electron-holochain-template

What is electron-holochain-template and what is it for?

electron-holochain-template is a starter project for building a Holochain application that runs as a standalone desktop app, with an Electron interface on top and the Holochain runtime bundled inside that app rather than supplied by a separate launcher. It exists to give a new desktop project only what it needs to get up and running, without imposing a front-end framework.

Lightning Rod Labs published the template in September 2022. Its author has described it as a generalised version of the desktop packaging pattern the studio had already built for Acorn, its own Holochain-based collaboration app: the Acorn-specific code was removed, the remaining variables were made more generic, and the result was published as a reusable starting point.

For a newcomer it is a starting kit rather than an app. A Holochain application needs something to run its backend and something to display a user interface; this repository supplies desktop packaging that holds both, with the Holochain runtime bundled inside the finished application rather than provided by a separate launcher. The project states that it makes no assumptions about a front-end framework, so the interface layer can be replaced while that packaging stays in place.

The README shows the intended workflow: copy the repository through GitHub's template button, replace its placeholder name, bundle identifier and icons, then build installers for macOS, Windows and Linux; separate commands start a second instance for testing features that need two participants. hAppRadar's activity record describes the project as stalled, with its most recent push in January 2023, so this description and the install steps reflect the project's own documentation from that period.

From 2 public sources, checked 23 September 2026.