bytenode/bytenode

Health v2 · maintenance only

Flags: no_releases

Adoption not part of the score

2966 stars · 189 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

Bytenode is a minimalist bytecode compiler that compiles JavaScript into V8 bytecode (.jsc files) to protect source code. It works with Node.js, Electron, and NW.js, and includes both a CLI and a programmatic API.

Use cases

• protect javascript source code from being read
• compile node.js app to v8 bytecode
• create js binaries for electron apps
• hide source code in a nodejs cli tool
• distribute node app without shipping plain js

When to choose

• you need to obscure JavaScript source shipped to customers
• you build Electron or NW.js desktop apps and want source protection
• you want a lightweight CLI/library rather than a full bundler

When to avoid

• you need real security against determined reverse engineers - bytecode can be decompiled
• your code relies on Function.prototype.toString
• you use async arrow functions in Electron or Puppeteer contexts
• you want minification or bundling - use a bundler instead

Facets

cli-tool · maturity active

compiler security cli developer-tools developer-tools security web-development cli cross-platform v8-bytecode source-code-protection electron nwjs obfuscation command-line nodejs

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="bytenode/bytenode")