vencord/installer

Purpose and build entry points

This Go repository builds the cross-platform Vencord Installer: a desktop GUI by default and a terminal CLI with the cli build tag. It locates an installed Discord client, obtains required Vencord/OpenAsar assets, patches Discord’s application archive layout, and can update itself. Main entry selection is split between gui.go, cli.go, and platform-specific CLI files such as cli_windows.go.

Application modes and UI boundary

The default build is a graphical installer; the CLI is an alternate compile-time frontend rather than a separate service. UI-specific build selection is represented by buildinfo/ui_type.go, buildinfo/ui_type_gui.go, and buildinfo/ui_type_cli.go. Linux GUI builds require native SDL/OpenGL/X11 or Wayland dependencies, while Windows and macOS carry platform packaging resources in winres/winres.json and macos/Info.plist.

Discord discovery

Platform-specific discovery isolates filesystem and installation-layout differences for the target Discord desktop installation:

• find_discord_windows.go

• find_discord_darwin.go

• find_discord_linux.go

This boundary supplies the Discord location to the installer/patcher rather than embedding one universal path convention.

Installation and patching pipeline

The core mutation path is centered on patcher.go, with archive/application handling in app_asar.go and OpenAsar-specific work in openasar.go. These components likely manage Discord’s app.asar-based resource structure and perform the installation or replacement steps needed for Vencord. Shared operational constants and utilities are kept in constants.go and util.go; logging is centralized in log.go.

Remote artifact and release integration

Network-facing update/download responsibilities are separated from patching:

• github_downloader.go retrieves release assets from GitHub.

• self_updater.go updates the installer binary itself.

• buildinfo/git_data.go exposes source/revision metadata for builds.

This keeps external GitHub release retrieval and installer self-maintenance distinct from local Discord modification.

Distribution and runtime infrastructure

The project is compiled with Go and native GUI dependencies; Linux requires SDL2, OpenGL, and either X11 or Wayland development libraries. User-facing bootstrap scripts are install.sh and install.ps1. Release automation and Windows package publication are defined in .github/workflows/release.yml and .github/workflows/winget-submission.yml, indicating GitHub Actions is the release pipeline and WinGet is a downstream distribution channel.