties activation to the user’s machine, and presents a clean UI, while remaining installable across all three major desktop platforms.
What We Built
An Electron app structured into main, preload, and renderer processes, scaffolded with electron-vite and a React + Tailwind UI (Heroicons, React Router). It verifies JWT-based licenses with jsonwebtoken, binds activation to hardware via node-machine-id, persists state with electron-store, and writes diagnostics with electron-log. electron-builder targets produce Windows, macOS, and Linux installers.
Technologies & Approach
Electron with the electron-vite/electron-toolkit stack for a modern main/preload/renderer split; React and Tailwind for the UI; jsonwebtoken + node-machine-id for license verification and machine binding; electron-builder for multi-OS packaging. The architecture keeps licensing logic in the main process and a responsive UI in the renderer.
Outcome / Impact
Delivered the user-facing gateway to the desktop product, a branded, license-aware launcher that activates and starts the tooling across all desktop platforms from a single codebase.
Capabilities Demonstrated
- Cross-platform desktop applications with Electron
- License verification and machine-bound activation
- Multi-OS build/distribution with electron-builder
- Modern Electron architecture (electron-vite, React, Tailwind)