warp

A maintained fork of the original Warp project with updated tooling, improved cross-platform builds, and compatibility fixes for modern systems.

This fork focuses on reliable multi-platform builds using Rust, Zig, and cargo-zigbuild, producing binaries for Linux, Windows, and macOS (including Apple Silicon).

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Table of Contents

• Changes in v1.2.0
• Changes in v1.0.0
• Prebuilt Binaries
• Supported Platforms
• Quickstart with Node.js
  • Linux
  • macOS
  • Windows
• Quickstart with .NET Core
  • Linux
  • macOS
  • Windows
• Quickstart with Java
• How it Works
• macOS Security Considerations
• Authors
• License

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Changes in v1.2.0

Improvements

• Added macOS Universal binary support (universal2-apple-darwin), allowing the same executable to run on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.
• Simplified the cross-compilation toolchain by switching fully to cargo-zigbuild and Zig, removing the need for osxcross, macOS SDK downloads, and additional signing tools.

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Changes in v1.0.0

This fork introduces several improvements and compatibility fixes compared to the original Warp repository. For a full comparison, see the diff.

Breaking Changes

The default invocation has changed from:

warp-packer <args>

to:

warp-packer pack <args>

New CLI Options

• -i, --input-dir: Directory with your application and dependencies
• -q, --unique-id: Creates a unique ID for each package (for testing/multiple versions)
• -p, --prefix: Set a custom name for the extraction directory
• -n, --no-clean: Prevents overwriting extracted versions in the cache

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Prebuilt Binaries

Prebuilt warp-packer binaries are available on the GitHub Releases page.

Available platforms:

• Linux (x64, aarch64)
• Windows (x64, aarch64)
• macOS (x64, aarch64, universal)

Example download (Linux x64):

curl -Lo warp-packer \
https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/linux-x64.warp-packer

chmod +x warp-packer

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Supported Platforms

Platform	Architecture	Binary
Linux	x64	✅
Linux	ARM64	✅
Windows	x64	✅
Windows	ARM64	✅
macOS	Intel	✅
macOS	Apple Silicon	✅
macOS	Universal	✅

---

Quickstart with Node.js

Linux

Create the directory for the application

mkdir myapp
cd myapp

Create main application - app.js

var lodash = require('lodash');
var output = lodash.without([1, 2, 3], 1);
console.log(output);

Download Node.js distribution

wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.12.0/node-v8.12.0-linux-x64.tar.xz
xz -dc node-v8.12.0-linux-x64.tar.xz | tar xvf -

Install dependencies

node-v8.12.0-linux-x64/bin/npm install lodash

Remove unneeded files

rm -r node-v8.12.0-linux-x64/include node-v8.12.0-linux-x64/share node-v8.12.0-linux-x64/lib
rm node-v8.12.0-linux-x64/bin/npm node-v8.12.0-linux-x64/bin/npx

Create launcher script - launch

#!/bin/sh

NODE_DIST=node-v8.12.0-linux-x64
APP_MAIN_JS=app.js

DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" ; pwd -P)"
NODE_EXE=$DIR/$NODE_DIST/bin/node
NODE_PATH=$DIR/node_modules
APP_MAIN_JS_PATH=$DIR/$APP_MAIN_JS

exec $NODE_EXE $APP_MAIN_JS_PATH $@

Make the launcher script executable

chmod +x launch

Download warp-packer

If you save warp-packer in a directory in your PATH, you only need to download it once.

cd ..
curl -Lo warp-packer https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/linux-x64.warp-packer
chmod +x warp-packer

Create your self-contained application

./warp-packer pack --arch linux-x64 --input-dir myapp --exec launch --output myapp.bin
chmod +x myapp.bin

Run your self-contained application

./myapp.bin
[ 2, 3 ]

More information about your self-contained application

file myapp.bin
myapp.bin: ELF 64-bit LSB shared object, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 3.2.0, BuildID[sha1]=aa53b01be2cde5e0b64450870b1af13b52d5cffb, with debug_info, not stripped

du -hs myapp.bin
17M     myapp.bin

macOS

Create the directory for the application

mkdir myapp
cd myapp

Create main application - app.js

var lodash = require('lodash');
var output = lodash.without([1, 2, 3], 1);
console.log(output);

Download Node.js distribution

curl -Lo node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64.tar.gz https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.12.0/node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64.tar.gz
tar xvfz node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64.tar.gz

