electron · claude · Jul 1, 2026
@@ -20,4 +20,12 @@ describe('cli', () => {
   it('should fail on unknown subcommands', async () => {
     await expect(runForgeCLI('nonexistent')).rejects.toThrow(Error);
   });
+
+  it('should list the release command in help output', async () => {
+    await expect(runForgeCLI('help')).resolves.toMatch(/\brelease\b/);
+  });
+
+  it('should hide the deprecated publish alias from help output', async () => {
+    await expect(runForgeCLI('help')).resolves.not.toMatch(/\bpublish\b/);
+  });
 });
@@ -1,48 +1,21 @@
+import url from 'node:url';
 import { styleText } from 'node:util';
 
-import { initializeProxy } from '@electron/get';
-import { api, PublishOptions } from '@electron-forge/core';
-import { resolveWorkingDir } from '@electron-forge/core-utils';
-import { program } from 'commander';
-
 import './util/terminate.js';
-import packageJSON from '../package.json' with { type: 'json' };
-
-import { getMakeOptions } from './electron-forge-make.js';
-
-program
-  .version(packageJSON.version, '-V, --version', 'Output the current version.')
-  .helpOption('-h, --help', 'Output usage information.')
-  .argument(
-    '[dir]',
-    'Directory to run the command in. (default: current directory)',
-  )
-  .option(
-    '--target [target[,target...]]',
-    'A comma-separated list of deployment targets. (default: all publishers in your Forge config)',
-  )
-  .option(
-    '--dry-run',
-    `Run the ${styleText('green', 'make')} command and save publish metadata without uploading anything.`,
-  )
-  .option('--from-dry-run', 'Publish artifacts from the last saved dry run.')
-  .allowUnknownOption(true)
-  .action(async (targetDir) => {
-    const dir = resolveWorkingDir(targetDir);
-    const options = program.opts();
-
-    initializeProxy();
-
-    const publishOpts: PublishOptions = {
-      dir,
-      interactive: true,
-      dryRun: options.dryRun,
-      dryRunResume: options.fromDryRun,
-    };
-    if (options.target) publishOpts.publishTargets = options.target.split(',');
-
-    publishOpts.makeOptions = await getMakeOptions();
 
-    await api.publish(publishOpts);
-  })
-  .parse(process.argv);
+import { runRelease } from './electron-forge-release.js';
+
+// `electron-forge publish` is a deprecated alias for `electron-forge release`.
+// It keeps working for now but prints a deprecation warning to stderr and
+// delegates to the exact same behavior as `release`.
+if (import.meta.url.startsWith('file:')) {
+  const modulePath = url.fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+  if (process.argv[1] === modulePath) {
+    console.error(
+      styleText('yellow', '⚠'),
+      '`electron-forge publish` is deprecated and will be removed in a future major version; use `electron-forge release` instead.',
+    );
+
+    await runRelease();
+  }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import url from 'node:url';
+import { styleText } from 'node:util';
+
+import { initializeProxy } from '@electron/get';
+import { api, ReleaseOptions } from '@electron-forge/core';
+import { resolveWorkingDir } from '@electron-forge/core-utils';
+import { program } from 'commander';
+
+import './util/terminate.js';
+import packageJSON from '../package.json' with { type: 'json' };
+
+import { getMakeOptions } from './electron-forge-make.js';
+
+export async function runRelease(): Promise<void> {
+  program
+    .version(
+      packageJSON.version,
+      '-V, --version',
+      'Output the current version.',
+    )
+    .helpOption('-h, --help', 'Output usage information.')
+    .argument(
+      '[dir]',
+      'Directory to run the command in. (default: current directory)',
+    )
+    .option(
+      '--target [target[,target...]]',
+      'A comma-separated list of deployment targets. (default: all publishers in your Forge config)',
+    )
+    .option(
+      '--dry-run',
+      `Run the ${styleText('green', 'make')} command and save release metadata without uploading anything.`,
+    )
+    .option('--from-dry-run', 'Release artifacts from the last saved dry run.')
+    .allowUnknownOption(true)
+    .action(async (targetDir) => {
+      const dir = resolveWorkingDir(targetDir);
+      const options = program.opts();
+
+      initializeProxy();
+
+      const releaseOpts: ReleaseOptions = {
+        dir,
+        interactive: true,
+        dryRun: options.dryRun,
+        dryRunResume: options.fromDryRun,
+      };
+      if (options.target)
+        releaseOpts.publishTargets = options.target.split(',');
+
+      releaseOpts.makeOptions = await getMakeOptions();
+
+      await api.release(releaseOpts);
+    })
+    .parse(process.argv);
+}
+
+// NOTE: this is a hack that exists because Node.js didn't add import.meta.main
+// support until 22.18.0. We should bump up the engines and get that fix before
+// we go to stable.
+// ref https://2ality.com/2022/07/nodejs-esm-main.html
+if (import.meta.url.startsWith('file:')) {
+  const modulePath = url.fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
+  if (process.argv[1] === modulePath) {
+    await runRelease();
+  }
+}
@@ -35,7 +35,13 @@ program
     'make',
     'Generate distributables for the current Electron application.',
   )
-  .command('publish', 'Publish the current Electron application.')
+  .command('release', 'Release the current Electron application.')
+  // `publish` is a deprecated alias for `release`. It is hidden from the help
+  // output and prints a deprecation warning when invoked (see
+  // electron-forge-publish.ts).
+  .command('publish', 'Publish the current Electron application.', {
+    hidden: true,
+  })
   .passThroughOptions(true)
   .hook('preSubcommand', async (_command, subcommand) => {
     if (!process.argv.includes('--help') && !process.argv.includes('-h')) {

