Upgrade Electron and bundled Node runtime

.buildkite/pipeline.yml

@@ -65,16 +65,27 @@ steps:
   ########################################################
   - label: ":linux: Linux Build"
     agents: { queue: default }
-    plugins: [$CI_TOOLKIT, $NVM_PLUGIN]
     command: |
-      echo "~~~ Install dependencies"
-      .buildkite/commands/install_node_dependencies.sh
+      set -eu
+
+      echo "~~~ Verify build environment"
+      cat /etc/os-release
+      node --version
+      gcc --version
+      g++ --version
+
+      echo "~~~ Install Node dependencies"
+      npm ci --no-audit --no-progress --maxsockets 1
 
       echo "~~~ Build renderer"
       npm run build:once
 
       echo "~~~ Build Linux artifact"
       npm run dist
+    plugins:
+      - $DOCKER_PLUGIN:
+          image: "$NODE_DOCKER_IMAGE"
+          always-pull: true
     artifact_paths:
       - dist/*.AppImage
       - dist/*.deb

.buildkite/shared-pipeline-vars

@@ -5,4 +5,6 @@
 
 export CI_TOOLKIT=automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#6.1.0
 export NVM_PLUGIN=automattic/nvm#0.6.0
+export DOCKER_PLUGIN=docker#v5.13.0
+export NODE_DOCKER_IMAGE=node:$(sed 's/^v//' .nvmrc)-trixie
 export IMAGE_ID=xcode-26.6

.nvmrc

@@ -1 +1 @@
-20.19.5
+24.18.0

README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## WordPress Contributor Toolkit (Electron)
 
-The [WordPress Core Dev Environment Toolkit](https://github.com/WordPress/experimental-wp-dev-env) is a desktop electron application (available for macOS, Windows, and Linux) that sets up a full WordPress core development environment with zero prerequisites.
+The [WordPress Core Dev Environment Toolkit](https://github.com/WordPress/experimental-wp-dev-env) is a desktop electron application (available for macOS on Apple Silicon, Windows, and Linux) that sets up a full WordPress core development environment with zero prerequisites.
 
 You install it, choose a directory for `wordpress-develop`, click a button, and you have:
 
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ Once your environment is running, generating a patch to submit to Trac takes jus
 ### Just using the app
 
 1. Download the latest packaged build for your platform from the [Releases page](https://github.com/WordPress/experimental-wp-dev-env/releases/latest). Pick the file that matches your OS:
-    - **macOS:** `mac-release-*.dmg`
-    - **Windows:** `windows-release-*.exe`
-    - **Linux:** `linux-release-*.AppImage`
+    - **macOS on Apple Silicon:** Choose the `.dmg` file whose name contains `arm64`. Intel Macs are not currently supported.
+    - **Windows:** Choose the `.exe` installer.
+    - **Linux:** Choose the `.AppImage`; `.deb` and `.snap` packages may also be available.
 2. Open the app
 3. **macOS only:** The app is signed and notarized by Automattic. macOS should open it without issues. If Gatekeeper still blocks the app (this can happen when the file was downloaded via a browser), try either of these:
     - Right-click the `.app` file and choose **Open**, then confirm in the dialog that appears.
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ npm run dist:win     # Windows (x64 by default)
 npm run dist:win:arm64
 ```
 
-Output goes to `dist/` (e.g., Windows installer `.exe`).
+Output goes to `dist/`. On Linux, `npm run dist` creates AppImage, Snap, and DEB packages. macOS packages use the build machine's architecture, and the published macOS builds currently target Apple Silicon (`arm64`) only.
 
 ### App icon
 
@@ -126,4 +126,3 @@ For cases when MySQL is required, local Playground can work with MySQL. The only
 
 GPLv2.
 
-