Install dependencies

PATH=node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64/bin npm install lodash

Remove unneeded files

rm -r node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64/include node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64/share node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64/lib
rm node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64/bin/npm node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64/bin/npx

Create launcher script* - launch

#!/bin/sh

NODE_DIST=node-v8.12.0-darwin-x64
APP_MAIN_JS=app.js

DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" ; pwd -P)"
NODE_EXE=$DIR/$NODE_DIST/bin/node
NODE_PATH=$DIR/node_modules
APP_MAIN_JS_PATH=$DIR/$APP_MAIN_JS

exec "$NODE_EXE" "$APP_MAIN_JS_PATH" $@

Make the launcher script executable

chmod +x launch

Download warp-packer

If you save warp-packer in a directory in your PATH, you only need to download it once.

cd ..
curl -Lo warp-packer https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/macos-x64.warp-packer
chmod +x warp-packer

Create your self-contained application

./warp-packer pack --arch macos-x64 --input-dir myapp --exec launch --output myapp.bin
chmod +x myapp.bin

Run your self-contained application

./myapp.bin
[ 2, 3 ]

More information about your self-contained application

file myapp.bin
myapp.bin: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64

du -hs myapp.bin
26M     myapp.bin

Windows

Create the directory for the application

mkdir myapp
cd myapp

Create main application - app.js

var lodash = require('lodash');
var output = lodash.without([1, 2, 3], 1);
console.log(output);

Download Node.js distribution

curl https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.12.0/node-v8.12.0-win-x64.zip -OutFile node-v8.12.0-win-x64.zip
Expand-Archive .\node-v8.12.0-win-x64.zip -DestinationPath .\

Install dependencies

.\node-v8.12.0-win-x64\npm install lodash

Remove unneeded files

rmdir -Recurse .\node-v8.12.0-win-x64\node_modules\npm

Create launcher script* - launch.cmd

@ECHO OFF

SETLOCAL

SET "NODE_DIST=node-v8.12.0-win-x64"
SET "APP_MAIN_JS=app.js"

SET "NODE_EXE=%~dp0\%NODE_DIST%\node.exe"
SET "NODE_PATH=%~dp0\%NODE_DIST%\node_modules"
SET "APP_MAIN_JS_PATH=%~dp0\%APP_MAIN_JS%"

CALL %NODE_EXE% %APP_MAIN_JS_PATH% %*
EXIT /B %ERRORLEVEL%

Download warp-packer

If you save warp-packer in a directory in your PATH, you only need to download it once.

cd ..
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = "tls12, tls11, tls" ; Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/windows-x64.warp-packer.exe -OutFile warp-packer.exe

Create your self-contained application

.\warp-packer --arch windows-x64 --input-dir .\myapp\ --exec launch.cmd --output myapp.exe

Run your self-contained application

.\myapp.exe
[ 2, 3 ]
PS $HOME>

More information about your self-contained application

"{0:N2} MB" -f ((Get-Item myapp.exe).Length / 1MB)
9.15 MB

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Quickstart with .NET Core

Linux

Create a simple console application

mkdir myapp
cd myapp
dotnet new console
dotnet run
Hello World!

Publish the application with native installer for linux-x64 runtime

dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64

The application should be published to bin/Release/netcoreapp2.1/linux-x64/publish/

Download warp-packer

If you save warp-packer in a directory in your PATH, you only need to download it once.

curl -Lo warp-packer https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/linux-x64.warp-packer
chmod +x warp-packer

Create your self-contained application

./warp-packer pack --arch linux-x64 --input-dir bin/Release/netcoreapp2.1/linux-x64/publish --exec myapp --output myapp
chmod +x myapp

Run your self-contained application

./myapp
Hello World!

More information about your self-contained application

file myapp
myapp: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (GNU/Linux), statically linked, BuildID[sha1]=13b12e71a63ca1de8537ad7e90c83241f9f87f6c, with debug_info, not stripped

du -hs myapp
34M     myapp

macOS

Create a simple console application

mkdir myapp
cd myapp
dotnet new console
dotnet run
Hello World!

