atom/docs/build-instructions/windows.md

Windows

Requirements

On Windows 7

• Visual C++ 2010 Express
• Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1
• node.js v0.10.x
  • For 64-bit builds of node and native modules you must have the Windows 7 64-bit SDK. You may also need the compiler update for the Windows SDK 7.1
• Python v2.7.
  • The python.exe must be available at %SystemDrive%\Python27\python.exe. If it is installed elsewhere, you can create a symbolic link to the directory containing the python.exe using: mklink /d %SystemDrive%\Python27 D:\elsewhere\Python27
• GitHub for Windows

On Windows 8

• Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop
• node.js v0.10.x
• Python v2.7.x (required by node-gyp)
• GitHub for Windows

Instructions

# Use the `Git Shell` app which was installed by GitHub for Windows. Also Make
# sure you have logged into the GitHub for Windows GUI App.
cd C:\
git clone https://github.com/atom/atom/
cd atom
script/build # Creates application in the `Program Files` directory

Why do I have to use GitHub for Windows?

You don't. You can use your existing Git! GitHub for Windows's Git Shell is just easier to set up.

If you prefer using your existing Git installation, make sure git's cmd directory is in your PATH env variable (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\cmd) before you open your powershell or command window. Note that you may have to open your command window as administrator. For powershell that doesn't seem to always be the case, though.

If none of this works, do install Github for Windows and use its Git shell. Makes life easier.

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

• node is not recognized

  • If you just installed node you need to restart your computer before node is available on your Path.

• script/build outputs only the Node and Python versions before returning

  • Try moving the repository to C:\atom. Most likely, the path is too long. See issue #2200.

• error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Invalid character in the given encoding.

  • These can occur because your home directory (%USERPROFILE%) has non-ASCII characters in it. This is a bug in gyp which is used to build native node modules and there is no known workaround.
    • https://github.com/TooTallNate/node-gyp/issues/297
    • https://code.google.com/p/gyp/issues/detail?id=393

• Other node-gyp errors on first build attempt, even though the right node and python versions are installed.

  • Do try the build command one more time, as experience shows it often works on second try in many of these cases.

Windows build error reports in atom/atom

• If all fails, use this search to get a list of reports about build errors on Windows, and see if yours has already been reported.

• If it hasn't, please open a new issue with your Windows version 32/64bit and a print/screenshot of your build output, incl. the node and python versions.