element-web/docs/native-node-modules.md

Native Node Modules

For some features, the desktop version of Riot can make use of native Node modules. These allow Riot to integrate with the desktop in ways that a browser cannot.

While native modules enable powerful new features, they must be complied for each operating system. For official Riot releases, we will always build these modules from source to ensure we can trust the compiled output. In the future, we may offer a pre-compiled path for those who want to use these features in a custom build of Riot without installing the various build tools required.

Do note that compiling a module for a particular operating system (Linux/macOS/Windows) and will need to be done on that operating system. Cross-compiling from a host OS for a different target OS may be possible, but we don't support this flow with Riot dependencies at this time.

At the moment, we need to make some changes to the Riot release process before we can support native Node modules at release time, so these features are currently disabled by default until that is resolved. The following sections explain the manual steps you can use with a custom build of Riot to enable these features if you'd like to try them out.

Adding Seshat support

Seshat is a native node library that adds support for local event indexing and full text search in E2E encrypted rooms.

Since Seshat is written in rust the rust compiler and cargo tool-chain need to be installed before installing Seshat itself. After installing the compiler Seshat support can be added using yarn inside the electron_app/ directory:

yarn add matrix-seshat

After this is done the electron version of riot can be run from the main folder as usual using:

yarn electron

If for some reason recompilation of Seshat is needed, e.g. when using a development version of Seshat using yarn link, or if the initial compilation was done for the wrong electron version, Seshat can be recompiled with the electron-build-env tool. Again from the electron_app/ directory:

yarn add electron-build-env

Recompiling Seshat itself can be done like so:

yarn run electron-build-env -- --electron 6.1.1 -- neon build matrix-seshat --release`

Please make sure to include all the -- as well as the --release command line switch at the end. Modify your electron version accordingly depending on the version that is installed on your system.