Publish the application with native installer for osx-x64 runtime

dotnet publish -c Release -r osx-x64

The application should be published to bin/Release/netcoreapp2.1/osx-x64/publish/

Download warp-packer

If you save warp-packer in a directory in your PATH, you only need to download it once.

curl -Lo warp-packer https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/macos-x64.warp-packer
chmod +x warp-packer

Create your self-contained application

./warp-packer pack --arch macos-x64 --input-dir bin/Release/netcoreapp2.1/osx-x64/publish --exec myapp --output myapp
chmod +x myapp

Run your self-contained application

./myapp
Hello World!

More information about your self-contained application

file myapp
myapp: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64

du -hs myapp
 27M    myapp

Windows

Create a simple console application

mkdir myapp
cd myapp
dotnet new console
dotnet run
Hello World!
PS $HOME\myapp>

Publish the application with native installer for win10-x64 runtime

dotnet publish -c Release -r win10-x64

The application should be published to bin/Release/netcoreapp2.1/win10-x64/publish/

Download warp-packer

If you save warp-packer in a directory in your PATH, you only need to download it once.

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = "tls12, tls11, tls" ; Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/windows-x64.warp-packer.exe -OutFile warp-packer.exe

Create your self-contained application

.\warp-packer --arch windows-x64 --input-dir bin/Release/netcoreapp2.1/win10-x64/publish --exec myapp.exe --output myapp.exe

Run your self-contained application

.\myapp.exe
Hello World!
PS $HOME\myapp>

More information about your self-contained application

"{0:N2} MB" -f ((Get-Item myapp.exe).Length / 1MB)
28.51 MB

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Quickstart with Java

Warp can package Java JARs along with a minimal JRE and startup scripts.

🧠 Tip: If you want to skip the manual steps below, check out java-warp4j — a Java-based tool that automates all of this: It handles JDK downloads, jlink, script creation, and even runs warp-packer internally.

Manual Instructions

1. Create a Hello World app:

// HelloWorld.java
public final class HelloWorld {
  public static void main(final String[] args) {
    System.out.println("Hello, world.");
  }
}

2. Compile and bundle as JAR:

javac HelloWorld.java
jar cvfe app.jar HelloWorld HelloWorld.class

3. Download and unpack a JRE (e.g., from Adoptium):

wget https://.../OpenJDK8U-jre_x64_linux_hotspot_8u412b08.tar.gz
tar -xvf OpenJDK8U-jre_x64_linux_hotspot_8u412b08.tar.gz

4. Create a bundle folder:

mkdir bundle
cp -r jdk-folder bundle/jre
cp app.jar bundle/

5. Add a launcher script (bundle/run.sh):

#!/bin/bash
DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")"; pwd)"
exec "$DIR/jre/bin/java" -jar "$DIR/app.jar" "$@"

6. Make script executable:

chmod +x bundle/run.sh

7. Download warp-packer (if not already in PATH):

curl -Lo warp-packer https://github.com/kirbylink/warp/releases/latest/download/linux-x64.warp-packer
chmod +x warp-packer

8. Create your binary:

./warp-packer pack --arch linux-x64 --input-dir bundle --exec run.sh --output app.bin
chmod +x app.bin

9. Run your binary:

./app.bin

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How it Works

Warp combines your runtime and application into a single file using two tools:

• warp-runner: The runtime stub that extracts and launches your app
• warp-packer: CLI tool that builds the binary, compresses files, and fetches warp-runner

First-time Run

The first execution unpacks your app to a cache directory and runs it. Subsequent executions run directly.

Cache Directories

• Linux: $HOME/.local/share/warp/
• macOS: $HOME/Library/Application Support/warp/
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\warp\

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macOS Security Considerations

Recent versions of macOS include security mechanisms such as Gatekeeper and the quarantine attribute.

When distributing macOS binaries created with warp-packer, users may encounter warnings if the executable:

• is not signed with an Apple Developer certificate, or
• was downloaded from the internet, which automatically adds a quarantine attribute.

In some cases macOS may display messages such as:

• “The application is damaged and can't be opened.”
• “This app cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.”

For local testing, the quarantine attribute can be removed using:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine <binary>

Alternatively, developers distributing macOS applications should consider proper code signing and notarization using Apple's developer tools.

The build process used in this repository applies an ad-hoc code signature to the generated macOS binaries to improve compatibility, but this is not a replacement for official Apple code signing.

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Authors

• Original Author: Diego Giagio <diego@giagio.com>
• Modifications and enhancements by: @kirbylink

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.

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Who Uses Warp?

• Buckaroo: C++ package manager
• Buck (Warp): Build system wrapper