react-native-launcher-windows

React Native Windows native module for launching external applications, executables, batch scripts, and URI targets.

This package is Windows-only. It exposes a TurboModule-backed API for starting desktop processes and bringing companion app windows forward from a React Native app.

Installation

npm install react-native-launcher-windows

Usage

import {
  bringWindowToFront,
  launchBatchFile,
  launchProcess,
  launchUri,
} from 'react-native-launcher-windows';

await launchProcess({
  filePath: 'C:\\Tools\\Helper.exe',
  arguments: ['--silent'],
  workingDirectory: 'C:\\Tools',
});

await launchBatchFile({
  filePath: 'C:\\Scripts\\helper.bat',
  arguments: ['sync'],
});

await launchUri({
  uri: 'https://reactnative.dev',
});

await bringWindowToFront({
  executableName: 'Helper.exe',
});

API

launchProcess(options)

Launches an executable with optional arguments and an optional working directory.

await launchProcess({
  filePath: 'C:\\Program Files\\MyApp\\MyApp.exe',
  arguments: ['--mode', 'desktop'],
  workingDirectory: 'C:\\Program Files\\MyApp',
});

launchBatchFile(options)

Launches a .bat or .cmd file through cmd.exe.

await launchBatchFile({
  filePath: 'C:\\Automation\\run-task.bat',
  arguments: ['nightly'],
});

launchUri(options)

Opens a URI target using the Windows shell.

await launchUri({
  uri: 'my-helper-app://open/settings',
});

bringWindowToFront(selector)

Finds a visible top-level window and tries to restore/foreground it. Matching precedence is:

1. processId
2. exactTitle
3. titleContains
4. executableName

await bringWindowToFront({
  titleContains: 'Companion App',
});

Return Types

Launch methods resolve to:

type LaunchResult = {
  success: true;
  method: 'process' | 'batch' | 'uri';
  target: string;
  processId: number | null;
};

bringWindowToFront resolves to:

type BringToFrontResult = {
  success: boolean;
  processId: number | null;
  windowTitle: string | null;
};

Limitations

• Windows only
• No stdout or stderr capture
• No wait-for-exit or exit code reporting
• bringWindowToFront only searches visible top-level windows
• Window activation can still be limited by Windows foreground restrictions

Manual Testing

• Run the example app on Windows and use the sample screen in example/src/App.tsx.
• Validate an .exe launch with arguments and working directory.
• Validate a .bat launch through cmd.exe.
• Validate a standard URL and any registered custom URI scheme.
• Validate window activation by process ID, exact title, partial title, and executable name.

Contributing

See the contributing guide to learn how to contribute to the repository and the development workflow.

License

MIT

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Made with create-react-native-library