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
 import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 
 import { listrMake } from '../../src/api/make';
-import publish from '../../src/api/publish';
+import release from '../../src/api/release';
 import findConfig from '../../src/util/forge-config.js';
 import { importSearch } from '../../src/util/import-search.js';
 
@@ -45,9 +45,9 @@ vi.mock(import('../../src/util/import-search'), async (importOriginal) => {
   };
 });
 
-describe('publish', () => {
+describe('release', () => {
   it('calls "make"', async () => {
-    await publish({
+    await release({
       dir: import.meta.dirname,
       interactive: false,
     });
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ describe('publish', () => {
       } as any;
     });
 
-    await publish({
+    await release({
       dir: import.meta.dirname,
       interactive: false,
     });
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ describe('publish', () => {
       {} as unknown as ResolvedForgeConfig,
     );
 
-    await publish({
+    await release({
       dir: import.meta.dirname,
       interactive: false,
       publishTargets: [new MockPublisher()],
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ describe('publish', () => {
 
     vi.mocked(importSearch).mockResolvedValue(MockPublisher);
 
-    await publish({
+    await release({
       dir: import.meta.dirname,
       interactive: false,
     });
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ describe('publish', () => {
     });
 
     it('dryRun creates hash JSON files', async () => {
-      await publish({
+      await release({
         dir: import.meta.dirname,
         outDir: tmpDir,
         interactive: false,
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ describe('publish', () => {
       MockPublisher.prototype.publish = mockPublish;
       MockPublisher.prototype.__isElectronForgePublisher = true;
 
-      await publish({
+      await release({
         dir: import.meta.dirname,
         outDir: tmpDir,
         interactive: false,

@@ -8,9 +8,15 @@ import ForgeUtils from '../util/index.js';
 
 import make, { MakeOptions } from './make.js';
 import _package, { PackageOptions } from './package.js';
-import publish, { PublishOptions } from './publish.js';
+import release, { ReleaseOptions } from './release.js';
 import start, { StartOptions } from './start.js';
 
+/**
+ * @deprecated Use {@link ReleaseOptions} instead. `PublishOptions` is a
+ * deprecated alias that will be removed in a future major version.
+ */
+export type PublishOptions = ReleaseOptions;
+
 export class ForgeAPI {
   /**
    * Make distributables for an Electron application
@@ -26,11 +32,21 @@ export class ForgeAPI {
     return _package(opts);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Release an Electron application into the given target service
+   */
+  release(opts: ReleaseOptions): Promise<void> {
+    return release(opts);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Publish an Electron application into the given target service
+   *
+   * @deprecated Use {@link ForgeAPI.release} instead. `publish` is a deprecated
+   * alias that will be removed in a future major version.
    */
-  publish(opts: PublishOptions): Promise<void> {
-    return publish(opts);
+  publish(opts: ReleaseOptions): Promise<void> {
+    return release(opts);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -53,7 +69,7 @@ export {
   ForgeUtils,
   MakeOptions,
   PackageOptions,
-  PublishOptions,
+  ReleaseOptions,
   StartOptions,
   api,
   utils,

