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Since version 8, electron-builder rebuilds only production dependencies, so you are not forced to use the two package.json structure.

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Overview

The two package.json structure separates development dependencies from application dependencies by using two separate package.json files:
  1. Development (./package.json) - Root package.json for development environment and build scripts
  2. Application (./app/package.json) - Application package.json distributed with the final packaged app

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Structure

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Root package.json (Development)

The package.json at the root of your project declares dependencies for your development environment and build scripts in devDependencies. 
{
  "name": "my-electron-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "postinstall": "electron-builder install-app-deps"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "electron": "^28.0.0",
    "electron-builder": "^24.0.0",
    "typescript": "^5.0.0"
  }
}

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App package.json (Production)

The package.json in the app directory declares your application dependencies. Only this directory is distributed with the final, packaged application.
app/package.json
{
  "name": "my-electron-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "main.js",
  "dependencies": {
    "axios": "^1.6.0",
    "sqlite3": "^5.1.0"
  }
}
All metadata fields (version, name, etc.) should be in the app/package.json.

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Why Use Two package.json?

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Native Module Compilation

Native npm modules (written in C, not JavaScript) need different compilation targets:
  • Application dependencies - Compiled against Electron runtime
  • Development dependencies - Compiled against local Node.js environment
The two package.json structure makes this separation trivial.

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Simplified File Management

No need to specify which files to include in the app using the files configuration, because development files reside outside the app directory.

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Automatic Dependency Installation

To ensure dependencies are always updated based on both files, add a postinstall script to your development package.json: 
{
  "scripts": {
    "postinstall": "electron-builder install-app-deps"
  }
}
This automatically triggers an npm install within your app directory whenever you install or update dependencies in the root directory.

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