Flatpak manifest for GitHub Desktop app

This repository contains the files to create a Flatpak version of the GitHub Desktop Git client.

It is based on this fork which contains extra work for better Linux integration, that is, for now, not official.

Installation

To build and install this Flatpak, you have to install Flatpak, Flatpak builder and the Flathub repo. Don't forget to initialize this repo submodules. Then run:

flatpak-builder build io.github.shiftey.Desktop.yaml --repo=repo --install --force-clean --install-deps-from=flathub

Once installed, launch GitHub Desktop by running:

flatpak run io.github.shiftey.Desktop

Updating desktop repo and dependencies

Flatpak builder doesn't allow the build scripts to access the internet, so you have to download all the required dependencies beforehand. These dependencies are listed in the generated-sources.json file. That's the reason we have a fixed commit for building desktop repo, since that can guarantee that generated-sources.json dependencies match with the version of desktop we are building.

To update desktop repo to its latest commit and update the dependencies, you have to:

1. Clone https://github.com/shiftkey/desktop inside this repo.

2. Change the commit in io.github.shiftey.Desktop.yaml to the desired one:

   ...
         - type: git
           url: https://github.com/shiftkey/desktop.git
           commit: <put the commit here>
   ...

3. Run generate-sources script to update generated-sources.json.

4. Make sure the patches in the patches directory still apply.

5. Once you are sure it works, make a PR with the changes.

Known Issues

• Show in your File Manager does not open the file manager

  This happens because the default manager is not set in your environment. You need to add a default file manager to your ~/.config/mimeapps.list file. If you are using nautilus, this can be done by adding inode/directory=org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop to the end of the [Default Applications] section.

• Git Hooks that spawn external programs do not work. This is non-fixable without a massive rewrite inside git to make it possible to spawn git hooks outside the flatpak container.

Permissions

By default, this Flatpak requests the filesystem=host permission, granting it access to all files on your device. This allows immediate access to any project folders you wish to add, as well as enabling editor integration, and access to relevant Git config files and GPG information.

However, system-wide filesystem access is not necessarily required for basic functionality, so security-conscious users may choose to revoke this permission and selectively allow access to directories, such as only allowing a specific folder where you store projects.

In such case, if you wish to allow GPG signing to work properly, you should grant the Flatpak the permissions filesystem=~/.gitconfig and filesystem=xdg-run/gnupg:ro as well. If your gitconfig file is in a different location, grant access to that instead.

If you want the editor integration to work properly, you will need to grant access to the location of your preferred editor. You can find the pre-defined list of where GitHub Desktop checks here: https://github.com/shiftkey/desktop/blob/linux/app/src/lib/editors/linux.ts#L18

This section is here as a courtesy to save certain users some time, but it is not a supported usecase. Please only submit bug reports if you can verify that they occur with the standard filesystem=host permission.