Great question—this is such a common gotcha when working with native Node.js modules in Electron, and it all boils down to ABI mismatches between official Node.js and Electron's custom Node runtime. Let me break this down clearly for you:

Why node-pre-gyp couldn't find your binaries in Electron #

Electron uses a modified version of Node.js under the hood, and its ABI (Application Binary Interface) version often doesn’t align with official Node.js’s ABI—even for the same major Node version. For example:

• Official Node.js 16 has an ABI version of 93
• Electron 20 (which runs on Node.js 16.15.0 under the hood) has an ABI version of 104

By default, node-pre-gyp looks for binaries tagged with the official Node.js ABI. When your module runs in Electron, it expects a binary tagged with Electron’s unique ABI, so node-pre-gyp can’t locate the right file. That’s exactly why electron-rebuild fixed things: it rebuilds the module specifically for Electron’s runtime and ABI.

Can you use the matching Node.js version with node-pre-gyp? #

Short answer: No. Even if you use the exact Node.js version that Electron is built on, the compiled binary won’t be compatible with Electron. The custom patches Electron applies to Node change the ABI, so a binary built for official Node.js won’t load in Electron. node-pre-gyp will still search for the official Node ABI tag, which doesn’t exist for your Electron-compiled binary.

Do you have to use electron-rebuild and distribute recompiled binaries? #

Not necessarily—you have two solid options:

Option 1: Let users rebuild locally with electron-rebuild #

This is the simplest setup for you as a module maintainer. You can document that users need to run:

npx electron-rebuild

after installing your module. This compiles the module for their specific Electron version on their machine. The downside is users need a working build environment (Python, C++ toolchain, etc.), which can be a barrier for non-technical users.

Option 2: Precompile binaries for Electron ABIs and configure node-pre-gyp #

If you want to distribute precompiled binaries (so users skip local compilation), you can adjust your build process to create Electron-specific binaries and teach node-pre-gyp how to find them:

1. Compile binaries for each target Electron version using node-pre-gyp with Electron flags:

   node-pre-gyp rebuild --target=28.0.0 --runtime=electron --dist-url=https://electronjs.org/headers
   

   Replace 28.0.0 with every Electron version you want to support.
2. Upload these compiled binaries to your distribution source (like GitHub Releases or a custom server).
3. Update your module’s package.json with a binary field that specifies Electron as a supported runtime. Example:

   "binary": {
     "module_name": "your-module",
     "module_path": "./lib/binding/{node_abi}-{platform}-{arch}",
     "remote_path": "./v{version}",
     "package_name": "{module_name}-v{version}-{node_abi}-{platform}-{arch}.tar.gz",
     "host": "https://github.com/your-username/your-module/releases/download/",
     "runtime": "electron",
     "target_arch": "x64,arm64"
   }
   

   This tells node-pre-gyp to look for Electron-specific ABI-tagged binaries when running in an Electron environment.

Final Takeaway #

If you want to distribute precompiled binaries to spare users from local compilation, you don’t need to rely on electron-rebuild for distribution—instead, precompile binaries targeted at specific Electron ABIs and configure node-pre-gyp to recognize Electron’s runtime. If you don’t mind users handling local builds, electron-rebuild is a low-maintenance, reliable choice.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者pronebird