@@ -26,16 +26,16 @@ import resolveDir from '../util/resolve-dir.js';
 
 import { listrMake, MakeOptions } from './make.js';
 
-const d = debug('electron-forge:publish');
+const d = debug('electron-forge:release');
 
-type PublishContext = {
+type ReleaseContext = {
   dir: string;
   forgeConfig: ResolvedForgeConfig;
   publishers: PublisherBase<unknown>[];
   makeResults: ForgeMakeResult[];
 };
 
-export interface PublishOptions {
+export interface ReleaseOptions {
   /**
    * The path to the app to be published
    */
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export interface PublishOptions {
 }
 
 export default autoTrace(
-  { name: 'publish()', category: '@electron-forge/core' },
+  { name: 'release()', category: '@electron-forge/core' },
   async (
     childTrace,
     {
@@ -81,13 +81,13 @@ export default autoTrace(
       dryRun = false,
       dryRunResume = false,
       outDir,
-    }: PublishOptions,
+    }: ReleaseOptions,
   ): Promise<void> => {
     if (dryRun && dryRunResume) {
       throw new Error("Can't dry run and resume a dry run at the same time");
     }
 
-    const listrOptions: ForgeListrOptions<PublishContext> = {
+    const listrOptions: ForgeListrOptions<ReleaseContext> = {
       concurrent: false,
       rendererOptions: {
         collapseErrors: false,
@@ -100,12 +100,12 @@ export default autoTrace(
     const publishDistributablesTasks = (childTrace: typeof autoTrace) => [
       {
         title: 'Publishing distributables',
-        task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<PublishContext>>>(
+        task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<ReleaseContext>>>(
           { name: 'publish-distributables', category: '@electron-forge/core' },
           async (
             childTrace,
             { dir, forgeConfig, makeResults, publishers },
-            task: ForgeListrTask<PublishContext>,
+            task: ForgeListrTask<ReleaseContext>,
           ) => {
             if (publishers.length === 0) {
               task.output = 'No publishers configured';
@@ -156,11 +156,11 @@ export default autoTrace(
       },
     ];
 
-    const runner = new Listr<PublishContext>(
+    const runner = new Listr<ReleaseContext>(
       [
         {
           title: 'Loading configuration',
-          task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<PublishContext>>>(
+          task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<ReleaseContext>>>(
             { name: 'load-forge-config', category: '@electron-forge/core' },
             async (childTrace, ctx) => {
               const resolvedDir = await resolveDir(providedDir);
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ export default autoTrace(
         },
         {
           title: 'Resolving publish targets',
-          task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<PublishContext>>>(
+          task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<ReleaseContext>>>(
             {
               name: 'resolve-publish-targets',
               category: '@electron-forge/core',
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ export default autoTrace(
           title: dryRunResume
             ? 'Resuming from dry run...'
             : `Running ${styleText('yellow', 'make')} command`,
-          task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<PublishContext>>>(
+          task: childTrace<Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<ReleaseContext>>>(
             {
               name: dryRunResume ? 'resume-dry-run' : 'make()',
               category: '@electron-forge/core',
@@ -276,12 +276,12 @@ export default autoTrace(
 
                 return delayTraceTillSignal(
                   childTrace,
-                  task.newListr<PublishContext>(
+                  task.newListr<ReleaseContext>(
                     publishes.map((publishStates, index) => {
                       return {
                         title: `Publishing dry-run ${styleText('blue', `#${index + 1}`)}`,
                         task: childTrace<
-                          Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<PublishContext>>
+                          Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<ReleaseContext>>
                         >(
                           {
                             name: `publish-dry-run-${index + 1}`,
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ export default autoTrace(
                 {
                   title: 'Saving dry-run state',
                   task: childTrace<
-                    Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<PublishContext>>
+                    Parameters<ForgeListrTaskFn<ReleaseContext>>
                   >(
                     { name: 'save-dry-run', category: '@electron-forge/core' },
                     async (childTrace, { dir, forgeConfig, makeResults }) => {